Impact of Host Tree on Forest Tent Caterpillar Performance and Offspring Overwintering Mortality

Abstract

One of the most damaging insect pests in deciduous forests of North America is the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria Hübner. It can feed on a variety of plants, but trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michaux) is its preferred host and sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall) serves as a secondary one in the northern part of its distribution. Because host plant characteristics influence insect performance and survival, we evaluated the impact of trembling aspen and sugar maple foliage on M. disstria performance. Host effects on insect cold hardiness and overwintering survival of offspring were also studied. Forest tent caterpillar reared on aspen leaves had a shorter development time, higher pupal weights and fecundity, and superior egg parameters (length and weight) compared with those reared on sugar maple leaves. Larvae from the two food treatments had low glucose levels during diapause, whereas glycerol content of insects reared on maple was significantly higher during diapause than larvae fed on aspen. Lower glycerol content may explain the higher overwinter mortality of pharate larvae from aspen-reared parents even though their supercooling points were as low as -36 degrees C. This study shows the influence of host plant on insect life history and the need to consider overwintering success and offspring performance in studies to understand and predict population growth and cycling.

More complex than expected: Cold hardiness and the concentration of cryoprotectants in overwintering larvae of five Erebia butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

“…On the other hand, we showed earlier that individual populations of the boreomontane C. palaeno may dramatically differ in cryoprotectant profi les but not in their cold hardiness (Vrba et al, 2014a). The role of specifi c cryoprotectants on the level of cold hardiness may differ across species and climatic conditions, as can be demonstrated, e.g., by the different role of glycerol content on cold hardiness in several species of Lepidoptera (Andreadis et al, 2008;Hou et al, 2009;Trudeau et al, 2010). In addition, the synthesis of cryoprotectants is only a part of a more complex mechanism of increasing cold hardiness.…”

Effects of winter temperatures, spring degree-day accumulation, and insect population source on phenological synchrony between forest tent caterpillar and host trees

“…disstria is a gregarious leaf-feeding insect that has a relatively broad host range and can cause severe defoliation of deciduous trees throughout much of Canada and the United States (Trudeau et al, 2010). It extends from Nova Scotia to California, and northern Alberta to south Texas (Drooz, 1985).…”

Effect of simulated fall heat waves on cold hardiness and winter survival of hemlock looper, Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

“…For instance, pre-winter conditions can have a significant impact on energy reserves and diapause development of overwintering insects and hence affect their overwintering survival (Han and Bauce, 1997a,b;Hahn and Denlinger, 2007;Trudeau et al, 2010). Climate change models predict that the frequency and severity of extreme events will increase, among which fall heat waves are particularly interesting (IPCC, 2007).…”