Abstract
In no-choice tests but not in choice tests, alligatorweed flea beetles,Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt (Col.: Chrysomelidae) exposed to alligatorweed plants grown with two levels of mineral nutrition fed significantly more on those grown in full mineral nutrient than those grown with deficient phosphate. Chemical analysis showed that the full nutrient plants had more ethanol-soluble nitrogen compounds but less total carbohydrate than the phosphate-deficient plants. The response of beetles to phosphate-deficient alligatorweed may thus result from a change in the carbohydrate-nitrogen composition of host plants, though further investigation is needed for confirmation. Flea beetle response was identical to terminal and mature leaf tissue of full nutrient plants.
Résumé
Dans les essais de non-choix mais pas dans les essais de choix, les altises de l'herbe à alligator,Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) exposées aux plantes d'herbe à alligator cultivées avec deux niveaux de nutrition minérale, se sont nourries significativement plus de celles cultivées sur aliment minéral complet que de celles cultivées sur milieu déficient en phosphate. L'analyse chimique a démontré que les plantes cultivées sur milieu complet avaient plus de dérivés azotés solubles dans l'éthanol, mais moins d'hydrates de carbone totaux, que les plantes déficientes en phosphate. La réaction des altises à l'herbe à alligator carencée en phosphate est d onc peut-être le résultat d'un changement dans les rapports HC/N des hôtes, bien que des recherches complémentaires soient nécessai res pour une confirmation. La réaction de l'altise est identique, aussi bien sur tissu de feuille terminale que sur tissu de feuille mûre de plantes cultivées sur milieu complet.
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Maddox, D.M., McCready, R.M. Preliminary studies of the effects of an induced phosphate deficiency on carbohydrate-nitrogen ratios inAlternanthera philoxeroides [Centrospermae: Amaranthacea] and on the feeding ofAgasicles hygrophila [Col.: Chrysomelidae]. Entomophaga 20, 409–419 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371596
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02371596