Plant Species- and Status-specific Odorant Blends Guide Oviposition Choice in the Moth Manduca sexta

Anna Späthe; Andreas Reinecke; Shannon B. Olsson; Subaharan Kesavan; Markus Knaden; Bill S. Hansson

doi:10.1093/chemse/bjs089

Plant Species- and Status-specific Odorant Blends Guide Oviposition Choice in the Moth Manduca sexta

Chemical Senses ◽

10.1093/chemse/bjs089 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 147-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Anna Späthe ◽

Andreas Reinecke ◽

Shannon B. Olsson ◽

Subaharan Kesavan ◽

Markus Knaden ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Manduca Sexta ◽

Plant Species ◽

Oviposition Choice

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Host Plant Constancy in Ovipositing Manduca sexta

Journal of Chemical Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10886-021-01309-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nandita Nataraj ◽

Elisabeth Adam ◽

Bill S. Hansson ◽

Markus Knaden

Keyword(s):

Manduca Sexta ◽

Plant Species ◽

Host Plants ◽

Oviposition Preference ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Pollen Transfer ◽

Flower Constancy ◽

Term Memory ◽

Pollinating Insects

AbstractMany pollinating insects exhibit flower constancy, i.e. they target flower species they have already experienced and fed from. While the insects might profit from reduced handling costs when revisiting similar flowers, flower constancy, in addition, is of benefit for the plants as it guarantees pollen transfer to conspecifics. Here we investigate whether the previous experience of an insect can also result in oviposition constancy, i.e. whether ovipositing on a given plant species will drive future oviposition preference in a female insect. We show that female hawkmoths (Manduca sexta), after having oviposited on a given plant species only once, indeed will prefer this plant in future oviposition choices. As oviposition preference is even affected 24 h after the moth has oviposited on a given plant, long term memory seems to be involved in this oviposition constancy. Our data furthermore suggest that, as shown for flower constancy, ovipositing moths increase their handling efficiency by targeting those host plants they have already experienced.

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Plant spines deter herbivory by restricting caterpillar movement

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2017.0176 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 20170176 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Rupesh R. Kariyat ◽

Sean B. Hardison ◽

Consuelo M. De Moraes ◽

Mark C. Mescher

Keyword(s):

Manduca Sexta ◽

Plant Species ◽

Significant Role ◽

Flowering Plants ◽

Insect Herbivores ◽

Solanum Carolinense ◽

Mammalian Herbivores ◽

Feeding Sites

The spines of flowering plants are thought to function primarily in defence against mammalian herbivores; however, we previously reported that feeding by Manduca sexta caterpillars on the leaves of horsenettle plants ( Solanum carolinense ) induces increased development of internode spines on new growth. To determine whether and how spines impact caterpillar feeding, we conducted assays with three Solanaceous plant species that vary in spine numbers ( S. carolinense , S. atropurpureum and S. aethiopicum ) and also manipulated spine numbers within each species. We found that M. sexta caterpillars located experimentally isolated target leaves much more quickly on plants with experimentally removed spines compared with plants with intact spines. Moreover, it took caterpillars longer to defoliate species with relatively high spine numbers ( S. carolinense and particularly S . atropurpureum ) compared with S. aethiopicum , which has fewer spines . These findings suggest that spines may play a significant role in defence against insect herbivores by restricting herbivore movement and increasing the time taken to access feeding sites, with possible consequences including longer developmental periods and increased vulnerability or apparency to predators.

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Gap junctions in the prothoracic glands of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100123933 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 706-707

Author(s):

Ji-da Dai ◽

M. Joseph Costello ◽

Lawrence I. Gilbert

Keyword(s):

Gap Junctions ◽

Small Molecules ◽

Manduca Sexta ◽

Freeze Fracture ◽

Cell Communication ◽

Cellular Level ◽

Thin Sections ◽

Prothoracic Glands ◽

Polyhydroxylated Steroids ◽

Stimulation Of

Insect molting and metamorphosis are elicited by a class of polyhydroxylated steroids, ecdysteroids, that originate in the prothoracic glands (PGs). Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulation of steroidogenesis by the PGs at the cellular level involves both calcium and cAMP. Cell-to-cell communication mediated by gap junctions may play a key role in regulating signal transduction by controlling the transmission of small molecules and ions between adjacent cells. This is the first report of gap junctions in the PGs, the evidence obtained by means of SEM, thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas.

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