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Effects of Quantitative Variation in Allelochemicals in Plantago lanceolata on Development of a Generalist and a Specialist Herbivore and their Endoparasitoids

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Abstract

Studies in crop species show that the effect of plant allelochemicals is not necessarily restricted to herbivores, but can extend to (positive as well as negative) effects on performance at higher trophic levels, including the predators and parasitoids of herbivores. We examined how quantitative variation in allelochemicals (iridoid glycosides) in ribwort plantain, Plantago lanceolata, affects the development of a specialist and a generalist herbivore and their respective specialist and generalist endoparasitoids. Plants were grown from two selection lines that differed ca. 5-fold in the concentration of leaf iridoid glycosides. Development time of the specialist herbivore, Melitaea cinxia, and its solitary endoparasitoid, Hyposoter horticola, proceeded most rapidly when reared on the high iridoid line, whereas pupal mass in M. cinxia and adult mass in H. horticola were unaffected by plant line. Cotesia melitaearum, a gregarious endoparasitoid of M. cinxia, performed equally well on hosts feeding on the two lines of P. lanceolata. In contrast, the pupal mass of the generalist herbivore, Spodoptera exigua, and the emerging adult mass of its solitary endoparasitoid, C. marginiventris, were significantly lower when reared on the high line, whereas development time was unaffected. The results are discussed with regards to (1) differences between specialist and generalist herbivores and their natural enemies to quantitative variation in plant secondary chemistry, and (2) potentially differing selection pressures on plant defense.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Multitrophic Interactions, Netherlands Institute of Ecology NIOO-KNAW, Heteren, P.O. Box 40, The Netherlands, NL-6666 ZG

    Jeffrey A. Harvey

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University Corson Hall, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Saskya Van Nouhuys

  3. Metapopulation Research Group, Department of Ecology and Systematics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FIN-00014, Finland

    Saskya Van Nouhuys

  4. Department of Plant Population Biology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology NIOO-KNAW, Heteren, NL-6666 ZG, P.O. Box 40, The Netherlands

    Arjen Biere

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  1. Jeffrey A. Harvey
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  2. Saskya Van Nouhuys
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Correspondence to Jeffrey A. Harvey.

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Harvey, J.A., Van Nouhuys, S. & Biere, A. Effects of Quantitative Variation in Allelochemicals in Plantago lanceolata on Development of a Generalist and a Specialist Herbivore and their Endoparasitoids. J Chem Ecol 31, 287–302 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-1341-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-1341-1

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