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Phenotypic plasticity and nutrition in a phytophagous insect: consequences of colonizing a new host

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Abstract

The European rose-hip fruit fly Rhagoletis alternata (Diptera, Tephritidae) infests hips of Rosa species. This fly includes R. rugosa, an Asian species now cultivated all over Europe, in its host range. Differences in size and biomass of hips between the ancestral host R. canina and the new host translate into better growth, shorter larval development of larvae within hips of R. rugosa and larger body size and fertility of flies which developing in the new host. In turn this causes different interactions with other organisms of the food-web centred on the host plant. The importance of nutrition and phenotypic plasticity is twofold: they generate a considerable part of life-history diversity within a species and reinforce differences in the ecological context of the ancestral and new host.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie, Universität Bayreuth, Postfach 101251, D-95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Marcus Leclaire

  2. Sektion Ökosystemanalyse, Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH, Permoserstrasse 15, D-04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Roland Brandl

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  1. Marcus Leclaire
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  2. Roland Brandl
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Leclaire, M., Brandl, R. Phenotypic plasticity and nutrition in a phytophagous insect: consequences of colonizing a new host. Oecologia 100, 379–385 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317858

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317858

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