Gustatory discrimination of sugars, amino acids, and selected allelochemicals by the tarnished plant bug, <i>Lygus lineolaris</i>

Hatfield, L. D.; Frazier, James L.; Ferreira, Juliana

doi:10.1111/j.1365-3032.1982.tb00662.x

“…Particular types and mixes of amino acids act as phagostimulants (Petanidou et al . ) in a wide range of animals like plant bugs (Strong & Kruitwagen ; Hatfield, Frazier & Ferreira ), bees (Inouye & Waller ; Alm et al . ), cockroaches (Soichi et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen and amino acids in nectar modify food selection of nectarivorous bats

Rodríguez-Peña

¹

,

Stoner

²

,

Ayala-Berdon

³

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. Chiropterophilic flowers secrete sugar nectar with low-Nitrogen (N hereafter) content and small amounts of amino acids, which may function to attract animals; nevertheless, the role that micronutrients have on the foraging decisions of Neotropical nectarivorous bats is unknown. 2. We offered the nectar specialist Leptonycteris yerbabueanae and the omnivore Glossophaga soricina pairs of experimental diets mimicking either the N content or the relative abundance of 17 amino acids found in the floral nectar from the main plant species visited by these bats in a tropical dry forest. We addressed the following research questions: (i) Do bats select N-containing or sugar-only nectar differently based on bats' N nutritional status? (ii) Does the presence of N in nectar affect the capacity of bats to discriminate and select other nectar traits such as sugar concentration? and (iii) Are bats able to distinguish among the flavours generated by the amino acid relative abundance present in the nectar from plants they typically encounter in nature? 3. Our results showed that: (i) bats did not consider nectar N content regardless of their N nutritional condition, (ii) the nectar specialist L. yerbabuenae showed a preference for the most concentrated sugar-only nectar but changed to be indifferent when nectar contained N, and (iii) L. yerbabuenae preferred diets without amino acids and preferred the taste of the amino acids present in the nectar of Pachycereus pecten (Cactaceae) over those present in the nectar of Ceiba aesculifolia (Bombacaceae). 4. Our results suggest that regardless of the low concentrations at which N and amino acids are present in floral nectar, their presence affects bats' food selection by interfering with the bats' ability to detect differences in sugar concentrations, and by offering particular flavours that can be perceived and selected by nectarivorous bats. We discuss the ecological implications of the presence of N and amino acids in nectar on bats' foraging decisions.

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“…The probability of moving by fourth instar nymphs, and the total time spent moving by mobile fourth and fifth instar nymphs increased significantly with the nitrogen fertilization level. For example, nitrogen fertilization has been shown to have a negative influence on the concentration of water-soluble carbohydrates in wheat (Frank et al, 1989), and sucrose, glucose, and fructose have been reported to be feeding stimulants to, e.g., L. lineolaris (Hatfield et al, 1982). Availability of nitrogen to plants may influence several plant qualities (Mengel & Kirkby, 1987) that may be important for insect herbivores.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Within species variation in host plant quality and movement behavior of Lygus rugulipennis nymphs

Hannunen

¹

,

Ekbom

²

2002

Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships

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We studied movement behavior of the polyphagous herbivore Lygus rugulipennis Poppius (Heteroptera: Miridae) on wheat (Triticum aestivum) that had been cultivated in pots using three different levels of nitrogen fertilization. The probability of moving for fourth instar nymphs, and the time spent moving by mobile fourth and fifth instar nymphs increased with the nitrogen fertilization level of the pot. The nitrogen fertilization level of the pot did not appear to influence the probability of moving for fifth instar nymphs. The difference in movement behavior of nymphs on the pots of wheat fertilized with the lowest and the highest nitrogen levels seemed to be as great as the difference in movement behavior reported earlier on two different host plant species, viz., wheat and Tripleurospermum inodorum Schultz. The magnitude of the difference in movement behavior on the extreme nitrogen levels illustrates the importance of recognizing within species variation in plant quality when relating movement patterns of insect herbivores with host plant species.

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“…Such plant qualities are concentration and composition of amino acids, nitrogenous secondary chemicals, and carbohydrates (Bernays & Chapman, 1994). For example, nitrogen fertilization has been shown to have a negative influence on the concentration of water-soluble carbohydrates in wheat (Frank et al, 1989), and sucrose, glucose, and fructose have been reported to be feeding stimulants to, e.g., L. lineolaris (Hatfield et al, 1982). Also concentration of nitrogenous secondary chemicals is often associated with concentration of nitrogen in the plant (Bernays & Chapman, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Within species variation in host plant quality and movement behavior of Lygus rugulipennis nymphs

Hannunen

¹

,

Ekbom

²

2002

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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We studied movement behavior of the polyphagous herbivore Lygus rugulipennis Poppius (Heteroptera: Miridae) on wheat (Triticum aestivum) that had been cultivated in pots using three different levels of nitrogen fertilization. The probability of moving for fourth instar nymphs, and the time spent moving by mobile fourth and fifth instar nymphs increased with the nitrogen fertilization level of the pot. The nitrogen fertilization level of the pot did not appear to influence the probability of moving for fifth instar nymphs. The difference in movement behavior of nymphs on the pots of wheat fertilized with the lowest and the highest nitrogen levels seemed to be as great as the difference in movement behavior reported earlier on two different host plant species, viz., wheat and Tripleurospermum inodorum Schultz. The magnitude of the difference in movement behavior on the extreme nitrogen levels illustrates the importance of recognizing within species variation in plant quality when relating movement patterns of insect herbivores with host plant species.

show abstract

Gustatory discrimination of sugars, amino acids, and selected allelochemicals by the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris

Cited by 10 publications

References 23 publications

Nitrogen and amino acids in nectar modify food selection of nectarivorous bats

Nitrogen and amino acids in nectar modify food selection of nectarivorous bats

Within species variation in host plant quality and movement behavior of Lygus rugulipennis nymphs

Within species variation in host plant quality and movement behavior of Lygus rugulipennis nymphs

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