scholarly journals Evolutionary dynamics of specialization in herbivorous stick insects

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larose Chloé ◽  
Rasmann Sergio ◽  
Schwander Tanja
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Stick Insect ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Herbivorous Insect ◽  
Host Plant Specialization ◽  
Feeding Niche ◽  
Feeding Experiments

AbstractUnderstanding the evolutionary dynamics underlying herbivorous insect mega-diversity requires investigating the ability of insects to shift and adapt to different host plants. Feeding experiments with nine related stick insect species revealed that insects retain the ability to use ancestral host plants after shifting to novel hosts, with host plant shifts generating fundamental feeding niche expansions. These expansions were not accompanied by expansions of the realized feeding niches however, as species on novel hosts are generally ecologically specialized. For shifts from angiosperm to chemically challenging conifer hosts, generalist fundamental feeding niches even evolved jointly with strong host plant specialization, indicating that host plant specialization is more likely driven by species interactions than by constraints imposed by plant chemistry. By coupling analyses of plant chemical compounds, fundamental and ecological feeding niches in multiple insect species, we provide novel insights into the evolutionary dynamics of host range expansion and contraction in herbivorous insects.

scholarly journals Differences in the level of intraspecific genetic variability in taxons of aphids, differing by character of evolutionary dynamics

2017 ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
M. M. Varabyova ◽  
N. V. Voronova
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Nucleotide Sequences ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Host Plant Specialization ◽  
High Level

Aim. Aphids are an interesting model to study the level of the genetic variability since there are species, which differ in the level of host-plant specialization and the peculiarity of a life cycle among them. The mutations observed in COI gene allow defining the interspecific level of the genetic variability in aphids. Methods. The highly conservative COI gene was used to study the level of the genetic variability in aphids. Results. The analysis of nucleotide sequences of COI gene allowed discovering statistically significant differences between generalists with wide spectrum of host plants, generalists with narrow spectrum of host plants and specialists. In addition, the genetic differences were discovered between holocyclic and angolocyclic species of aphids. Conclusions. As a result of the work it was determined that the wide spectrum of host-plants and holocycly are associated with the high level of genetic variability of COI gene in aphids.Keywords: aphids, genetic variability, COI, life cycle, host-plant specialization.

scholarly journals Root-associated entomopathogenic fungi manipulate host plants to attract herbivorous insects

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Cotes ◽  
Gunda Thöming ◽  
Carol V. Amaya-Gómez ◽  
Ondřej Novák ◽  
Christian Nansen
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Delia Radicum ◽  
Host Plant Selection ◽  
Herbivorous Insects ◽  
Herbivorous Insect ◽  
Insect Performance ◽  
Leaf Reflectance

AbstractRoot-associated entomopathogenic fungi (R-AEF) indirectly influence herbivorous insect performance. However, host plant-R-AEF interactions and R-AEF as biological control agents have been studied independently and without much attention to the potential synergy between these functional traits. In this study, we evaluated behavioral responses of cabbage root flies [Delia radicum L. (Diptera: Anthomyiidae)] to a host plant (white cabbage cabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba cv. Castello L.) with and without the R-AEF Metarhizium brunneum (Petch). We performed experiments on leaf reflectance, phytohormonal composition and host plant location behavior (behavioral processes that contribute to locating and selecting an adequate host plant in the environment). Compared to control host plants, R-AEF inoculation caused, on one hand, a decrease in reflectance of host plant leaves in the near-infrared portion of the radiometric spectrum and, on the other, an increase in the production of jasmonic, (+)-7-iso-jasmonoyl-l-isoleucine and salicylic acid in certain parts of the host plant. Under both greenhouse and field settings, landing and oviposition by cabbage root fly females were positively affected by R-AEF inoculation of host plants. The fungal-induced change in leaf reflectance may have altered visual cues used by the cabbage root flies in their host plant selection. This is the first study providing evidence for the hypothesis that R-AEF manipulate the suitability of their host plant to attract herbivorous insects.

Interaction between bracken and its insect herbivores

1985 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 125-131
Author(s):  
J. H. Lawton ◽  
M. MacGarvin
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Insect Herbivores ◽  
The World ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Typical Site

SynopsisBracken in Britain is a host for 27 species of insect herbivores, with a further 11 species that either feed below ground (and are poorly studied), or appear to be only rarely associated with the plant. A typical site in northern England has an average of 15–16 of these species in any one year. Compared with perennial herbaceous angiosperms with similar wide distributions, bracken is not noticeably depauperate in the number of insect species that feed upon it. Bracken in others parts of the world is attacked by a wide variety of insects, with more species present in the geographical areas where bracken is most common.The ‘feeding niches’ of some of these insects are reviewed. Most are very rare relative to the biomass of their host plants, probably because of the impact of natural enemies; the effect of most of the insects upon their host-plant is consequently negligible.Reverse effects, of host-plant upon the insects, are subtle but poorly understood. Experiments to elucidate these effects are briefly outlined.

scholarly journals Host Plants Influence the Symbiont Diversity of Eriosomatinae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Ting-Ting Xu ◽  
Li-Yun Jiang ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Ge-Xia Qiao
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Bacterial Flora ◽  
Multiple Infections ◽  
Primary Host ◽  
Host Plant Specialization ◽  
Taxonomic Distance ◽  
The Family

Eriosomatinae is a particular aphid group with typically heteroecious holocyclic life cycle, exhibiting strong primary host plant specialization and inducing galls on primary host plants. Aphids are frequently associated with bacterial symbionts, which can play fundamental roles in the ecology and evolution of their host aphids. However, the bacterial communities in Eriosomatinae are poorly known. In the present study, using high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene, we surveyed the bacterial flora of eriosomatines and explored the associations between symbiont diversity and aphid relatedness, aphid host plant and geographical distribution. The microbiota of Eriosomatinae is dominated by the heritable primary endosymbiont Buchnera and several facultative symbionts. The primary endosymbiont Buchnera is expectedly the most abundant symbiont across all species. Six facultative symbionts were identified. Regiella was the most commonly identified facultative symbiont, and multiple infections of facultative symbionts were detected in the majority of the samples. Ordination analyses and statistical tests show that the symbiont community of aphids feeding on plants from the family Ulmaceae were distinguishable from aphids feeding on other host plants. Species in Eriosomatinae feeding on different plants are likely to carry different symbiont compositions. The symbiont distributions seem to be not related to taxonomic distance and geographical distance. Our findings suggest that host plants can affect symbiont maintenance, and will improve our understanding of the interactions between aphids, their symbionts and ecological conditions.

scholarly journals Fundamental and realized feeding niche breadths of sexual and asexual stick insects

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1892) ◽  
pp. 20181805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Larose ◽  
Darren J. Parker ◽  
Tanja Schwander
Keyword(s):  
Natural Populations ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Stick Insect ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Realized Niche ◽  
Feeding Niche ◽  
Feeding Experiments ◽  
Asexual Species ◽  
Stick Insects

The factors contributing to the maintenance of sex over asexuality in natural populations remain unclear. Ecological divergences between sexual and asexual lineages could help to maintain reproductive polymorphisms, at least transiently, but the consequences of asexuality for the evolution of ecological niches are unknown. Here, we investigated how niche breadths change in transitions from sexual reproduction to asexuality. We used host plant ranges as a proxy to compare the realized feeding niche breadths of five independently derived asexual Timema stick insect species and their sexual relatives at both the species and population levels. Asexual species had systematically narrower realized niches than sexual species, though this pattern was not apparent at the population level. To investigate how the narrower realized niches of asexual species arise, we performed feeding experiments to estimate fundamental niche breadths but found no systematic differences between reproductive modes. The narrow realized niches found in asexual species are therefore probably a consequence of biotic interactions such as predation or competition, that constrain realized niche size in asexuals more strongly than in sexuals.

scholarly journals Phenotypic plasticity in chemical defence of butterflies allows usage of diverse host plants

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Érika C. P. de Castro ◽  
Jamie Musgrove ◽  
Søren Bak ◽  
W. Owen McMillan ◽  
Chris D. Jiggins
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Chemical Defence ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
Cyanogenic Glucosides ◽  
Chemical Defences ◽  
Host Plant Specialization ◽  
Heliconius Cydno

Host plant specialization is a major force driving ecological niche partitioning and diversification in insect herbivores. The cyanogenic defences of Passiflora plants keep most herbivores at bay, but not the larvae of Heliconiu s butterflies, which can both sequester and biosynthesize cyanogenic compounds. Here, we demonstrate that both Heliconius cydno chioneus and H. melpomene rosina have remarkable plasticity in their chemical defences. When feeding on Passiflora species with cyanogenic compounds that they can readily sequester, both species downregulate the biosynthesis of these compounds. By contrast, when fed on Passiflora plants that do not contain cyanogenic glucosides that can be sequestered, both species increase biosynthesis. This biochemical plasticity comes at a fitness cost for the more specialist H. m. rosina , as adult size and weight for this species negatively correlate with biosynthesis levels, but not for the more generalist H. c. chioneus . By contrast, H. m rosina has increased performance when sequestration is possible on its specialized host plant. In summary, phenotypic plasticity in biochemical responses to different host plants offers these butterflies the ability to widen their range of potential hosts within the Passiflora genus, while maintaining their chemical defences.

scholarly journals Diversity of gall-inducing insect associated with a superhost plant species: Plant architecture, resource availability and interspecific interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcilio Fagundes ◽  
ÉLLEN MARIANE SANTOS Santos ◽  
Karen Duarte ◽  
Larisa Santos ◽  
Jaqueline Vieira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Plant Architecture ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Herbivorous Insect ◽  
Insect Communities

Abstract. Fagundes M, Santos EML, Duarte KLR, Santos LM, Vieira JS, Oliveira CHD, Silva PS. 2020. Diversity of gall-inducing insect associated with a superhost plant species: Plant architecture, resource availability and interspecific interactions. Biodiversitas 21: 1182-1189. The role of interspecific competition in the organization of herbivorous insect communities may vary depending on resource availability. Trees are structurally more complex and have greater resource availability for herbivorous insects than shrubs. In this study, we evaluated the roles of plant architecture and interspecific interactions on community organization of the gall-inducing insect associated with trees (adult plants) and shrubs (young plants) of Copaifera langsdorffii. Our results showed that the species composition of gall-inducing insect communities associated with C. langsdorffii differed statistically between trees and shrubs. In addition, the trees presented greater diversity of gall-inducing insects than the shrubs, corroborating the hypothesis of plant architecture. The results of the analysis of null models showed that the co-occurrence of gall-inducing insect species associated with trees not differ from the co-occurrence predicted by chance. Thus, interspecific interactions cannot be used to explain the community organization of the gall-inducing insects on C. langsdorffii trees. On the other hand, the co-occurrence of gall-inducing insect species differed from the co-occurrence predicted by chance when shrubs plants were analyzed, indicating that biotic interactions can shape the structure of the gall-inducing insect community on shrubs. The lower availability of oviposition sites probably generates a dispute for these resources among females of different species of gall-inducing insects only in the shrubs. Therefore, the role of competition in the organization of herbivore insect communities on their host plant may vary depending on the ontogenetic stage of the host plant.

EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF HOST-PLANT SPECIALIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE TRIBE NYMPHALINI

Evolution ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Janz ◽  
Klas Nyblom ◽  
Sören Nylin
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Host Plant Specialization

Host Plant Specialization Driven by Sexual Selection

2007 ◽  
Vol 169 (6) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
Tiago B. Quental ◽  
Manus M. Patten ◽  
Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Host Plant Specialization
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