Preference of Diamondback Moth Larvae for Novel and Original Host Plant after Host Range Expansion

Abstract

Utilization of a novel plant host by herbivorous insects requires coordination of numerous physiological and behavioral adaptations in both larvae and adults. The recent host range expansion of the crucifer-specialist diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella L. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), to the sugar pea crop in Kenya provides an opportunity to study this process in action. Previous studies have shown that larval ability to grow and complete development on sugar pea is genetically based, but that females of the pea-adapted strain do not prefer to oviposit on pea. Here we examine larval preference for the novel host plant. Larvae of the newly evolved pea-adapted host strain were offered the choice of the novel host plant sugar pea and the original host cabbage. These larvae significantly preferred pea, while in contrast, all larvae of a cabbage-adapted DBM strain preferred cabbage. However, pea-adapted larvae, which were reared on cabbage, also preferred cabbage. Thus both genetic differences and previous exposure affect larval host choice, while adult choice for the novel host has not yet evolved.

Impact of Pesticide Resistance on Toxicity and Tolerance of Hostplant Phytochemicals inAmyelois Transitella(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

“…Interpreting the ecological significance of the toxicological responses of CPQ laboratory strain in comparison with the FIG and R347 strains more recently derived from field populations, however, must be done cautiously, because multiple generations of maintenance on an artificial diet may have led to inadvertent selection for losses (or other alterations) of phytochemical detoxification capacity. That said, the enhanced ability of R347 larvae to tolerate phytochemicals not known to be present in almonds, the hostplant from which the strain originated, coupled with a reduced ability to survive on novel potential hostplants suggests that phytochemical detoxification, even for a polyphagous species, is only one of multiple behavioral and physiological adaptations associated with acquisition of new hostplant species ( Henniges-Janssen et al 2014 ).…”

Glucosinolate Profiles in Cabbage Genotypes Influence the Preferential Feeding of Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella)

“…Brassicaceae plants particularly use glucosinolates-myrosinase defense system against insects and pathogens (Talekar and Shelton, 1993; Bartlet et al, 1999; Henniges-Janssen et al, 2014; Santolamazza-Carbone et al, 2014). Glucosinolates, the sulfur-rich secondary metabolites, widely synthesized in all vegetable and oilseed species of the order Brassicales including Brassica oleracea , represent classical examples of plant compounds known for their role in insect–plant interactions (Mithen et al, 1995; Benderoth et al, 2006; Hopkins et al, 2009).…”

Variation in Performance and Resistance to Parasitism of Plutella xylostella Populations

“…The second population was collected from cabbage fields 40 km south of Nairobi. Both populations were sent to the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, in 2005 and were maintained, since then, on their respective food plants ( B. oleracea and P. sativum cultivars) in the laboratory [31]. These two populations were also maintained at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and moths were kindly provided by Dr. P. Roessingh.…”