درون همزیست های Wolbachia بر ترجیح جفت گیری ماده و سازگاری نتاج در زنبور پارازیتوئید Habrobracon hebetor، تاثیر میگذارند.

Wolbachia are obligatory endosymbiont bacteria commonly found in arthropods, including a high proportion of insects and some nematodes. These bacteria alter the host's behavior to facilitate their transmission and spread. These Gram-negative bacteria induce various reproductive phenotypes, such as male killing, feminization of males, parthenogenesis induction, and cytoplasmic incompatibility in their hosts. They may also significantly affect the mating and mate choice of their hosts. In this study, we investigated whether the parasitoid wasp Habrobracon hebetor prefers mating with young or old males. Due to the widespread prevalence of Wolbachia in different populations of H. hebetor, uninfected lines were created using oral tetracycline treatment and were reared under normal conditions for three generations after the treatment. Lines with and without bacteria were used for different experiments. Our results showed that H. hebetor females differentiated between males based on age, depending on their infection status. Uninfected females preferred young males over older males for mating, while Wolbachia-infected females had no preference. Additionally, in the presence of Wolbachia, the time to mating (adult preoviposition period) was shorter, whereas in the absence of bacteria, it was longer. Our results indicated that regardless of the presence or absence of Wolbachia, the progeny of females mated with the young males exhibited higher fitness than those of females mated with the old males. Moreover, infected females that mated with the young infected males showed the highest performance. Overall, our results demonstrate that Wolbachia affects female mating preference and progeny fitness.