Lifetime Fitness and Evolution of Reproductive Pattern in the Herbivorous Lady Beetle

Ohgushi, Takayuki

doi:10.2307/1941563

Cited by 33 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The larvae of the beetle Stator limbatus are polyphagous seed feeders and the adults produce fewer, but larger, eggs to overcome the high mortality which normal larvae suer when penetrating the seed coat of some species (Fox et al 1997). Alternatively, varying egg production can stabilize populations of insects which are generally long-lived in the adult stage, but utilise unpredictable oviposition resources (Ohgushi 1991). No clear mechanism behind this type of¯exibility has been shown in phytophagous insects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this to be a viable strategy the process must be quickly reversible, that is, after a period of low egg production the insect should be able to restart egg production when acceptable host plants are once again available. A Japanese species of thistle-feeding herbivorous lady beetle, Henosepilachna niponica, varies egg production as a mechanism for keeping the population in equilibrium with the available food resources (Ohgushi 1991). The resource availability of the thistle varied considerably over a 5-year period, yet the monophagous H. niponica maintained a constant density relative to the availability of this resource, mostly by changes in oviposition rate (Ohgushi 1991(Ohgushi , 1995.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A Japanese species of thistle-feeding herbivorous lady beetle, Henosepilachna niponica, varies egg production as a mechanism for keeping the population in equilibrium with the available food resources (Ohgushi 1991). The resource availability of the thistle varied considerably over a 5-year period, yet the monophagous H. niponica maintained a constant density relative to the availability of this resource, mostly by changes in oviposition rate (Ohgushi 1991(Ohgushi , 1995. When beetles, which had stopped laying eggs because of resource depletion, were moved to undamaged plants the beetles resumed egg production (Ohgushi 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, changes egg production rate to match host quality

Hopkins¹,

Ekbom²

1999

Oecologia

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Motivation-based models dominate current theory concerning host plant selection for oviposition by herbivorous insects. A female searching for a host plant will be more likely to accept a host which is of inferior quality for her offspring if motivation is high, e.g. a large eggload or long time since last oviposition. This implies that insects will accumulate eggs if exposed to hosts of low acceptability and after a time lay eggs on such hosts. An alternative strategy for insects when exposed to less acceptable hosts is to stop producing, instead of accumulating, eggs. Thus, resources would be saved until a more acceptable host is found. If this hypothesis is true, a herbivorous insect would cease egg production when exposed to hosts of low acceptability and resume egg production when exposed to hosts of high acceptability. Previous exposure should not affect oviposition rate when an insect encounters a new host of a different quality. In an earlier study pollen beetles, Meligethes aeneus (F.) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), did not accumulate eggs in the absence of high quality hosts. In this study we monitored the daily oviposition rate of female pollen beetles on hosts plants of low (Sinapis alba L.), intermediate (Brassica nigra Koch) or high (B. napus L.) acceptability over a 5-day period. Individuals were then switched to an oviposition resource of a different acceptability. Beetles moved from high- to low-acceptability plants reduced their oviposition rate considerably. In the opposite case, low to high acceptability, the rate of oviposition increased markedly after the switch. When M. aeneus were moved from the high-acceptability host to that of intermediate acceptability oviposition rate was modified accordingly. However, when moved to the intermediate host from a host of low acceptability oviposition on B. nigra was much less than would normally be expected. A possible mechanism for this finding is discussed. M. aeneus, by adjusting oviposition rate to host acceptability, maximizes the average host quality for offspring, even at the cost of a lower egg-laying rate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, changes egg production rate to match host quality

Hopkins¹,

Ekbom²

1999

Oecologia

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“…Reproductive success varies seasonally in animal species of diverse taxa, e.g., insects (Ohgushi 1991, Cushman et al 1994); fish (Schultz 1993); and mammals (Clutton-Brock et al 1982). Seasonal declines in reproductive success have been particularly well documented in birds (Perrins 1970, Daan et al 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Decline in Reproductive Success of the Great Tit: Variation in Time or Quality?

Verhulst

Balen

Tinbergen³

1995

Ecology

295

242

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Seasonal variation in reproductive success is a common feature of most organisms. To understand the evolution of breeding seasons and reproductive strategies of individual animals, it is necessary to assess the extent to which seasonal variation in reproductive success is causally related to seasonal variation in the environment ('timing' hypothesis), to differences in quality between early and late breeders or their territories ('quality' hypothesis), or to a combination of both. We manipulated timing of breeding in the Great Tit Parus major, a small passerine, to test these hypotheses. A group of experimentally delayed birds was created by removing first clutches, inducing birds to lay a replacement clutch. Reproductive success of delayed pairs was compared with control pairs that bred early and with pairs that bred late. We conclude that seasonal declines in reproductive success at the nestling stage and survival of adult females were caused by differences in quality between early and late breeders. Recruitment of fledglings into the breeding population and the occurrence of second clutches were causally related to the timing of breeding. The seasonal decline in clutch size was caused by a combination of timing and quality effects. We attempted to assess the relative importance of timing and quality in the seasonal decline in reproductive success, expressed as lifetime production of recruits. We tentatively conclude that 87% of the seasonal decline in lifetime reproductive success could be attributed to a timing effect per se, whereas quality differences between early and late breeders accounted for the remaining 13%.

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“…As a consequence, variation in tissue availability can create the template for selection favoring synchronization of insect and plant life cycle events within populations or selection favoring divergence in the timing of life cycle events among populations experiencing differences in the timing of resource availability (Horner et al 1999;Blair et al 2005;Joy and Crespi 2007). Life cycle events closely tied to host plant phenology and thus likely altered by variation in the timing of tissue availability include the timing of mating (Cushman et al 1994;Mopper 1996), oviposition (Ohgushi 1991), the rate of larval development (Kaitaniemi et al 1997;Hicks et al 2007), and the timing of eclosion (Komatsu and Akimoto 1995;Van Dongen et al 1997;Rehill and Schultz 2002). Variation in the timing of plant tissue formation can also directly affect mortality due to natural enemies through changes in enemy abundance (Yukawa and Akimoto 2006), attack timing (Briggs and Latto 1996;Van Nouhuys and Lei 2004), and community structure (Kaitaniemi and Ruohomaki 1999;Yukawa and Akimoto 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental plasticity and reduced susceptibility to natural enemies following host plant defoliation in a specialized herbivore

Hood

Ott

2009

Oecologia

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Host-specific phytophagous insects that are short lived and reliant on ephemeral plant tissues provide an excellent system in which to investigate the consequences of disruption in the timing of resource availability on consumer populations and their subsequent interactions with higher tropic levels. The specialist herbivore, Belonocnema treatae (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) induces galls on only newly flushed leaves of live oak, Quercus fusiformis. In central Texas (USA) episodic defoliation of the host creates variation in the timing of resource availability and results in heterogeneous populations of B. treatae that initiate development at different times. We manipulated the timing of leaf flush in live oak via artificial defoliation to test the hypothesis that a 6- to 8-week delay in the availability of resources alters the timing of this gall former's life cycle events, performance and survivorship on its host, and susceptibility to natural enemies. B. treatae exhibits plasticity in development time, as the interval from egg to emergence was significantly reduced when gallers oviposited into the delayed leaf flush. As a consequence, the phenologies of gall maturation and adult emergence remain synchronized in spite of variation in the timing of resource availability. Per capita gall production and gall-former performance are not significantly affected by the timing of resource availability. The timing of resource availability and natural enemies interact, however, to produce strong effects on survivorship: when exposed to natural enemies, B. treatae developing in galls initiated by delayed oviposition exhibited an order-of-magnitude increase in survivorship. Developmental plasticity allows this gall former to circumvent disruptions in resource availability, maintain synchrony of life cycle events, and results in reduced vulnerability to natural enemies following defoliation of the host plant.

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Lifetime Fitness and Evolution of Reproductive Pattern in the Herbivorous Lady Beetle

Cited by 33 publications

References 38 publications

The pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, changes egg production rate to match host quality

The pollen beetle, Meligethes aeneus, changes egg production rate to match host quality

Seasonal Decline in Reproductive Success of the Great Tit: Variation in Time or Quality?

Developmental plasticity and reduced susceptibility to natural enemies following host plant defoliation in a specialized herbivore

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