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Costs and benefits of plant allelochemicals in herbivore diet in a multi enemy world

  • Plant-microbe-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Sequestration of plant defensive chemicals by herbivorous insects is a way of defending themselves against their natural enemies. Such herbivores have repeatedly evolved bright colours to advertise their unpalatability to predators, i.e. they are aposematic. This often comes with a cost. In this study, we examined the costs and benefits of sequestration of iridoid glycosides (IGs) by the generalist aposematic herbivore, the wood tiger moth, Parasemia plantaginis. We also asked whether the defence against one enemy (a predator) is also effective against another (a parasitoid). We found that the larvae excrete most of the IGs and only small amounts are found in the larvae. Nevertheless, the amounts present in the larvae are sufficient to deter ant predators and also play a role in defence against parasitoids. However, excreting and handling these defensive plant compounds is costly, leading to longer development time and lower pupal mass. Interestingly, the warning signal efficiency and the amount of IGs in the larvae of P. plantaginis are negatively correlated; larvae with less efficient warning signals contain higher levels of chemical defence compounds. Our results may imply that there is a trade-off between production and maintenance of coloration and chemical defence. Although feeding on a diet containing IGs can have life-history costs, it offers multiple benefits in the defence against predators and parasitoids.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Kaisa Suisto for rearing the P. plantaginis larvae used in the experiments and Emily Burdfield-Steel and an anonymous reviewer for very helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Further, we thank Nåtö Biological Station for providing accommodation during the field work. This research was funded by the Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions and Academy of Finland Grant #SA-128528 and 218372.

Author contribution statement

JHR originally formulated the idea, JHR, CL and JM developed methodology, JHR and IL conducted field and laboratory work, HP developed methods for chemical analyses, JHR performed statistical analyses, and JHR, CL and JM wrote the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, University of Jyvaskyla, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    J. H. Reudler, C. Lindstedt, I. Lehtinen & J. Mappes

  2. Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, University of Jyvaskyla, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    H. Pakkanen

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    I. Lehtinen

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  1. J. H. Reudler
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Correspondence to J. H. Reudler.

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Communicated by Evan H. DeLucia.

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Reudler, J.H., Lindstedt, C., Pakkanen, H. et al. Costs and benefits of plant allelochemicals in herbivore diet in a multi enemy world. Oecologia 179, 1147–1158 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3425-0

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