Advances in the study of polyphagy in neotropical Lepidoptera

• Grant number: 07/07802-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2008
• End date: March 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: André Victor Lucci Freitas
• Grantee: Daniela Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Plant ingestion by herbivorous insects is one of the most important trophic interactions in nature. Among phytopagous insects, predominate those that use a single plant family as food resource, which leads to a feeding strategy known as oligophagy. Due to their low representativity in nature, polyphagous insects have been neglected in the Neotropics, and there no studies showing the ecological causes and consequences of such a strategy for the structure of tropical communities. This proposal aims to examine polyphagy in Parrhasius polibetes (STOLL, 1781) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), a eumaein that feeds on several host plants belonging to different families. Under both laboratory and field conditions, we will examine performance of P. polibetes according to a bi- (absence of tending ants and natural enemies) and a tritrophic perspective (absence of tending ants and natural enemies). Experiments involving oviposition and feeding preference, as well as foraging dynamics and feeding rhythm will also be executed. We also intend to perform chemical analysis of (Schefflera vinosa (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) Frodin & Fiaschi (Araliaceae), Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawler) Miers (Bignoniaceae), Luehea grandiflora Mart (Malvaceae), Styrax camporum Pohl (Styracaceae)) and P. polibetes in relation to secondary compounds and Nitrogen. In relation to the third trophic level, we will determine egg and larval parasitoids, as well as parasitism rates according to both insect life phase and host plant. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RODRIGUES, DANIELA; FREITAS, ANDRE V. L.. Contrasting egg and larval performances help explain polyphagy in a florivorous butterfly. ARTHROPOD-PLANT INTERACTIONS, v. 7, n. 2, p. 159-167, APR 2013. (07/07802-4)

RODRIGUES, DANIELA; MAIA, PEDRO H. S.; TRIGO, JOSER R.. Sabotaging behaviour and minimal latex of Asclepias curassavica incur no cost for larvae of the southern monarch butterfly Danaus erippus. ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, v. 35, n. 4, p. 504-513, AUG 2010. (07/07802-4)

KAMINSKI, LUCAS A.; RODRIGUES, DANIELA. Species-specific levels of ant attendance mediate performance costs in a facultative myrmecophilous butterfly. PHYSIOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, v. 36, n. 3, p. 208-214, SEP 2011. (07/07802-4)

SANTANA, ALESSANDRA F. K.; RODRIGUES, DANIELA; ZUCOLOTO, FERNANDO S.. Larval aggregation in a Neotropical butterfly: risky behaviors, per capita risk, and larval responses in Ascia monuste orseis. BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY, v. 71, n. 12, DEC 2017. (07/07802-4, 10/50816-9)

RODRIGUES, DANIELA. Both associative learning and speed-accuracy trade-off occur in the southern monarch butterfly when visiting flowers. ETHOLOGY ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, v. 28, n. 1, p. 30-41, JAN 2 2016. (07/07802-4)

RODRIGUES, DANIELA; KAMINSKI, LUCAS A.; FREITAS, ANDRE V. L.; OLIVEIRA, PAULO S.. Trade-offs underlying polyphagy in a facultative ant-tended florivorous butterfly: the role of host plant quality and enemy-free space. Oecologia, v. 163, n. 3, p. 719-728, JUL 2010. (00/01484-1, 07/07802-4)

BARP, ELISETE A.; SOARES, GERALDO L. G.; GIANI, ERICA J. M.; RODRIGUES, DANIELA; MOREIRA, GILSON R. P.. Variation in Nectar and Pollen Availability, Sucrose Preference, and Daily Response in the Use of Flowers by Heliconius erato phyllis. Journal of Insect Behavior, v. 24, n. 3, p. 200-219, MAY 2011. (07/07802-4)