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Behavioural Basis of Plant Resistance or Susceptibility to Insects

  • Section III Insect Behaviour and Host Plant Resistance
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Abstract

Differences in the susceptibility or resistance of different plants to an insect are reflected in the magnitude of its population established on them and the resulting damage. The population of an insect on a plant is determined by an interaction between its responses and the plant’s characters. As explained previously, the following six main types of responses, operating in as many stages, are involved in the establishment of an insect on a plant: (1) orientation, determining the insect’s arrival on or avoidance of a plant in response to its attractant or repellent stimuli; (2) feeding responses, determining the quantity of food ingested from the plant; (3) metabolic responses involving the utilisation of the ingested food and determining the insect’s nutrition; (4) development of the insect, if in the larval stage, determined by the quantitative food-intake and nutrition; (5) eggproduction in the adult stage, determined by the quantitative food-intake and nutrition; and (6) oviposition.

The first, second and last of the above mentioned responses are behavioural which determine the initial selection or rejection of a plant by an insect. In order, therefore, to understand the principles governing the susceptibility/resistance of plants to an insect species, it is necessary to compare the above mentioned responses to susceptible and resistant plants and, next, to examine the role of the plant characters in determining these responses.

On the basis of the existing literature on the subject, the role of different behavioural responses of insects to plants and their characters in determining their susceptibility or resistance to their insect pests has been considered in this paper.

Résumé

Les différences dans la susceptibilité ou résistances des différentes plantes à un insecte sont reflétées dans l’ampleur de la population de cet insecte établie sur elles ainsi que les degâts y résultant. La population d’un insecte sur une plante est déterminée par une intéraction entre ses réactions et les characteristiques de la plante. Comme il a été expliqué auparavant, six types de réactions principales comportant le méme nombre d’étapes sont impliquées dans l’etablissement d’un insecte sur une plante: (1) orientation, qui détermine si l’insecte s’implante ou évite la plante en réaction au stimuli attractif ou répulsif; (2) réactions d’alimentation qui déterminent la quantité d’aliment ingérée; (3) les métaboliques comportant l’utilisation de la réactions nourriture ingérée et déterminant la nutrition de l’insecte; (4) développement, de l’insecte si it est à l’état larvaire, déterminé par l’absorption quantitative des aliments et la nutrition; (5) la production des oeufs au stade adulte déterminée par l’absorption quantitative des aliments et la nutrition, et (6) l’oviposition.

De ces réactions énumérées plus haut, la première, la deuzième et la dernière sont de nature behavioriste, et déterminent la sélection initiale ou le rejet de la plante par l’insecte. Par conséquent, pour comprendre les principes gouvernant la susceptibilité/résistance des plantes à une espèce d’insectes, il est nécessaire de comparer les réactions mentionnées plus haut, aux plantes susceptibles et résistantes et, après examiner le rôle des charactéristiques de la plante déterminer ces réactions.

Sur la base de la documentation existant sur ce sujet, il a été considéré dans cet article le rôle des differentes réactions behavioristes des insectes aux plantes, et leurs characteristiques dans la détermination de leur susceptibilité ou résistance aux insectes.

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Saxena, K.N. Behavioural Basis of Plant Resistance or Susceptibility to Insects. Int J Trop Insect Sci 6, 303–313 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400004562

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