Effect of plant nutritional traits on the diet of grasshoppers in a wetland of Northern Patagonia

Amadio, María Emilia; Pietrantuono, Ana Laura; Lozada, Mariana; Arhex, Valeria Cristina Fernandez

doi:10.1080/09670874.2020.1766156

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…New evidence has shown that domestication has raised leaf nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) content in several crops (García‐Palacios et al ., 2013; Delgado‐Baquerizo et al ., 2016). Hence, given the large stoichiometric imbalance between plants and insects (Elser et al ., 2000; Hillebrand et al ., 2009), it is not surprising that increased nutrient availability in crops might lead to increased selection, consumption and insect population growth, intensifying tissue damage (Yang & Joern, 1994; Amadio et al ., 2020). Similarly, crops and wild relatives may differ in the accessibility of macromolecules.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intentional and unintentional selection during plant domestication: herbivore damage, plant defensive traits and nutritional quality of fruit and seed crops

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Greater susceptibility to herbivory can arise as an effect of crop domestication. One proposed explanation is that defenses decreased intentionally or unintentionally during the domestication process, but evidence for this remains elusive. An alternative but nonexclusive explanation is presumed selection for higher nutritional quality.We used a metaanalytical approach to examine susceptibility to herbivores in fruit and seed crops and their wild relatives. Our analyses provide novel insights into the mechanisms of increased susceptibility by evaluating whether it can be attributed to either a reduction in herbivore defensive traits, including direct/indirect and constitutive/inducible defenses, or an increase in the nutritional content of crops.The results confirm higher herbivory and lower levels of all types of defenses in crops compared to wild relatives, although indirect defenses were more affected than direct ones. Contrary to expectations, nutritional quality was lower in crops than in wild relatives, which may enhance biomass loss to herbivores if they increase consumption to meet nutritional requirements.Our findings represent an important advance in our understanding of how changes in defensive and nutritional traits following domestication could influence, in combination or individually, crop susceptibility to herbivore attacks.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intentional and unintentional selection during plant domestication: herbivore damage, plant defensive traits and nutritional quality of fruit and seed crops

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The fact that wasps used the volatile compounds that came from T. officinale is not to be considered a minor detail, since this plant is one of the most abundant in wetlands and disturbed areas, and it has been shown that it is one of the most consumed plants by Dichroplus spp. in natural environments (Amadio et al., 2020). Our results are in agreement with previous works performed in other species, which reveal that host plants attract natural enemies by releasing complex mixtures of volatile compounds in response to herbivory, thus allowing for the location of prey (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They were kept alive in an entomological container and fed with the ‘Dandelion’ Taraxacum officinale leaves (Asterales: Asteraceae) for 48 h until they were used. Leaves of the same plant species were used as a stimulus, since under field conditions, D. elongatus feeds on it and deposits its faeces on them (Amadio et al., 2020; Fernández‐Arhex et al., 2017; Sepulveda et al., 2019). Taraxacum officinale is a cosmopolitan herbaceous plant with a high dispersion rate and a wide distribution across Patagonia (Gaitan et al., 2011).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polistes dominula (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) paper wasps detect native grasshoppers using olfactory cues

Moreyra,

Lozada,

Fernández‐Arhex

et al. 2023

Austral Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Polistes dominula is an invasive social wasp that preys on the grasshopper Dichroplus elongatus, which constitutes a potential agricultural pest in Northwest Patagonia. This grasshopper feeds on a wide variety of plants, the ‘Dandelion’ (Taraxacum officinale) being one of the main food resources. In this study, by means of a Y‐tube olfactometer, we analysed the use of olfactory cues by P. dominula in the detection of grasshoppers. Specifically, we evaluated the attractiveness of live grasshoppers, their traces (i.e. leaves with herbivory traces + prey faeces or only faeces) and herbivory‐free leaves. The results showed that foragers equally chose olfactory cues emitted by grasshoppers and leaves with herbivory traces + faeces and herbivory‐free leaves, suggesting that the leaves of the host plant also have an important role in the searching behaviour. The current research is the first to demonstrate that the invasive paper wasp orients its search towards either the presence of grasshopper prey or the volatiles of plant leaves. These findings shed new light on predator‐prey interactions mediated by olfactory cues in P. dominula, which may play a biological role as a natural controller of D. elongatus, phytophagous pest in the invaded ecosystems.

show abstract

“…First, the use of common reed leaves to feed the grasshoppers was very practical for the water content manipulation because of their length, but the high concentration of cellulose and silica would make this species a nutrient-poor plant for herbivores (Awmack & Leather, 2002;Kadi et al, 2018). Additionally, as described for most grasshopper species, admirable grasshoppers will probably consume different host plants in natural conditions depending on the nutritional properties of the plants and their own specific requirements (Amadio et al, 2020), a possibility that our experimental design prevented, with potential consequences for growth. Second, the lack of direct sunlight in our experimental room could partly explain the small final size of the late imagines, since direct insolation can be a main driving force in grasshopper growth and development (Begon, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water content in diet affects growth and timing of female first mating, but not coloration, in the admirable grasshopper (Syrbula admirabilis)

Hera

Reichert

2021

Invertebrate Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding how water limitation affects the performance of herbivorous insects is relevant in a context of worldwide alterations of rainfall regimes due to climate change. Apart from its influence on insect growth and development, water availability has also been considered a cue for color polyphenism in some species. This is the case of the grassland-inhabiting admirable grasshopper (Syrbula admirabilis), for which water content in plant tissues, a potentially reliable cue to predict future vegetation conditions, has been proposed to determine the frequency of green-brown color morphs. We performed an experiment that manipulated water content of the diet (dry/wet treatment) in a group of individually monitored admirable grasshoppers to explore the effects on imago size, timing of female first mating, and coloration. Our results showed that grasshoppers in the wet treatment achieved larger sizes, and females mated comparatively earlier, than their counterparts in the dry treatment.We also found that hue (the dominant color) in imagines was significantly lower (browner) than in nymphs, but the magnitude of this color shift did not differ between treatments. This study supports the idea that water limitation has a negative impact on grasshopper growth and development, but rules out dietary water content as a cue for color polyphenism. This result encourages additional research to assess the actual contribution of environmental and genetic factors to color determination in admirable grasshoppers. Such information could help to better understand how color polymorphism is maintained in natural populations and to predict how it could evolve in a future in which environmental conditions will become more unpredictable.

show abstract

Effect of plant nutritional traits on the diet of grasshoppers in a wetland of Northern Patagonia

Cited by 7 publications

References 65 publications

Intentional and unintentional selection during plant domestication: herbivore damage, plant defensive traits and nutritional quality of fruit and seed crops

Intentional and unintentional selection during plant domestication: herbivore damage, plant defensive traits and nutritional quality of fruit and seed crops

Polistes dominula (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) paper wasps detect native grasshoppers using olfactory cues

Water content in diet affects growth and timing of female first mating, but not coloration, in the admirable grasshopper (Syrbula admirabilis)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About