Host Plant Exploitation by an Oligophagous Population of Pieris virginiensis (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Shuey ◽  
John W. Peacock
Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Bodino ◽  
Vincenzo Cavalieri ◽  
Crescenza Dongiovanni ◽  
Matteo Alessandro Saladini ◽  
Anna Simonetto ◽  
...  

Spittlebugs are the vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells in Europe, the causal agent of olive dieback epidemic in Apulia, Italy. Selection and distribution of different spittlebug species on host-plants were investigated during field surveys in 2016–2018 in four olive orchards of Apulia and Liguria Regions of Italy. The nymphal population in the herbaceous cover was estimated using quadrat samplings. Adults were collected by sweeping net on three different vegetational components: herbaceous cover, olive canopy, and wild woody plants. Three species of spittlebugs were collected: Philaenus spumarius L., Neophilaenus campestris (Fallén), and Aphrophora alni (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae). Philaenus spumarius was the predominant species both in Apulia and Liguria olive groves. Nymphal stages are highly polyphagous, selecting preferentially Asteraceae Fabaceae plant families, in particular some genera, e.g., Picris, Crepis, Sonchus, Bellis, Cichorium, and Medicago. Host-plant preference of nymphs varies according to the Region and through time and nymphal instar. In the monitored sites, adults peak on olive trees earlier in Apulia (i.e., during inflorescence emergence) than in Liguria (i.e., during flowering and beginning of fruit development). Principal alternative woody hosts are Quercus spp. and Pistacia spp. Knowledge concerning plant selection and ecological traits of spittlebugs in different Mediterranean olive production areas is needed to design effective and precise control strategies against X. fastidiosa vectors in olive groves, such as ground cover modifications to reduce populations of spittlebug vectors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1850) ◽  
pp. 20161679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Orivel ◽  
Pierre-Jean Malé ◽  
Jérémie Lauth ◽  
Olivier Roux ◽  
Frédéric Petitclerc ◽  
...  

Species engaged in multiple, simultaneous mutualisms are subject to trade-offs in their mutualistic investment if the traits involved in each interaction are overlapping, which can lead to conflicts and affect the longevity of these associations. We investigate this issue via a tripartite mutualism involving an ant plant, two competing ant species and a fungus the ants cultivate to build galleries under the stems of their host plant to capture insect prey. The use of the galleries represents an innovative prey capture strategy compared with the more typical strategy of foraging on leaves. However, because of a limited worker force in their colonies, the prey capture behaviour of the ants results in a trade-off between plant protection (i.e. the ants patrol the foliage and attack intruders including herbivores) and ambushing prey in the galleries, which has a cascading effect on the fitness of all of the partners. The quantification of partners' traits and effects showed that the two ant species differed in their mutualistic investment. Less investment in the galleries (i.e. in fungal cultivation) translated into more benefits for the plant in terms of less herbivory and higher growth rates and vice versa. However, the greater vegetative growth of the plants did not produce a positive fitness effect for the better mutualistic ant species in terms of colony size and production of sexuals nor was the mutualist compensated by the wider dispersal of its queens. As a consequence, although the better ant mutualist is the one that provides more benefits to its host plant, its lower host–plant exploitation does not give this ant species a competitive advantage. The local coexistence of the ant species is thus fleeting and should eventually lead to the exclusion of the less competitive species.


ENTOMON ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-238
Author(s):  
J. Nayanathara ◽  
R. Narayana
Keyword(s):  
New Host ◽  

Anthene lycaenina lycaenina (R. Felder, 1868) is reported on mango for the first time.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-15
Author(s):  
M.D. Zerova ◽  
A. Al-Sendi ◽  
V.N. Fursov ◽  
H. Adeli-Manesh ◽  
S.E. Sadeghi ◽  
...  

The new species, Bruchophagus ayadi sp.n., is reared from seed pods of Melilotus officinalis (L.) Desr. (Fabaceae) in Iran (Lorestan). The new species is close to B. platypterus (Walk.), but differs by roundish abdomen and very gibbous, almost globular (in lateral view) mesosoma. These species can be also differentiated by some biological features. The host plant of B. platypterus is Lotus corniculatus L., whereas the new species is reared from Melilotus officinalis (L.) Desr. Holotype of Bruchophagus ayadi sp.n. is deposited in the collection of I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv).


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