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Density effect and intraspecific competition in a leaf-mining moth on bamboo leaves

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Abstract

When confined to a single leaf, the larvae of most leafminers should suffer intense intraspecific competition. The survival and performance of individuals are expected to decline with increasing larval density within a leaf, showing a negative density-dependent effect. The maximum density of an Elachista Treitschke (Lepidoptera: Elachistidae) miner on Indocalamus tessellatus (Munro) Keng f. (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) under natural conditions can be greater than 40 per leaf, making this a good system for studying intraspecific competition and density effects. We counted the number of leaves with different mine densities in the field and found a clumped distribution of leafminer larvae among host leaves. The emergence rates of pupae (and last-instar larvae), adults and parasitoids were inversely correlated with larval density. Pupal weight and adult weight also showed negative relationships with larval density. However, pairwise tests showed that there might be no differences in pupal or adult weight at larval densities of 1–10 mines per leaf, indicating that density-dependent effects are more obvious at densities greater than 10 mines per leaf. Intraspecific competition could lead to stable density and consistent body size in surviving individual insects, which would help maintain a sustainable population size. The density threshold could be an indicator of the balance between intraspecific competitive detriments and conspecific aggregation benefits; however, the validity of the threshold density hypothesis requires further testing and confirmation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Chengqing Liao, Wanhua Liu, Wei Zhang, Chengpeng Long, Xujun Gui, Lan Zhou, Guojun Huang, Guosheng Li, Hongyan Li, Miao Zhong, and Fangli Lan from the Leafminer Group for sample collection, field investigation, rearing, weighing, recording and molecular sequencing. We also acknowledge Dr. Renlin Liu from Gannan Normal University for plant identification, Dr. Zhiwei Zhang from Shanxi Agricultural University for leafminer identification, Dr. Chaodong Zhu from IOZ-CAS for parasitoid identification, and Longnan Weather Bureau for weather data. We thank American Journal Experts (AJE) (http://www.aje.com/r/NRW49), Dr. Tom Dahmer and Dr. Ruihai Chai for English language editing. This manuscript was edited for English language by American Journal Experts (AJE).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leafminer Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Xiaohua Dai, Jiasheng Xu, Qingyun Guo, Shengchang Lai, Peng Liu & Juju Fan

  2. National Navel Orange Engineering Research Center, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Xiaohua Dai

  3. Jiulianshan National Nature Reserve Administration, Longnan, 341701, China

    Peirong Tang

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  1. Xiaohua Dai
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  2. Jiasheng Xu
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Correspondence to Xiaohua Dai.

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Project funding: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760173, 31260116 and 41361009), Young Scientists Training Plan of Jiangxi Province (20133BCB23026), National Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (20171BAB204023) and Innovation Team Project of Gannan Normal University.

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Corresponding editor: Chai Ruihai.

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Dai, X., Xu, J., Guo, Q. et al. Density effect and intraspecific competition in a leaf-mining moth on bamboo leaves. J. For. Res. 30, 689–697 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0655-0

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