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Trabala Vishnou Gigantina Yang (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) Larval Fitness on six Sympatric Plant Species in Sea-Buckthorn Forest

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Abstract

Trabala vishnou gigantina Yang (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) is a major pest that damages the sea-buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides. We observed and compared the feeding preferences of T. vishnou gigantina larvae on six sympatric plant species in a two-choice test. We also compared T. vishnou gigantina fitness, as measured by the following variables: larvae weight, developmental period, pupae versus adult weight, longevity, and fecundity rates. Between host and non-host plants, larvae showed a strong preference for their natural host (sea-buckthorn), followed by apricot, poplar, and willow. Caragana and locust were the least preferred plants when the natural host plant was not present. Larvae reared on sea-buckthorn possessed greater pre-pupal weight, had lower mortality, and developed more quickly into heavier pupae than either poplar-raised or willow-raised larvae. Fecundity was highest on sea-buckthorn, second highest on apricot, and lowest on poplar. Longevity (of both females and males) was not significantly different across plant species. These results clearly demonstrate that T. vishnou gigantina larvae are able to distinguish between host versus non-host plants, and that their preference translates to increased fitness. Possible, non-mutually exclusive explanations for observed preference and fitness differences include variation in required nutritional content across plant species or the presence of plant traits (morphological features or chemical metabolites) that negatively affect larval development. While the exact mechanisms are unknown, these data may be useful for the development of appropriate counter-measures to the damage caused by T. vishnou gigantina on sea-buckthorn.

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Acknowledgments

The study was sponsored by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. YX2015-09), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 6142015), Beijing Young Elite Project (Grant No. 2013D009046000002), Special Fund for Forest Scientific Research in the Public Welfare (Grant No. 201404401), and the Twelfth Five-year National Science and Technology Support Program of China (Grant No. 2012BAD19B07).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Beijing for Control of Forest Pests, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Dong-Mei Wen, Lin-Feng Yu, Peng-Fei Lu & You-Qing Luo

  2. College of Life Sciences, College of Yulin, Yulin, 719000, People’s Republic of China

    Yong-Hua Liu & Xiong-Fei Yan

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  1. Dong-Mei Wen
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  2. Lin-Feng Yu
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Correspondence to Peng-Fei Lu or You-Qing Luo.

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Wen, DM., Yu, LF., Liu, YH. et al. Trabala Vishnou Gigantina Yang (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) Larval Fitness on six Sympatric Plant Species in Sea-Buckthorn Forest. J Insect Behav 29, 591–604 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9582-0

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