Temperature‐allelochemical interactive effects on performance of Manduca sexta caterpillars

Abstract

A series of experiments was conducted to ascertain the effects of temperature and allelochemicals on the performance of an insect herbivore, with the goal of methodically expanding the cumulative data set on interactive effects of temperature and allelochemicals. The allelochemicals examined were caffeine, chlorogenic acid, quercetin, tannic acid and tomatine with the thermal regimes 20:15 °C versus 30:15 °C. Growth, molting time and food utilization efficiencies of third instar tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta (L.)) were measured. Our results indicated that reductions in developmental rate by the phenolics were primarily due to effects occurring around and during molt initiation, that different phenolics may affect molt processes differently, and that some of the effects of the phenolics were a function of temperature, with greater negative effects at cool temperature. Negative effects of caffeine were most pronounced earlier in the stadium rather than during molt processes and, for some variables, the effect of caffeine was also a function of temperature.

Host plant adaptation and the evolution of thermal reaction norms

“…Previous research in this area has demonstrated the importance of both resource quality (Stamp et al 1994;Kingsolver et al 2006) and population differences ) in shaping thermal reaction norms. Here we integrate these components to explore how population differences in host plant adaptation alter thermal reaction norms for body size in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta.…”

“…In herbivorous insects, thermal reaction norms for growth and size are strongly influenced by nutrition and secondary plant compounds (Stamp 1990;Stamp et al 1994;Kingsolver et al 2006). For example, in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, pupal and adult sizes decrease with increasing temperature when reared on its typical solanaceous hosts or on high-quality artificial diets, following the temperature-size rule Diamond and Kingsolver 2010a); on the other hand, when reared on a novel, lower quality host plant, M. sexta populations from the southeast US show a reversal of thermal reaction norm slope: final size increases with increasing rearing temperature (Diamond and Kingsolver 2010a).…”

Climate Change, Range Shifts and Multitrophic Interactions

“…A second affect will be that warming, along with changes in precipitation, as well as reduced or extended drought periods attendant with climate change will affect metabolic allocation by plants to secondary defense metabolites. Higher temperatures can sometimes lead to a reduction in plant allocation to direct defence [58]. Veteli [59] found that elevated CO 2 and temperature increased plant growth but had opposite effects on the growth rate of an insect herbivore.…”

Effect of temperature and food quality on variability of fitness components and physiology of digestion in the gypsy moth larvae Lymantria dispar L.

“…Temperaturne norme reakcije za rast i veličinu tela herbivornih insekata u velikoj meri zavise od nutritivnog kvaliteta hrane (Kingsolver et al, 2006) i prisustva sekundarnih biljnih hemikalija (Stamp, 1990, Stamp et al, 1994. Pošto norme reakcije predstavljaju krajnji rezultat različitih genetičkih i sredinskih uticaja (Angilleta, 2009) temperaturne norme reakcije za rast i veličinu tela mogu biti različitog nagiba kada je kvalitet resursa (kvalitet biljke domaćina) nepovoljan (Diamond & Kingsolver, 2010.…”

“…Temperaturna osetljivost brzine rasta Pieris rapae zavisi od kvaliteta hrane i veća je kod larvi hranjenih lišćem Brassica oleracea u odnosu na veštačku dijetu (Kingsolver et al, 2006). Brzina rasta zavisi od interakcija temperature i biljnih alelohemikalija (Stamp & Horwath 1992;Stamp et al, 1994;Stamp & Casey, 1996) i adaptiranosti na nepovoljne biljke domaćine (Hilbeck & Kenedy, 1998;Diamond & Kingsover, 2010.…”