Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rapid response to intraclonal selection in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum)

  • Published:
Evolutionary Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Pea aphids show intraclonal variability in antipredator behaviour. Among the offspring of a single parthenogenetically reproducing female, some individuals drop from the plant in response to alarm pheromone while others remain on the plant. We demonstrate that this intraclonal behavioural variability can be altered by selection. The proportion of aphids dropping in response to alarm pheromone was significantly greater in lines in which this behaviour was selected than in clonally identical lines in which the opposite phenotype was favoured. This change occurred within one generation and could not be attributed to grand-maternal effects, nor to environmental effects. These results demonstrate the ability of clonal aphids to adapt to changes in the environment within a single generation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beranek, A.P. (1974) Esterase variation and organophosphate resistance in populations ofAphis fabae andMyzus persicae.Entomol. Exp. Appl. 17, 129–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, R.L. (1971) Variation in photoperiodic response within natural populations ofMyzus persicae.Bull. Entomol. Res. 60, 533–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, R.L. (1979) Stability and variation in aphid clonal lineages.Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 11, 259–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodsky, L.M. and Barlow, C.A. (1986) Escape responses of the pea aphid,Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) (Homoptera: Aphididae): influence of predator type and temperature.Can J. Zool. 64, 937–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brough, C.N., Dixon, A.F.G. and Kindlmann, P. (1990) Pattern of growth and fat content of somatic and gonadal tissues of virginoparae of the vetch aphid,Megoura viciae.Entomol. Exp. Appl. 56, 269–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunting, S. and van Emden, H.S. (1980) Rapid response to selection for increased enzyme activity on small populations of an apomictic clone ofMyzus persicae.Nature 285, 502–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clegg, J.M. and Barlow, C.A. (1982) Escape behaviour of the pea aphidAcyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) in response to alarm pheromone and vibration.Can J. Zool. 60, 2245–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cognetti, G. (1961) Endomeiosis in parthenogenetic lines of aphids.Experientia. 17, 168–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, P.H. (1992) Resampling methods for computation-intensive data analysis in ecology and evolution.Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 23, 405–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devonshire, A.L. and Sawicki, R.M. (1979) Insecticide-resistantMyzus persicae as an example of evolution by gene duplication.Nature 280, 140–1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dill, L.M., Fraser, A.F.G. and Roitberg, B.D. (1990) The economics of escape behaviour in the pea aphid,Acyrthosiphon pisum.Oecologia 83, 473–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, A.F.G. (1985)Aphid Ecology. Blackie and Son, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J.A. and Kempton, D.P. (1966) Non-stable resistance to demeton-methyl in a strain ofMyzus persicae.Entomol Exp. Appl. 9, 67–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, L.M., Devonshire, A.L. and Forde, B.G. (1988) Molecular evidence that insecticide resistance in peach-potato aphids (Myzus persicae. Sulz.) results from amplification of an esterase gene.Biochem. J. 251, 309–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardie, J. (1987) The photoperiodic control of wing development in the black bean aphid,Aphis fabae.J. Insect Physiol. 33, 543–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kislow, C.J. and Edwards, L.J. (1972) Repellent odour in aphids.Nature 235, 108–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krepp, S.R. (1977) Genotypic and phenotypic variation in populations ofDaphnia pulex. MSc Thesis. Dept. of Zoology, University of British Columbia.

  • Leather, S.R., Wellings, P.W. and Walters, K.F.A. (1988) Variation in ovariole number within the Aphidoidea.J. Nat. History 22, 381–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lees, A.D. (1967) The production of the apterous and alate forms in the aphidMegoura viciae Buckton, with special reference to the role of crowding.J. Insect Physiol. 13, 289–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M. and Gabriel, W. (1983) Phenotypic evolution and parthenogenesis.Am. Nat. 122, 745–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maynard Smith, J. (1978).The Evolution of Sex. Cambridge University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mousseau, T.A. and Dingle, H. (1991) Maternal effects in insect life histories.Ann. Rev. Entomol. 36, 511–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nault, L.R., Edwards, L.J. and Styer, W.E. (1973) Aphid alarm pheromones: secretion and reception.Environ. Entomol. 2, 101–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noreen, E.W. (1989)Computer-intensive Methods for Testing Hypotheses: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, W.R. (1989) Analyzing tables of statistical tests.Evolution 43, 223–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roitberg, B.D. and Myers, J.H. (1978) Adaptation of alarm pheromone responses of the pea aphidAcyrthosiphon pisum (Harris).Can J. Zool. 56, 103–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roitberg, B.D. and Myers, J.H. (1979) Behavioural and physiological adaptations of pea aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) to high ground temperatures and predator disturbance.Can. Entomol. 111, 515–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shull, A.F. (1932) Clonal differences and clonal changes in the aphidMacrosiphum solanifolli.Am. Nat. 66, 385–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soumalainen, E., Saura, A. and Lokki, J. (1976) Evolution of parthenogenetic insects. InEvolutionary biology (M. Hecht, W.C. Steere and B. Wallace, eds), vol. IX, pp. 209–57. Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stadler, B., Weisser, W.W. and Houston, A.I. (1994) Defence reactions in aphids: the influence of state and future reproductive success.J. Anim. Ecol. 63, 419–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, K.F.A. and Dixon, A.F.G. (1983) Migratory urge and reproductive investment in aphids: variation within clones.Oecologia 58, 70–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, K.F.A., Brough, C. and Dixon, A.F.G. (1988) Habitat quality and reproductive investment in aphids.Ecol. Entomol. 13, 337–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, S.A., Wellings, P.W. and Dixon, A.F.G. (1983) The effect of reproductive investment on pre-reproductive mortality in aphids.J. Anim. Ecol. 52, 305–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellings, P.W., Leather, S.R. and Dixon, A.F.G. (1980) Seasonal variation in reproductive potential: a programmed feature of aphid life cycles.J. Anim. Ecol. 49, 975–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, M.J.D. (1973)Animal Cytology and Evolution, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilhoit, L.R. and Mittler, T.E. (1991) Biotypes and clonal variation in Greenbug (Homoptera: Aphididae) populations from a locality in California.Environ. Entomol. 20, 757–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar, J.H. (1984)Biostatistical Analysis. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Maydianne C. B. Andrade & Bernard D. Roitberg

Authors
  1. Maydianne C. B. Andrade
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bernard D. Roitberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Andrade, M.C.B., Roitberg, B.D. Rapid response to intraclonal selection in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum). Evol Ecol 9, 397–410 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237762

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237762

Keywords

Search

Navigation