I investigated effects of density-dependent variation in host plant quality on adult feeding and overwintering success of the leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica L. During pre-overwintering period adult beetles were fed in the laboratory on host plants, Salix borealis, originating from (a) a site with low density population of C. lapponica, (b) a site with peak density of C. lapponica, and (c) a post-outbreak site. Beetles fed on plants from low density and peak density sites demonstrated similar performance, whereas on plants from post-outbreak site beetles fed longer, gained more weight, and experienced greater mortality during overwintering. Higher water content in these beetles suggests that the main reason for increased winter mortality is insufficient dehydration of the beetles' bodies, presumably due to low quality food. The total carbon concentration in host plant foliage explained variation in most beetle performance indices, while total nitrogen did not correlate with beetle performance. Damage-induced decrease in quality of host plants from post-outbreak sites (delayed inducible resistance, DIR), associated with increase in carbon-containing defensive compounds, was earlier found to increase larval mortality and thus contribute to the decline in population density of C. lapponica. Results of the current study suggest that DIR can also disturb pre-overwintering feeding and thus increase winter mortality of adult beetles, enhancing post-outbreak density decline.
A combination of biological control and host-plant resistance is needed to control greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood). The high level of susceptibility of several host plants to whitefly, based on their performance on these plants, is well documented. These studies only provide information on the overall host-plant acceptance by whiteflies. Here, we use a method that allows an examination of the different tissue layers in the overall acceptance. The effects of plant tissue factors on whitefly probing profiles were monitored using the electrical penetration graph (EPG) method. The EPGs of whitefly originating from a culture on glasshouse cucumber, were recorded for 8 hours on sweet pepper, tomato, gerbera and cucumber plants produced in a glasshouse. On sweet pepper the graphs showed that whitefly made many short probes, had long xylem phases, short phloem phases, and the shortest duration of first probes. An opposite probing profile was found on cucumber: longer probes, shorter xylem phases, fewer phloem phases but of longer duration, and longer first probes. The values of these parameters for gerbera and tomato were intermediate. Whiteflies encountered the greatest stimulation or the least resistance in the tissues of cucumber, and the least stimulation or the greatest resistance in the tissues of sweet pepper. Rejection of host plants probably occurred before the phloem tissue was reached, as the probes prior to a whitefly leaving a host plant were so short that the stylets cannot have reached the phloem. But phloem factors also determine host-plant rejection, as phloem probing on sweet pepper - a poor host plant - was much shorter than on the other host plants. Resistance factors seem, therefore, to be located both in the epidermis/mesophyll and in the phloem. We hypothesize that the factors encountered by whitefly in the different tissue layers during probing contribute to the acceptance or rejection of a host plant. Based on the performance of whitefly on these plants, which is also reflected in the values of the EPG parameters, the order of acceptance ranked from high to low is cucumber > tomato = gerbera > sweet pepper.
Host-plant mediation in ant-hemipteran mutualisms requires three conditions. First, hemipteran attractiveness to ants should vary with plant quality. Second, ants should preferentially tend those Hemiptera that produce the most nutritious attractant. Third, increased ant attendance based on a richer food reward should have a significant effect on some measure of hemipteran fitness. A field experiment is used to test these conditions. This is the first study to simultaneously test these three conditions, and the first to test the effect of plant flowering status on the ant-derived benefits for a honeydew-producing hemipteran. It is hypothesized that membracids (Guayaquila xiphias) feeding on plants (Didymopanax vinosum) with flowers ingest phloem sap of higher quality (higher sugar concentration), produce a higher-quality honeydew and, as a result, are attended by more ants and are better protected compared to those on plants without flowers. Total nitrogen content of the phloem sap of plants with or without flowers did not differ significantly, whereas the sugar concentration was higher in the sap of plants with flowers. Honeydew sugar concentration, honeydew production, and ant tending levels did not vary significantly with flowering status. Membracid survival increased, and natural enemy abundance decreased when ants were present. Plant flowering status did not affect the ant-derived protection afforded to treehoppers, but plants with flowers accumulated more natural enemies through time than plants without flowers. The results suggest that a trade-off between feeding on a higher-quality food and running increased risk of predation on flowering plants could underlie this ant-hemipteran interaction. Based on the parameters measured in this study it is concluded that host-plant mediation does not occur in the ant-Guayaquila system. The results suggest, however, that the way in which the host-plant could affect ant-Guayaquila interactions is complex and likely to involve other species.