Mirid (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) Specialists of Sticky Plants: Adaptations, Interactions, and Ecological Implications

Abstract

Sticky plants-those having glandular trichomes (hairs) that produce adhesive, viscous exudates-can impede the movement of, and entrap, generalist insects. Disparate arthropod groups have adapted to these widespread and taxonomically diverse plants, yet their interactions with glandular hosts rarely are incorporated into broad ecological theory. Ecologists and entomologists might be unaware of even well-documented examples of insects that are sticky-plant specialists. The hemipteran family Miridae (more specifically, the omnivorous Dicyphini: Dicyphina) is the best-known group of arthropods that specializes on sticky plants. In the first synthesis of relationships with glandular plants for any insect family, we review mirid interactions with sticky hosts, including their adaptations (behavioral, morphological, and physiological) and mutualisms with carnivorous plants, and the ecological and agricultural implications of mirid-sticky plant systems. We propose that mirid research applies generally to tritrophic interactions on trichome-defended plants, enhances an understanding of insect-plant interactions, and provides information useful in managing crop pests.

The siren song of a sticky plant: Columbines provision mutualist arthropods by attracting and killing passerby insects

“…This was the first experiment demonstrating that non-carnivorous sticky plants attract carrion, a novel yet logical extension of beneficial predator attraction to the carrion. We suggest that this indirect defense strategy should be accepted as a normal consequence of stickiness in plants despite the deterrence of generalist predators (Eisner et al 1998, Hare et al 2003, but see Krimmel and Pearse 2014) and there exists an entire guild of phylogenetically and geographically diverse predators on sticky plants (Romero et al 2008, Krimmel and Pearse 2013, Wheeler and Krimmel 2015.…”

“…carpha, Calycidenia, Cordelanthus, Castilleja, Mimulus, Trichostema, and Grindelia near the columbine populations (E. F. LoPresti, personal observation). This suggests this suite of predators are generalist feeders that are associated with glandular plants (Wheeler and Krimmel 2015), and may act in similar ways on all these plants.…”

“…The great majority of insectentrapping plants have not been examined for this indirect resistance, and the simple methodology presented here could be easily adapted to many other systems. Adaptations to locomotion on sticky plants occur in various groups of arthropod predators worldwide (Romero et al 2008, Voigt and Gorb 2008, Wheeler and Krimmel 2015. Glandular trichomes serve a variety of functions (LoPresti 2015).…”

“…First, numerous predatory arthropods have a strong association with sticky glandular plants. Many of these arthropods complete their life-cycle on these plants, feeding at several trophic levels: on the plant, entrapped carrion, herbivores of the plant, and other predators (e.g., Be´renger and Pluot-Sigwalt 1997, Anderson 2005, Romero et al 2008, Voigt and Gorb 2008, Wheeler and Krimmel 2015. Second, a trend toward predator enrichment on carrion-covered plants has been shown in true carnivorous plants such as Pinguicula (Zamora 1990), and non-carnivorous plants such as the South African genus Roridula (Ellis andMidgley 1996, Anderson 2005), a glandular rhododendron (Sugiura and Yamazaki 2006), and a South American bromeliad (Gonc¸alves et al 2011).…”

A new species of Carvalhomiris from Colombia with an assessment of its phylogenetic position (Heteroptera, Miridae, Orthotylinae)

“…Miridae are the most diversified family of Heteroptera with more than 11,000 described species (Ferreira et al 2015, Wheeler and Krimmel 2015, Henry 2017). In the Neotropics, taxonomic efforts to reveal the family’s diversity were carried out most notably by José Candido de Melo Carvalho and colleagues (Carvalho and Froeschner 1987, 1990, 1994, Henry and Wheeler 1995).…”