EVOLUTIONARY CONSEQUENCES OF SPIRAL WAVES IN A HOST PARASITOID SYSTEM

In a spatial model host-parasitoid interactions have been shown to generate spiral waves and spiral chaos. We demonstrate that this spatial self-structuring has far-reaching evolutionary consequences. It turns out that the selection of mutants is determined by the physical process of expansion of a faster rotating spiral. This selection at the level of entire spirals replaces selection at the level of individuals. This change in the level of selection leads to selection for less efficient parasitoids.