Costs and consequences of superparasitism in the polyembryonic parasitoid Copidosoma koehleri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Polyembryonic wasps provide dramatic examples of intra-specific developmental conflict. In these parasitoids, each egg proliferates into a clonal lineage of genetically identical larvae. If more than one egg is laid in a host (superparasitism), individuals of different clones may compete for food resources. 2. In the polyembryonic encyrtid Copidosoma koehleri , one larva per clone can differentiate into a sterile