Water availability and plant community composition alter plant nutrient availability and the accumulation of plant defence compounds therefore having an impact on herbivore performance. Combined effects of drought stress and plant community composition on leaf chemicals and herbivore performance are largely unexplored. The objective of our study was, therefore, to find out the impact of extreme drought and of plant community composition on plantherbivore interactions. Larvae of the generalist butterfly Spodoptera littoralis were reared on leaves of the grass Holcus lanatus which was grown in experimental communities, differing in species-and functional group richness. These communities were either subjected to extreme drought or remained under ambient climatic conditions. Drought decreased relative water content, soluble protein content, nitrogen and total phenol content and increased the content of carbohydrates in the grass. As a consequence, the larvae feeding on drought-exposed plants revealed a longer larval stage, increased pupal weight and higher adult eclosion rates. Plant community composition mainly caused changes to the defensive compounds of the grass, but also marginally affected protein and carbohydrate content. Larvae feeding on species-richest communities without legumes showed the highest mortality. Our findings imply that climate change that is projected to increase the frequency of severe droughts, as well as alter plant community compositions, is likely to affect arthropod-plant interactions through an alteration of leaf chemicals.

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Numerous reports have indicated that glucosinolates are important stimulants for specialist herbivores feeding on Brassicaceae, and that these metabolites might be present on the plant surface and thereby detectable by an alighting insect. We investigated the outermost layer of leaves of two species of Brassicaceae, Brassica napus L. var. ‘Martina’ and Nasturtium officinale R. Br., using two highly selective extraction methods. When the epicuticular wax layer was mechanically removed with gum arabic, no glucosinolates were detectable in the lower and upper leaf surfaces. Extracting the leaf surfaces with a threefold short rinse with chloroform/methanol/water (2 : 1 : 1 vol/vol/vol) led to varying results, depending on the light conditions under which plants had been kept in the period prior to extraction. In plants kept under light, glucosinolates were detectable in a first extraction in minor concentrations, with increasing amounts in a second and third extraction. In plants kept in darkness, glucosinolates were almost absent in the first extraction. We postulate that the polar glucosinolates are washed from the inner leaf tissue through open stomata to the outside during solvent extraction, but are not naturally present in the outermost wax layer. The response of the crucifer specialist Phaedon cochleariae (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to leaf surfaces of the host plants B. napus and N. officinale and to a glucosinolate was tested. Adults preferred both the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces of host plants that had been treated with gum arabic in order to remove the epicuticular waxes over intact surfaces. Waxes may therefore prevent direct contact with the stimulants. Sinigrin (allyl glucosinolate) and/or surface extracts of N. officinale leaves applied on Pisum sativum leaf discs did not evoke feeding, but feeding did occur when total leaf extracts of B. napus or N. officinale were applied on this non‐host. We conclude that glucosinolates might only act as feeding stimulants for P. cochleariae in concert with compounds other than surface waxes.

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