Host-Plant Specialization Mediates the Influence of Plant Abundance on Host Use by Flower Head-Feeding Insects

Autor(es)

Nobre, Paola A. F. ^{[1, 2]} ; Bergamini, Leonardo L. ^{[1, 3]} ; Lewinsohn, Thomas M. ^[4] ; Jorge, Leonardo R. ^[4] ; Almeida-Neto, Mario ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Fed Goias, ICB, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Evolucao, Goiania, Go - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estado Mato Grosso, Lab Entomol, Nova Xavantina, MT - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Goias, ICB, Dept Ecol, Goiania, Go - Brazil

^[4] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY; v. 45, n. 1, p. 171-177, FEB 2016.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Among-population variation in host use is a common phenomenon in herbivorous insects. The simplest and most trivial explanation for such variation in host use is the among-site variation in plant species composition. Another aspect that can influence spatial variation in host use is the relative abundance of each host-plant species compared to all available hosts. Here, we used endophagous insects that develop in flower heads of Asteraceae species as a study system to investigate how plant abundance influences the pattern of host-plant use by herbivorous insects with distinct levels of host-range specialization. Only herbivores recorded on three or more host species were included in this study. In particular, we tested two related hypotheses: 1) plant abundance has a positive effect on the host-plant preference of herbivorous insects, and 2) the relative importance of plant abundance to host-plant preference is greater for herbivorous species that use a wider range of host-plant species. We analyzed 11 herbivore species in 20 remnants of Cerrado in Southeastern Brazil. For 8 out of 11 herbivore species, plant abundance had a positive influence on host use. In contrast to our expectation, both the most specialized and the most generalist herbivores showed a stronger positive effect of plant species abundance in host use. Thus, we found evidence that although the abundance of plant species is a major factor determining the preferential use of host plants, its relative importance is mediated by the host-range specialization of herbivores. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 04/15482-1 - Interacoes planta-herbivoro: matrizes de associacoes e suas respostas a perturbacoes.
• Beneficiário: Thomas Michael Lewinsohn
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 98/05085-2 - Diversidade e interação de espécies em plantas e insetos fitófagos
• Beneficiário: Thomas Michael Lewinsohn
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 06/56889-2 - Diversidade e estrutura de interações tritróficas num gradiente de degradação antrópica: plantas, herbívoros e parasitóides em áreas de cerrado
• Beneficiário: Mário Almeida Neto
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado