Defence strategies of Chrysomela lapponica (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae: relative efficacy of secreted and stored defences against insect and avian predators

Zvereva, Elena L.; Doktorovová, Lucia; Svádová, Kateřina Hotová; Zverev, Vitali; Štys, Pavel; Adamová-Ježová, Dana; Kozlov, Mikhail V.; Exnerová, Alice

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/bly045

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Higher effectiveness of sequestered than autogenous chemicals against avian predators has also been found in other studied systems, e.g. leaf beetles (Zvereva et al 2018) and lanternflies (Song et al 2018). Nevertheless, our results show that the autogenous scent-gland secretion can by itself increase the bug survival compared to undefended prey.…”

Section: Specialization Ofsupporting

confidence: 69%

Sequestration of Defenses against Predators Drives Specialized Host Plant Associations in Preadapted Milkweed Bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae)

Petschenka

Halitschke

Züst

et al. 2022

The American Naturalist

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Host plant specialization across herbivorous insects varies dramatically, but while the molecular mechanisms of host-plant adaptations are increasingly known, we often lack a comprehensive understanding of the selective forces that favor specialization. The milkweed bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae) are engaged in ancestrally specialized associations with plants of the Apocynaceae from which they commonly sequester cardiac glycosides for defense, facilitated by resistant Na + /K + -ATPases and adaptations for transport, storage and discharge of toxins. Here, we show that three Lygaeinae species independently colonized four novel non-apocynaceous hosts that convergently produce cardiac glycosides. A fourth species shifted to a new source of toxins by tolerating and sequestering alkaloids from meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale, Colchicaceae). Across three milkweed bug species tested, feeding on seeds containing toxins did not improve growth or speed of development, and even impaired growth and development in two species, but sequestration mediated protection of milkweed bugs against two natural predators: lacewing larvae and passerine birds. We conclude that physiological preadaptations and convergent phytochemistry facilitated novel specialized host associations. Since toxic seeds did not improve but either impaired growth or at most had neutral effects, selection by predators on sequestration of defenses, rather than the exploitation of additional profitable dietary resources, can lead to obligatory specialized host associations in otherwise generalist insects.

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Section: Specialization Ofsupporting

confidence: 69%

Sequestration of Defenses against Predators Drives Specialized Host Plant Associations in Preadapted Milkweed Bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae)

Petschenka

Halitschke

Züst

et al. 2022

The American Naturalist

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“…Therefore, the behaviour of naïve juvenile birds in relation to prey colouration differs considerably from the behaviour of adult birds (Halpin et al 2008 ; Svádová et al 2013 ). These differences between naïve and educated birds are well known from laboratory experiments (Exnerová et al 2007 ; Zvereva et al 2018 ; Doktorovová et al 2019 ), but surprisingly few studies have explored the consequences of these differences in the natural setting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations in bird selection pressure on prey colouration

Zvereva

Kozlov

2021

Oecologia

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The direction and strength of selection for prey colouration by predators vary in space and time and depend on the composition of the predator community. We tested the hypothesis that bird selection pressure on prey colouration changes through the season due to changes in the proportion of naïve juvenile individuals in the bird community, because naïve and educated birds differ in their responses to prey colours. Bird predation on caterpillar-shaped plasticine models in two boreal forest sites increased sevenfold from early summer to mid-summer, and the time of this increase coincides with the fledging of juvenile birds. In early summer, cryptic (black and green) models were attacked at fivefold higher rates compared with conspicuous (red and yellow) models. By contrast, starting from fledging time, cryptic and conspicuous models were attacked at similar rates, hinting at a lower selectivity by naïve juvenile birds compared with educated adult birds. Cryptic models exposed in a group together with conspicuous models were attacked by birds at a threefold lower rate than cryptic models exposed singly, thus supporting the aposematic commensalism hypothesis. However, this effect was not observed in mid- and late summer, presumably due to the lack of avoidance of conspicuous prey by the juvenile birds. We conclude that selection pressure on prey colouration weakens considerably when naïve birds dominate in the community, because the survival advantages of aposematic colouration are temporarily lost for both the conspicuous and their neighbouring cryptic prey.

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“…In insects, the chemical adaptation of unpalatability preceded the morphological adaptation of warning coloration as well as the behavioral adaptations of gregariousness, maternal care, and subsociality 16 – 19 . Most studies on the evolution of predator–prey interactions tend however to focus on the signaling of defenses towards birds 20 , although unpalatability itself is most probably driven by both vertebrate and invertebrate predators, as shown in leaf beetles 21 , 22 , tiger moths 23 , and sawflies 24 . In tritrophic approaches of ecosystems, birds preying on herbivores have been shown to top-down regulate the plant level 25 , and predatory insects, especially ants, act on plants in a same way 26 – 28 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endogenous toxins and the coupling of gregariousness to conspicuousness in Argidae and Pergidae sawflies

Boevé

Nyman

Shinohara

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Phytophagous insects tend to be either cryptic and solitary, or brightly colored and gregarious, as a defense against vertebrate predators. Here, we tested whether potent defensive chemicals produced de novo by larvae of Argidae and Pergidae sawflies have influenced the evolutionary relationship between larval appearance and levels of gregariousness. Phylogeny-based correlation analyses indicated only a weak trend for solitary species to be cryptic, and for gregarious ones to be conspicuous. Numerous Argidae were cryptic–solitary or conspicuous–gregarious, whereas most Pergidae were conspicuous–gregarious. Both families also included not truly gregarious but aggregated species, i.e. with individuals more evenly distributed on the host plant. By considering two specific morphological traits, predominant body coloration and contrasting spots on body, each one was (weakly) associated with appearance but none with gregariousness, which reflects the functional relevance of appearance as a whole. Furthermore, Argidae can display alternate appearances during successive larval instars. Finally, an independent contrasts test showed no obvious correlation between two major toxic peptides. Our results point towards diversely combined patterns of linked ecological traits in these insects. By assuming that warning coloration is more warranted against vertebrate than invertebrate predators, we suggest that the occurrence itself of toxins allowed this diversity via differing predator guilds and environmental factors, to which these insects were confronted during evolution.

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Defence strategies of Chrysomela lapponica (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) larvae: relative efficacy of secreted and stored defences against insect and avian predators

Cited by 11 publications

References 76 publications

Sequestration of Defenses against Predators Drives Specialized Host Plant Associations in Preadapted Milkweed Bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae)

Sequestration of Defenses against Predators Drives Specialized Host Plant Associations in Preadapted Milkweed Bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae)

Seasonal variations in bird selection pressure on prey colouration

Endogenous toxins and the coupling of gregariousness to conspicuousness in Argidae and Pergidae sawflies

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