Data from: Invasion dynamics of Wolbachia bacteria in laboratory populations of the wasp, Trichomalopsis sarcophagae (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)
Data files
Sep 04, 2025 version files 14.84 KB
-
Floate_et_al_Q1.csv
3.20 KB
-
Floate_et_al_Q4_beyond20gen.csv
864 B
-
Floate_et_al_Q4.csv
7.27 KB
-
README.md
3.50 KB
Abstract
Wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria common in diverse arthropod hosts. Infections are spread from infected mothers to their progeny via egg cytoplasm. Establishment and spread of infections are affected by the number of infected individuals invading the novel host population plus the effect of infections on the production of female progeny and mating behaviour. Taking these factors into account, we examined the ability of Wolbachia to establish and spread in populations of the parasitoid wasp Trichomalopsis sarcophagae (Gahan) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), a species for which the effect of Wolbachia infection on host reproduction has not been previously examined. Experimental crosses showed that infections caused 100 percent cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), wherein uninfected females mated with infected males (♀ x ♂w) only produced male progeny and broods of smaller size. All other mate combinations (♀ x ♂, ♀w x ♂w, ♀w x ♂) produced normal broods of similar size and sex ratio. The expression of this CI, however, has two forms. Fertilized eggs from the incompatible cross either develop as though male, or fail to develop. Mate-choice tests showed that females mated once and showed no preference for infected or uninfected males. An experiment tracking the extinction or subsequent establishment and spread of Wolbachia infections in laboratory colonies for 20+ generations indicated an establishment threshold for infection prevalence of less than 10%. The existence of such a threshold, and its relatively low value, is broadly consistent with a simple mathematical model informed by the results from the experimental crosses and mate-choice tests. This is one of few experimental studies tracking the spread of Wolbachia infection in an insect species. It helps explain why Wolbachia is such a successful and widespread parasite.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rbnzs7hqf
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
File: Floate_et_al_Q1.csv
Description: Data file associated with Question 1 in our manuscript. It has 80 rows (not including the header row) and 12 columns.
Variables
- cross_type: Number corresponding to infection status of wasps (see "infection_status_F_M" column)
- infection_status_F_M: Infection status of females and males wasps (e.g., "neg_pos" means "female uninfected, male infected")
- replicate_num: There were a total of 20 replicates per cross type
- n_fly_puparia: Each replicate had 90 live house fly puparia
- emerged_F1_wasp_females: Number of female wasps that emerged from puparia
- emerged_F1_wasp_males: Number of male wasps that emerged from puparia
- total_emerged_F1_wasps: Number of female wasps + male wasps that emerged from puparia
- n_parasitized_puparia: Number of puparia from which wasps emerged
- unemerged_F1_wasp_females: Number of female wasps dissected from puparia
- unemerged_F1_wasp_males: Number of male wasps dissected from puparia
- n_emerged_flies: Number of flies emerging from puparia
- n_puparia_wo_flies_or_wasps: Number of puparia that produced neither flies nor wasps. A potential consequence of parasite-induced mortality
File: Floate_et_al_Q4.csv
Description: Data file associated with Question 4 in our manuscript (generations 1-20). It has 300 rows (not including the header row) and 6 columns.
Variables
- colony_id: Colony identification code. The second two characters correspond to the initial Wolbachia infection percentage and the last character corresponds to replicate number (e.g., "C05_3" represents replicate 3 from 5% initial Wolbachia infection)
- init_wolbachia: Initial Wolbachia infection percentage
- generation: Generation number
- n_females: Number of female wasps emerging from subset of 96 fly puparia
- n_males: Number of male wasps emerging from subset of 96 fly puparia
- infection: Wolbachia infection percentage in current generation (measured from 15 females with rare exceptions for which infection status data were available from slightly more/fewer females)
File: Floate_et_al_Q4_beyond20gen.csv
Description: Data file associated with Question 4 in our manuscript (beyond generation 20). It has 36 rows (not including the header row) and 6 columns.
Variables
- colony_id: Colony identification code. The second two characters correspond to the initial Wolbachia infection percentage and the last character corresponds to replicate number (e.g., "C05_3" represents replicate 3 from 5% initial Wolbachia infection)
- init_wolbachia: Initial Wolbachia infection percentage
- generation: Generation number
- n_females: Number of female wasps emerging from subset of 96 fly puparia
- n_males: Number of male wasps emerging from subset of 96 fly puparia
- infection: Wolbachia infection percentage in current generation (measured from 15 females with rare exceptions for which infection status data were available from slightly more/fewer females)
Code/software
"Floate_et_al_R_code_01.R" is R code that analyzes the data and creates figures based on the data files (along with additional data entered directly into the R code). It is available on Zenodo.