Host Susceptibility as a Component in Host-Parasitoid Systems

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Abstract
Functional responses are generated using a Monte Carlo simulation method, in which the hosts are either all equally susceptible to parasitism or vary randomly in their degree of susceptibility. Irrespective of this difference, the relationships all tend to rise at a decreasing rate towards an upper asymptote, as typical of the many type II responses obtained from experiments with insect parasitoids. While variable host susceptibility has no effect on the general form of the functional responses, it does affect the impact that parasitism has on the host population''s dynamics. Like other forms of heterogeneity (e.g. in space or time), it renders some individuals less prone to parasitism than others which can contribute strongly to the stability of the interaction.