Host plant nitrogen enrichment has both positive and negative effects on the larval growth of a specialist butterfly

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Lebigre ◽  
Caroline Vanderbeken ◽  
Camille Turlure ◽  
Nicolas Schtickzelle
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Nitrogen Enrichment ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Plant Nitrogen ◽  
Specialist Butterfly

scholarly journals Host Plant Species Mediates Impact of Neonicotinoid Exposure to Monarch Butterflies

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Cody Prouty ◽  
Paola Barriga ◽  
Andrew K. Davis ◽  
Vera Krischik ◽  
Sonia Altizer
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Low Doses ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Protective Effects ◽  
Plant Type ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Monarch Butterflies ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Chemical Retention

Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides in North America. Numerous studies document the negative effects of neonicotinoids on bees, and it remains crucial to demonstrate if neonicotinoids affect other non-target insects, such as butterflies. Here we examine how two neonicotinoids (imidacloprid and clothianidin) affect the development, survival, and flight of monarch butterflies, and how these chemicals interact with the monarch’s milkweed host plant. We first fed caterpillars field-relevant low doses (0.075 and 0.225 ng/g) of neonicotinoids applied to milkweed leaves (Asclepias incarnata), and found no significant reductions in larval development rate, pre-adult survival, or adult flight performance. We next fed larvae higher neonicotinoid doses (4–70 ng/g) and reared them on milkweed species known to produce low, moderate, or high levels of secondary toxins (cardenolides). Monarchs exposed to the highest dose of clothianidin (51–70 ng/g) experienced pupal deformity, low survival to eclosion, smaller body size, and weaker adult grip strength. This effect was most evident for monarchs reared on the lowest cardenolide milkweed (A. incarnata), whereas monarchs reared on the high-cardenolide A. curassavica showed no significant reductions in any variable measured. Our results indicate that monarchs are tolerant to low doses of neonicotinoid, and that negative impacts of neonicotinoids depend on host plant type. Plant toxins may confer protective effects or leaf physical properties may affect chemical retention. Although neonicotinoid residues are ubiquitous on milkweeds in agricultural and ornamental settings, commonly encountered doses below 50 ng/g are unlikely to cause substantial declines in monarch survival or migratory performance.

scholarly journals Nitrogen enrichment offsets direct negative effects of ocean acidification on a reef-building crustose coralline alga

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 20180371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie D. Johnson ◽  
Robert C. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Nutrient Enrichment ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Crustose Coralline Alga ◽  
Nitrogen Enrichment ◽  
Coralline Alga ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
Near Future

Ocean acidification (OA) and nutrient enrichment threaten the persistence of near shore ecosystems, yet little is known about their combined effects on marine organisms. Here, we show that a threefold increase in nitrogen concentrations, simulating enrichment due to coastal eutrophication or consumer excretions, offset the direct negative effects of near-future OA on calcification and photophysiology of the reef-building crustose coralline alga, Porolithon onkodes . Projected near-future pCO 2 levels (approx. 850 µatm) decreased calcification by 30% relative to ambient conditions. Conversely, nitrogen enrichment (nitrate + nitrite and ammonium) increased calcification by 90–130% in ambient and high pCO 2 treatments, respectively. pCO 2 and nitrogen enrichment interactively affected instantaneous photophysiology, with highest relative electron transport rates under high pCO 2 and high nitrogen. Nitrogen enrichment alone increased concentrations of the photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a , phycocyanin and phycoerythrin by approximately 80–450%, regardless of pCO 2 . These results demonstrate that nutrient enrichment can mediate direct organismal responses to OA. In natural systems, however, such direct benefits may be counteracted by simultaneous increases in negative indirect effects, such as heightened competition. Experiments exploring the effects of multiple stressors are increasingly becoming important for improving our ability to understand the ramifications of local and global change stressors in near shore ecosystems.

High host-plant nitrogen content: a prerequisite for the evolution of ant-caterpillar mutualism?

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1658-1666 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. PELLISSIER ◽  
S. RASMANN ◽  
G. LITSIOS ◽  
K. FIEDLER ◽  
A. DUBUIS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Plant Nitrogen

Pathogen resistance in the moth Orgyia antiqua: direct influence of host plant dominates over the effects of individual condition

2010 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.-L. Sandre ◽  
T. Tammaru ◽  
H.M.T. Hokkanen
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Pathogen Resistance ◽  
Time To Death ◽  
Insect Ecology ◽  
Immune Traits ◽  
Polyphagous Insects ◽  
Salix Myrsinifolia ◽  
Individual Condition

AbstractThe role of pathogens in insect ecology is widely appreciated but remains insufficiently explored. Specifically, there is little understanding about the sources of the variation in the outcome of insect-pathogen interactions. This study addresses the extent to which immune traits of larvae and pupae of the moth Orgyia antiqua L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) depend on the host plant species and individual condition of the insects. The two host plants, Salix myrsinifolia Salisb. and S. viminalis L., were chosen because they differ in the concentration of phenolic glycosides, harmful to most polyphagous insects. Individual condition was assumed to be reflected in body weight and development time, and was manipulated by rearing larvae either singly or in groups of four. The resistance traits recorded were survival and time to death after fungal infection in the larval stage and the efficiency of encapsulating a nylon implant by the pupae. The survival of the infected larvae was mainly determined by the species of the host plant. Encapsulation response was not associated with the resistance to the pathogen, suggesting that the host plant affected the pathogen rather than the immune system of the insect. Interestingly, the host plant supporting better larval growth led to inferior resistance to the pathogen, indicating a trade-off between different aspects of host plant quality.

scholarly journals Natural selection and maladaptive plasticity in the red-shouldered soapberry bug

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M L Cenzer
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Host Plant ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Soapberry Bug ◽  
Maladaptive Plasticity ◽  
Beak Length ◽  
Native Host

AbstractNatural selection and phenotypic plasticity can both produce locally differentiated phenotypes, but novel environments or gene combinations can produce plasticity that works in opposition to adaptive change. The red-shouldered soapberry bug (Jadera haematoloma) was locally adapted to feed on the seeds of an introduced and a native host plant in Florida in the 1980s. By 2014, local differentiation was lost and replaced by phenotypically similar populations all adapted to the introduced host, likely as a result of gene flow. Here, I quantify the effects of these two host plants on individual performance, natural selection, and phenotypic plasticity. I find that the seed coat and seedpod of the native host have strong negative effects on juvenile survival and adult reproduction compared to the introduced host. I find support for the hypothesis that the seedpod is driving diversifying natural selection on beak length, which was previously locally adapted between hosts. I also find maladaptive plasticity induced by host plant: bugs develop beak lengths that are mismatched with the seedpod size of the host they are reared on. This plasticity may be the result of gene flow; hybrids in the 1990s showed the same pattern of maladaptive plasticity, and plasticity is stronger in the present in areas with high gene flow. Although ongoing natural selection has produced locally adapted genotypes in soapberry bugs, maladaptive plasticity has masked the phenotypic difference between populations in the field.

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