| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Total Authors: 2
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| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Programa Posgrad Ecol, BR-13083970 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Biol Anim, Lab Ecol Quim, BR-13083970 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 2
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| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Journal of Chemical Ecology; v. 40, n. 4, p. 341-354, APR 2014. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 2 |
| Abstract | |
Larvae of tortoise beetles are postulated to have fecal shields as the main defensive strategy against predators. Such a device protects beetles both physically and chemically. In order to examine how larvae Chelymorpha reimoseri are protected against predatory ants, which frequently visit extrafloral nectaries in their host plant, the morning glory Ipomoea carnea, we conducted anti-predation bioassays with live 5th instars. In the field, larvae in contact with ants had survival between 40 and 73 %, independently of shield presence. In the laboratory, when exposed to Camponotus crassus, larvae with shields had significantly higher survival (85 %) than those without shields (64 %). In both scenarios, larval survival was significantly higher when compared with palatable Spodoptera frugiperda larvae, as the latter were all consumed. We also observed that when C. reimoseri larvae showed no movement, the ants walked on them without attacking. We hypothesized that if the larval integument has a pattern of cuticular compounds (CCs) similar to that of its host plant, larvae would be rendered chemically camouflaged. In the field and laboratory, the freeze-dried palatable larvae of S. frugiperda treated with CCs of 5th instar C. reimoseri and left on I. carnea leaves were significantly less removed by ants than controls without these compounds. We also found a similarity of approximately 50 % between the CCs in C. reimoseri larvae and I. carnea host leaves. Both findings provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that chemical camouflage plays an important role in larval defense, which is reported for the first time in an ectophagous leaf beetle larva. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 11/17708-0 - Chemical defense in plants and insects in neotropical environments |
| Grantee: | Jose Roberto Trigo |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 08/04241-4 - Multimodal defenses in Ipomoea carnea subsp. fistulosa (Convolvulaceae) and in their herbivores, the tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae) |
| Grantee: | Kamila Ferreira Massuda Garcia |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |