Effects of water deficiency on preference and performance of an insect herbivore Ostrinia furnacalis

Abstract

With further climate change still expected, it is predicted to increase the frequency with plants will be water stressed, which subsequently influences phytophagous insects, particularly Lepidoptera with limited mobility of larvae. Previous studies have indicated that oviposition preference and offspring performance of Lepidoptera insects are sensitive to drought separately. However, the integration of their two properties is not always seen. Here, we evaluated changes in oviposition selection and offspring fitness of a Lepidoptera insect under three water-stressed treatments using a model agroecosystem consisting of maize Zea mays, and Asian corn borer Ostrinia furnacalis. Results found that female O. furnacalis preferred to laying their eggs on well-watered maize, and then their offspring tended to survive better, attained bigger larvae mass, and developed more pupae and adults on the preferred maize. Oviposition selection of O. furnacalis positively correlated with height and leaf traits of maize, and offspring fitness positively related with water content and phytochemical traits of hosts. Overall, these results suggest that oviposition choice performed by O. furnacalis reflects the maximization of offspring fitness, supporting preference–performance hypothesis. This finding further highlights that the importance of simultaneous evaluation of performance and performance for water driving forces should be involved, in order to accurately predict population size of O. furnacalis under altered precipitation pattern.

Fitness consequences of oviposition choice by an herbivorous insect on a host plant colonized by an endophytic entomopathogenic fungus

“…Indeed, the underlying mechanisms responsible for the in planta decreased O. furnacalis tness are unknown, and require further elucidation.Generally, oviposition selection of female insects maximizes offspring performance(Gripenberg et al 2010). However, a "bad" mother selecting plants that are poorer for their offspring tness is not without precedent (Pro t et al 2015;Duan et al 2021). Our results also con rmed this phenomenon, that is, female O. furnacalis prefer laying eggs on a host plants inoculated with EPF, but the offspring perform worse than on an uninoculated plant.…”

Fitness Consequences of Oviposition Choice by an Herbivorous Insect on a Host Plant Colonized by an Endophytic Entomopathogenic Fungus

“…2010). However, a "bad" mother selecting plants that are poorer for their offspring tness is not without precedent (Pro t et al 2015;Duan et al 2021). Our results also con rmed this phenomenon, that is, female O. furnacalis prefer laying eggs on a host plants inoculated with EPF, but the offspring perform worse than on an uninoculated plant.…”

“…Plant morphological variables including height of each maize plant, leaf length and leaf width for the third to fth leaf in the middle stratum of each maize plant were measured (Duan et al 2021). All ten maize plants per treatment were measured.…”

Development of a polyphagous leaf beetle on different host plant species and its detoxification of glucosinolates

“…However, the N content was much higher in cabbage and lettuce leaves, probably due to the fact that these are cultivated crop plants, compared to the ruderal species tansy. Plant tissue containing more nitrogen usually results in a better nutrition for herbivores and thus better growth and development (Coley et al, 2006;Carmona et al, 2011;Franzke and Reinhold, 2011;Duan et al, 2021). Moreover, a protein-rich diet may be beneficial to gain the necessary amino acids for detoxification processes (Jeschke et al, 2021).…”