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Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in a Parthenogenetic Insect in Response to Increased Predation Risk

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Abstract

Reliable cues of increased predation risk can induce phenotypic changes in an organism’s offspring (i.e. transgenerational phenotypic plasticity). While induction of defensive morphologies in naïve offspring in response to maternal predation risk is widespread, little is known about transgenerational changes in offspring behavior. Here we provide evidence for transgenerational behavioral plasticity in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. When pre-reproductive individuals of two genotypes (“pink” and “green”) were exposed to the alarm pheromone (E)-β-Farnesene (EBF), a reliable cue of increased predation risk, next-generation offspring altered their feeding site choices relative to the location of the maternal aphids. Offspring of EBF-treated aphids occupied “safer” feeding sites: green offspring occupied “safer” feeding sites in the natal colony, while pink offspring dispersed to occupy sites on neighboring plant leaves.

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Acknowledgments

We thank B. Cantwell and L. Zeak for technical assistance in the laboratory and greenhouse, and S. Vives and K. McLain for comments and suggestions on the manuscript. Funding for this project was provided by Georgia Southern University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, P.O. Box 8042, Statesboro, GA, 30460, USA

    Carl N. Keiser & Edward B. Mondor

  2. Department of Biological Science, University of Pittsburgh, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Carl N. Keiser

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  1. Carl N. Keiser
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  2. Edward B. Mondor
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Correspondence to Carl N. Keiser.

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Keiser, C.N., Mondor, E.B. Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in a Parthenogenetic Insect in Response to Increased Predation Risk. J Insect Behav 26, 603–613 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-013-9376-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-013-9376-6

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