Talk:Cotesia congregata

Effects of parasitism on the host and their causes
I've added information on the host's reduced locomotor activity and feeding after the parasites emerge. However, I'm not sure if this is caused by the polydnavirus, or by something else related to the parasite larvae. I had thought it was the virus, and I may have had a source for this, but I haven't found or remembered one during today's editing.

I'll need to look into this, and probably create a new section for "Effects of parasitism on the host", with a subsection for effects that can be attributed to the polydnavirus.

AstridRedfern (talk) 22:55, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

As well as effects resulting from the polydnavirus, one of the cited papers is

"Characterization of a polydnavirus (PDV) and virus-like filamentous particle (VLFP) in the braconid wasp Cotesia congregata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)"

So there may need to be another subsection for effects attributable to the VLFP.

AstridRedfern (talk) 22:54, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

Assembled versus evolved
What does this mean in this context? The statement that the virus appears to have been assembled rather than evolved is unclear and needs explanation. Part of the problem is the passive: been assembled *by what* (I’m assuming not *by whom*)? Maybe the article from Science makes this clear, but it is behind a paywall, so I wasn’t easily able to see if it does address this point. Fenevad (talk) 10:10, 30 August 2021 (UTC)