Exotic<i>Crotalaria</i>Species (Fabales: Fabaceae) as Host Plants of the Ornate Bella Moth,<i>Utetheisa ornatrix</i>(Lepidoptera: Erebidae), in Florida: Laboratory Biology

Sourakov, Andrei; Locascio, Logan M.

doi:10.1653/024.096.0254

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Pods were collected at the ripening stage typically attacked by the larvae. Acquisition of eggs and their rearing, as well as chemical analysis, were performed according to methods described in Sourakov and Locascio (2013). For each of the experiments, neonate larvae from a single egg batch were randomly divided into feeding groups to minimize the influence of hereditary predisposition to slower/faster development or smaller/larger size.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was proposed (Cogni et al 2011;Franco and Cogni 2013;Sourakov and Locascio 2013) that the differences in phenology of Crotalaria will affect the resulting moth populations. My observations made on various U. ornatrix populations around Gainesville, Florida, during 2011-2014 support this supposition.…”

Section: Larval Feeding Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In that study, moths preferred to oviposit on C. pallida and the female larvae developed into heavier adults. Another recent study (Sourakov and Locascio 2013) compared the effectiveness of C. lanceolata and C. incana as hostplants of U. ornatrix in Florida and found a remarkable difference between the rates of larval development on the two hostplants. Cogni et al (2011) point out that there is considerable intraspecific variation in plants on both a regional and continental scale and that the variable characteristics relate to herbivory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although exotic Crotalaria are much more prevalent in today's Florida landscapes, from the conservation ecology point of view it seems important to understand how the native species fair against exotics as hostplants in attracting moths and in the capacity of a food source. Sourakov and Locascio (2013) showed that C. incana, which is supposedly native to Central and South America (e.g. Austin 2004;Cogni 2010), and hence has co-evolved with U. ornatrix there, is very well suited for the development of U. ornatrix larvae compared with the exotic African C. lanceolata, on which the development is much slower ( Figure 3F).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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You are what you eat: native versus exoticCrotalariaspecies (Fabaceae) as host plants of the Ornate Bella Moth,Utetheisa ornatrix(Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Sourakov

2015

Journal of Natural History

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Crotalaria plants and Utetheisa ornatrix are closely linked to each other: the larvae destroy the seeds, while the moth depends on hostplants for alkaloids. To better understand the ongoing co-evolution, the present study examines how native hostplants compare to exotic ones. Leaf-feeding on Crotalaria pumila, C. rotundifolia, and C. incana, native to the moth's range, led to faster larval development than on the exotic C. lanceolata, C. spectabilis, and C. pallida. Seed-feeding on all species of Crotalaria led to accelerated larval development and a resultant larger adult moth, and correlates with a higher nitrogen content in the plant tissues. These results add a novel dimension to the previous studies of reproductive biology of this model organism. In controlled settings, mature larvae showed preference for leaves of C. spectabilis over those of other species, perhaps due to the higher alkaloid content. Differences in morphology and phenology of Crotalaria determine the ecology of U. ornatrix populations in Florida. The introduction of novel hostplants, on which U. ornatrix can have a significant negative effect and which are of concern to humans as invasive toxic weeds, has greatly expanded the niche occupied by this moth. Possible co-evolution of Utetheisa sensu lato and plant defences in the genus Crotalaria is discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Larval Feeding Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%