The Many Dimensions of Diet Breadth: Phytochemical, Genetic, Behavioral, and Physiological Perspectives on the Interaction between a Native Herbivore and an Exotic Host
Date
2016-02-02
Authors
Harrison, Joshua G.
Gompert, Zachariah
Fordyce, James
Buerkle, C. Alex
Grinstead, Rachel
Jahner, Joshua P.
Mikel, Scott
Nice, Chris C.
Santamaria, Aldrin
Forister, Matthew L.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
From the perspective of an herbivorous insect, conspecific host plants are not identical, and intraspecific variation in host nutritional quality or defensive capacity might mediate spatially variable outcomes in plant-insect interactions. Here we explore this possibility in the context of an ongoing host breadth expansion of a native butterfly (the Melissa blue, Lycaeides melissa) onto an exotic host plant (alfalfa, Medicago sativa). We examine variation among seven alfalfa populations that differed in terms of colonization by L. melissa; specifically, we examined variation in phytochemistry, foliar protein, and plant population genetic structure, as well as responses of caterpillars and adult butterflies to foliage from the same populations. Regional patterns of alfalfa colonization by L. melissa were well predicted by phytochemical variation, and colonized patches of alfalfa showed a similar level of inter-individual phytochemical diversity. However, phytochemical variation was a poor predictor of larval performance, despite the fact that survival and weight gain differed dramatically among caterpillars reared on plants from different alfalfa populations. Moreover, we observed a mismatch between alfalfa supporting the best larval performance and alfalfa favored by ovipositing females. Thus, the axes of plant variation that mediate interactions with L. melissa depend upon herbivore life history stage, which raises important issues for our understanding of adaptation to novel resources by an organism with a complex life history.
Description
Keywords
alfalfa, phytochemicals, larvae, phytochemistry, population genetics, genetic polymorphism, caterpillars, oviposition, Biology
Citation
Harrison, J. G., Gompert, Z., Fordyce, J. A., Buerkle, C. A., Grinstead, R., Jahner, J. P., Mikel, S., Nice, C. C., Santamaria, A., & Forister, M. L. (2016). The many dimensions of diet breadth: Phytochemical, genetic, behavioral, and physiological perspectives on the interaction between a native herbivore and an exotic host. PLoS One, 11(2), e0147971.
Rights
Rights Holder
© 2016 Harrison et al.
Rights License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.