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Recent optimality models of host—parasitoid associations have assumed that host quality varies with host size or age at parasitism. This is based on the fact that larger hosts provide more resources, making size a reliable indicator of the amount of resources available for parasitoid development. Few studies have examined this is parasitoids that allow their hosts to continue development after parasitism (koinobiont parasitoids). In this study we compared growth trajectories of the koinobiont ichneumonid endoparasitoid Venturia canescens developing in four larval instars of one of its host, the moth Plodia interpunctella. Hosts were reared with excess food and parasitized as late second, third, fourth, and fifth instars. Hosts were dissected at intervals after parasitism, and host and parasitoid dry mass determined. The survivorship, development time, and size of eclosing adult wasp were also monitored. Hosts …