Oviposition choice assay

Oviposition choice assays were carried out in a 2.5×9.5 cm cylindrical tube (Figure 5F). Briefly, twenty 1-day-old host pupae were sticky on the left side of the tube, and the same number of X-day-old host pupae (X=1, 2, 3, or 4) were sticky on the right side. Then, ten 3-day-old Td females were released into the apparatus for performing a 2 hr or 4 hr egg-laying choice assay. The tested hosts were dissected, and the total numbers of wasp eggs on both sides were counted. The oviposition preference indices (%) were calculated as (N₁ − N_x)/(N₁ +N_x)×100%, where N₁ is the total number of wasp eggs in host pupae on the left side and N_x is the total number of wasp eggs in host pupae on the right.