Plant quality or quantity? Host exploitation strategies in three Chrysomelidae species associated with Asteraceae host plants

Phytophagous insects which feed on the leaves of herbaceous host plants have to adapt their life histories to the fact that protein nitrogen is usually highest in growing tissues in spring. We monitored field populations of larvae and adults of three chrysomelid species (Galeruca tanaceti (L.) (main host Achillea millefolium (L.) Yarrow), Cassida rubiginosa (Mueller) (main host Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.) and Oreina luctuosa (Suffrian) (host Centaurea scabiosa (L.)) together with the amount of protein nitrogen of their food resources and host plant biomass. As expected, the development of host quality, measured as concentration of protein nitrogen, and host plant biomass showed inverse trends during the season. The euryphagous G. tanaceti attacks Achillea early and profits from high nitrogen concentrations in the leaves. Occasional overexploitations of local populations of Achillea are compensated by the capacity to move to other host species. In C. rubiginosa, a species with a host range restricted to the Cardueae, the main larval feeding activity is postponed to a period when the nitrogen content of the host leaves had dropped to 50% of its initial value, but when host plant biomass had increased by 30%. In the monophagous O. luctuosa the larval development is synchronized with a still later phase of host phenology, at which the nitrogen content is below 50% but plant biomass has reached its maximum. There seem to be selection factors, which oppose the use of high quality food in spring and which force the latter two species to postpone their larval development to a later time in the year. This could be caused by numerous factors like, for example, mean daytime temperature. Later in the season the larvae have to cope with the low quality of their host plants. They have, however, the advantage of large quantities of food available.A laboratory study with adults and mature larvae of O. luctuosa shows that this species can overcome low levels of protein nitrogen either by selecting younger leaves with higher nitrogen concentrations or by increasing the daily food consumption rate (RCR) on leaves with a low level of nitrogen and by a prolongation of the feeding period. In this way the larvae compensate the effect of lower daily growth rates (RGR) and a lower food conversion index (ECI) on poor food quality: Regardless of the level of protein nitrogen there was no statistically significant difference in total gain of weight during the third-instar feeding period and in the weight at the end of the third larval stage. The three investigated chrysomelids show that there exists a broad spectrum of adaptations to overcome the dilemma of variable food quality.     

Head shape variation in cerambycid saproxylic beetles as a function of host plant selection

Saproxylic insects depend on deadwood for larval development, and a certain degree of specialization may be involved in their choice of host plants and/or wood in a particular stage of degradation. The plant species chosen for oviposition in turn act as an environmental pressure on the head morphology of larvae and it is expected that head shape plasticity varies directly with the number of woody plant species used for larval development in each insect species. We analyzed head shape variation in saproxylic beetles with respect to host plant species, maximum time of larval emergence and season of the year when insects colonized branches. Generalist species in the use of host plants showed significant variation in head shape and size. Time of emergence and season did not appear to affect head shape, although season was a determinant factor of abundance and possibly head size variation.     

Spiny east Mediterranean plant species flower later and in a drier season than non-spiny species

We compared the flowering phenology of spiny and non-spiny native species belonging to three families (Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae), which include the highest number of spiny species in the flora of Israel. We found that the peak of flowering (when the highest number of species flowered) was 4–8 weeks later for spiny species than for non-spiny species. The flowering peak of non-spiny species was in late March, while that of spiny species was at the beginning of May. The seasonal shift in flowering time from the main season, when most Mediterranean plants bloom, to the end of the flowering season, when fewer species bloom, might be the evolutionary result of a change in phenology reducing the competition for pollinators. Our results clearly indicate that spinescence of plants in the semi-arid east Mediterranean region is associated with a delayed flowering season at the beginning of the dry summer when most of the herbaceous vegetation is already dry. During this season, mammalian grazers consume any edible herbaceous vegetation, selecting for late flowering species that allocate more resources for anti-herbivore defenses than early flowering species. There is a well-known global geographical trend where the occurrence of spiny plants is higher in arid regions than in humid ones. In parallel to the global trend, we show a seasonal one, that non-spiny plants grow and flower in the spring, which is the main flowering season in the Mediterranean basin, while spiny plants flower later, in the hot and dry summer. Under the current trend of global warming, there are prospects of future increase in the dominance of spiny species in the Mediterranean region.     

Flowering phenology and reproductive fitness along a mountain slope: maladaptive responses to transplantation to a warmer climate in Campanula thyrsoides

In many biomes, global warming has resulted in advanced and longer growing seasons, which has often led to earlier flowering in plant taxa. Elevational gradients are ideal to study the effects of global warming as they allow transplantation of plants from their original cooler higher elevations down to elevations with a prospective climate. We transplanted plants from ten populations of the European alpine monocarpic herb species Campanula thyrsoides L. to three sites along a steep mountain slope (600, 1,235 and 1,850 m above sea level) in the Swiss Alps and asked whether reproductive phenology adjusts plastically to elevation and if these responses were adaptive, i.e. increased the fitness of plants. We further assessed current genetic differentiation in phenotypic traits and whether any such origin effects were due to adaptation to climatic conditions of origin. Our results showed that transplantation to lower elevations caused strong shifts in phenology, with plants starting growth and flowering earlier than plants placed at higher elevations. However, compared to flower production at high elevation, number of flowers per plant decreased 21 % at mid- and 61 % at low elevation. The shift in phenology thus came with a high cost in fitness, and we suggest that phenology is maladaptive when C. thyrsoides faces temperature conditions deviating from its natural amplitude. We conclude that the frequently reported phenological shift in plant species as a response to global warming may include heavy fitness costs that may hamper species survival.     

Effects of experimental warming on survival,phenology, and morphology of an aquatic insect (Odonata)

1. Organisms can respond to changing climatic conditions in multiple ways including changes in phenology, body size or morphology, and range shifts. Understanding how developmental temperatures affect insect life‐history timing and morphology is crucial because body size and morphology affect multiple aspects of life history, including dispersal ability, whereas phenology can shape population performance and community interactions. 2. It was experimentally assessed how developmental temperatures experienced by aquatic larvae affected survival, phenology, and adult morphology of dragonflies [Pachydiplax longipennis (Burmeister)]. Larvae were reared under three environmental temperatures: ambient, +2.5, and +5 °C, corresponding to temperature projections for our study area 50 and 100 years in the future, respectively. Experimental temperature treatments tracked naturally‐occurring variation. 3. Clear effects of temperature were found in the rearing environment on survival and phenology: dragonflies reared at the highest temperatures had the lowest survival rates and emerged from the larval stage approximately 3 weeks earlier than animals reared at ambient temperatures. There was no effect of rearing temperature on overall body size. Although neither the relative wing nor thorax size was affected by warming, a non‐significant trend towards an interaction between sex and warming in relative thorax size suggests that males may be more sensitive to warming than females, a pattern that should be investigated further. 4. Warming strongly affected survival in the larval stage and the phenology of adult emergence. Understanding how warming in the developmental environment affects later life‐history stages is critical to interpreting the consequences of warming for organismal performance.     

气候变暖对昆虫影响研究进展

"全球气候变化"已成为国内外最受关注的环境问题。气候变化中以温度升高为特征的气候变暖对变温动物昆虫自身及其所在的生物群落产生直接或间接影响。从研究内容与研究方法2个方面综述了气候变暖对昆虫影响研究的国内外进展。气候变暖导致昆虫发生期提前,地理分布向更高纬度和海拔地区扩散,低温适生种种群密度下降,高温适生种种群密度增加。气候变暖改变寄主植物—害虫—天敌的物候同步性和昆虫原有种间互作关系,影响植食性昆虫的寄主植物范围和取食为害程度。长期的气候变暖带来的强烈的选择性压力引起某些昆虫种群的基因组发生变异。以日均温升高、日最高气温升高和昼夜温差变化等为主要特征气候变暖对昆虫发育、繁殖及存活等生态学指标产生重要影响。研究方法上主要是利用野外直接观察法、回归预测模型、有效积温模型、CLIMEX和GIS等生态风险评估软件、生物化石比较技术、人工气候下生态试验、检测标记基因频率变化等方法来研究气候变暖对昆虫的影响。最后简要评述了已有研究的不足并指出未来的研究方向:(1)气候变暖情景下开展昆虫种间互作研究并拓展研究对象;(2)高温下昆虫适应性研究;(3)建立完善人工模拟气候下的实验方法;(4)构建昆虫有效生态机理模型。     

Larval host plants of two lizard beetles in the genus Tetraphala (Coleoptera,Erotylidae, Languriinae,Languriini) from Taiwan,with a host plant list of Languriini

Lizard beetles (Erotylidae, Languriinae, Languriini) are known as stem borers of plants and contain agricultural pests and endangered species, but their species–host plant associations have been poorly documented. Here we investigated the larval host plants of two species of the genus Tetraphala Strum, T. collaris (Crotch) and Tetraphala sp. occurring in Taiwan. Females of T. collaris excavated living leafstalks and stems of the herbaceous dicot, Sambucus chinensis (Adoxaceae) using their mandibles for oviposition. We observed the eggs and early-instar larvae inside and nearby oviposition holes and late-instar larvae inside stems, suggesting that T. collaris uses living leafstalks and stems of S. chinensis as oviposition substrate and the larvae tunnel into stems with feeding on the tissues. Similarly, females of Tetraphala sp. excavated living leafstalks of the fern, Pteris wallichiana (Pteridaceae) using their mandibles for oviposition. We observed the eggs and early-instar larvae inside and nearby oviposition holes. When reared in laboratory, a larva reached adulthood inside the leafstalk. These results indicated that Tetraphala sp. uses living leafstalks of Pt. wallichiana as oviposition substrate and the larvae complete their development within. This study revealed that the genus Tetraphala contains both fern- and dicot-users during larval period. Further study is needed to clarify the evolutionary process of host plant use of languriines. Additionally, the host plant list of Languriini is provided.     

Host plant preference and performance of the sibling species of butterflies <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptidea sinapis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptidea reali</Emphasis>: a test of the trade-off hypothesis for food specialisation

A large proportion of phytophagous insect species are specialised on one or a few host plants, and female host plant preference is predicted to be tightly linked to high larval survival and performance on the preferred plant(s). Specialisation is likely favoured by selection under stable circumstances, since different host plant species are likely to differ in suitability—a pattern usually explained by the “trade-off hypothesis”, which posits that increased performance on a given plant comes at a cost of decreased performance on other plants. Host plant specialisation is also ascribed an important role in host shift speciation, where different incipient species specialise on different host plants. Hence, it is important to determine the role of host plants when studying species divergence and niche partitioning between closely related species, such as the butterfly species pair Leptidea sinapis and Leptidea reali. In Sweden, Leptidea sinapis is a habitat generalist, appearing in both forests and meadows, whereas Leptidea reali is specialised on meadows. Here, we study the female preference and larval survival and performance in terms of growth rate, pupal weight and development time on the seven most-utilised host plants. Both species showed similar host plant rank orders, and larvae survived and performed equally well on most plants with the exceptions of two rarely utilised forest plants. We therefore conclude that differences in preference or performance on plants from the two habitats do not drive, or maintain, niche separation, and we argue that the results of this study do not support the trade-off hypothesis for host plant specialisation, since the host plant generalist Leptidea sinapis survived and performed as well on the most preferred meadow host plant Lathyrus pratensis as did Leptidea reali although the generalist species also includes other plants in its host range. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Butterfly oviposition preference is not related to larval performance on a polyploid herb

The preference–performance hypothesis predicts that female insects maximize their fitness by utilizing host plants which are associated with high larval performance. Still, studies with several insect species have failed to find a positive correlation between oviposition preference and larval performance. In the present study, we experimentally investigated the relationship between oviposition preferences and larval performance in the butterfly Anthocharis cardamines. Preferences were assessed using both cage experiments and field data on the proportion of host plant individuals utilized in natural populations. Larval performance was experimentally investigated using larvae descending from 419 oviposition events by 21 females on plants from 51 populations of two ploidy types of the perennial herb Cardamine pratensis. Neither ploidy type nor population identity influenced egg survival or larval development, but increased plant inflorescence size resulted in a larger final larval size. There was no correlation between female oviposition preference and egg survival or larval development under controlled conditions. Moreover, variation in larval performance among populations under controlled conditions was not correlated with the proportion of host plants utilized in the field. Lastly, first instar larvae added to plants rejected for oviposition by butterfly females during the preference experiment performed equally well as larvae growing on plants chosen for oviposition. The lack of a correlation between larval performance and oviposition preference for A. cardamines under both experimental and natural settings suggests that female host choice does not maximize the fitness of the individual offspring.     

Host plant selection behaviour of Chilo partellus and its implication for effectiveness of a trap crop

Female lepidopterans can display a hierarchy of preference among potential host species, a trait thought to arise from the balance between attractants and deterrents to which the insects respond. Host plant ranking by moths and larvae of Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an important pest of cereals in Africa, was investigated, and whether eggs deposited on specific host plants yield larvae of particular host preferences. Trap plants are used in management of this pest. However, any ‘disagreement’ in host ranking between moths and larvae could potentially reduce effectiveness of trap crops as larvae emigrate to the main crop from the parent’s preferred trap plant. We also investigated whether host plant preference is influenced by the diet upon which larvae fed as part of an integrated assessment of the relationship between host plant selection and learning in C. partellus. Five host plants (all Poaceae) were used: maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor Moench), Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach), and two varieties of signal grass [Brachiaria brizantha (A. Rich.) Stapf], viz., local (henceforth signal grass) and improved (‘Mulato’). In multiple choice tests, C. partellus female moths preferentially oviposited on Napier grass, followed by sorghum, maize, and signal grass, and least preferred ‘Mulato’. Larvae however equally orientated and settled on leaf cuts of maize, sorghum, signal grass, and Napier grass, but least preferred ‘Mulato’. Moreover, eggs from specific host plants did not yield larvae of particular host preferences. Furthermore, oviposition preference was not altered by the larval food. These results imply only a slight ‘disagreement’ in host ranking behaviour between moths and larvae, which is beneficial for trap cropping as larvae would not ‘reject’ the trap plant and appreciably disperse to the neighboring plants. Moreover, absence of larval learning behaviour indicates that regardless of the larval food C. partellus moths would still be attracted to the selected trap plant.     

How do host plant use and seasonal life cycle relate to insect body size: A case study on European geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

We used European geometrid moths (>630 species) as a model group to investigate how life history traits linked to larval host plant use (i.e., diet breadth and host-plant growth form) and seasonal life cycle (i.e., voltinism, overwintering stage and caterpillar phenology) are related to adult body size in holometabolous insect herbivores. To do so, we applied phylogenetic comparative methods to account for shared evolutionary history among herbivore species. We further categorized larval diet breadth based on the phylogenetic structure of utilized host plant genera. Our results indicate that species associated with woody plants are, on average, larger than herb feeders and increase in size with increasing diet breadth. Obligatorily univoltine species are larger than multivoltine species, and attain larger sizes when their larvae occur exclusively in the early season. Furthermore, the adult body size is significantly smaller in species that overwinter in the pupal stage compared to those that overwinter as eggs or caterpillars. In summary, our results indicate that the ecological niche of holometabolous insect herbivores is strongly interrelated with body size at maturity.     

Role of larval host plants in the climate-driven range expansion of the butterfly Polygonia c-album

1. Some species have expanded their ranges during recent climate warming and the availability of breeding habitat and species' dispersal ability are two important factors determining expansions. The exploitation of a wide range of larval host plants should increase an herbivorous insect species' ability to track climate by increasing habitat availability. Therefore we investigated whether the performance of a species on different host plants changed towards its range boundary, and under warmer temperatures. 2. We studied the polyphagous butterfly Polygonia c-album, which is currently expanding its range in Britain and apparently has altered its host plant preference from Humulus lupulus to include other hosts (particularly Ulmus glabra and Urtica dioica). We investigated insect performance (development time, larval growth rate, adult size, survival) and adult flight morphology on these host plants under four rearing temperatures (18-28.5 degrees C) in populations from core and range margin sites. 3. In general, differences between core and margin populations were small compared with effects of rearing temperature and host plant. In terms of insect performance, host plants were generally ranked U. glabra > or = U. dioica > H. lupulus at all temperatures. Adult P. c-album can either enter diapause or develop directly and higher temperatures resulted in more directly developing adults, but lower survival rates (particularly on the original host H. lupulus) and smaller adult size. 4. Adult flight morphology of wild-caught individuals from range margin populations appeared to be related to increased dispersal potential relative to core populations. However, there was no difference in laboratory reared individuals, and conflicting results were obtained for different measures of flight morphology in relation to larval host plant and temperature effects, making conclusions about dispersal potential difficult. 5. Current range expansion of P. c-album is associated with the exploitation of more widespread host plants on which performance is improved. This study demonstrates how polyphagy may enhance the ability of species to track climate change. Our findings suggest that observed differences in climate-driven range shifts of generalist vs. specialist species may increase in the future and are likely to lead to greatly altered community composition.     

河北省草本植物物候特征及其对气候变暖的响应

以1981—2006年河北省8个国家农业气象观测站的草本植物物候观测资料和47个气象站的地面观测资料为基础,运用EOF和REOF等统计学方法,研究了河北省草本植物物候期的变化特征及其对气候变暖的响应。结果表明:河北省草本植物展叶始期总体呈提前趋势,其中东部沿海平原提前趋势最大,中南部平原次之,西北部山区最小;黄枯始期主要表现出推迟趋势,生长季长度以延长趋势为主;春季气温对展叶始期的影响显著,河北省春季气温上升1℃,草本植物展叶始期提前4.1d;各站点生长季倾向率与年均温倾向率呈正相关,即年均温升幅大的站点,生长季延长的幅度也较大;草本植物物候变化特征及其对气候变暖的响应与木本植物基本一致,研究结果对丰富河北省物候与气候变化关系研究具有一定意义。     

Effects of Warming on Chlorophyll Degradation and Carbohydrate Accumulation of Alpine Herbaceous Species during Plant Senescence on the Tibetan Plateau

Plant senescence is a critical life history process accompanied by chlorophyll degradation and has large implications for nutrient resorption and carbohydrate storage. Although photoperiod governs much of seasonal leaf senescence in many plant species, temperature has also been shown to modulate this process. Therefore, we hypothesized that climate warming would significantly impact the length of the plant growing season and ultimate productivity. To test this assumption, we measured the effects of simulated autumn climate warming paradigms on four native herbaceous species that represent distinct life forms of alpine meadow plants on the Tibetan Plateau. Conditions were simulated in open-top chambers (OTCs) and the effects on the degradation of chlorophyll, nitrogen (N) concentration in leaves and culms, total non-structural carbohydrate (TNC) in roots, growth and phenology were assessed during one year following treatment. The results showed that climate warming in autumn changed the senescence process only for perennials by slowing chlorophyll degradation at the beginning of senescence and accelerating it in the following phases. Warming also increased root TNC storage as a result of higher N concentrations retained in leaves; however, this effect was species dependent and did not alter the growing and flowering phenology in the following seasons. Our results indicated that autumn warming increases carbohydrate accumulation, not only by enhancing activities of photosynthetic enzymes (a mechanism proposed in previous studies), but also by affecting chlorophyll degradation and preferential allocation of resources to different plant compartments. The different responses to warming can be explained by inherently different growth and phenology patterns observed among the studied species. The results implied that warming leads to changes in the competitive balance among life forms, an effect that can subsequently shift vegetation distribution and species composition in communities.     

Timing is everything? Phenological synchrony and population variability in leaf‐chewing herbivores of Quercus

Abstract.  1. Specialization on ephemeral resources (e.g. new leaves) should produce large annual variation in herbivore population size when the timing of availability of those resources is unpredictable. Despite considerable evidence for impacts of synchrony with budburst on survival of larval Lepidoptera, previous studies of adult Geometridae and Noctuidae found no correlations between insect phenology and population variability.
2. We surveyed larval Lepidoptera feeding on Quercus alba and Q. velutina in Missouri from 1993 to 2003 and examined population variability, measured as the coefficient of variation of population density (CV), in a subset of abundant species. We compared CV values among species whose larvae feed only in spring, early summer, mid-summer, late summer, or all season. We predicted that univoltine species whose larvae eclose and complete development in spring during leaf expansion would have higher variability than species feeding later in the season, having multiple generations, or having longer development times.
3. As predicted and consistent with hypotheses, spring-feeding species had CV values 32% higher than species feeding in summer months. Coefficients of variation were also 34% higher in leaf-rolling and mining guilds compared with free-feeders, suggesting that mobile species may compensate for asynchrony with budburst by dispersing to higher quality plants or plant parts. Multivoltine species, however, did not differ from univoltine species in population variability.
4. Our results suggest that asynchrony with plant phenology and factors that might exacerbate it, such as climate change, will have the largest impacts on the dynamics of spring-feeding Lepidoptera, particularly species with limited mobility.     

Selection on flowering time in Mediterranean high-mountain plants under global warming

Under climate warming, plants will undergo novel selective pressures to adjust reproductive timing. Adjustment between reproductive phenology and environment is expected to be higher in arctic and alpine habitats because the growing season is considerably short. As early- and late-flowering species reproduce under very different environmental conditions, selective pressures on flowering phenology and potential effects of climate change are likely to differ between them. However, there is no agreement on the magnitude of the benefits and costs of early- vs. late-flowering species under a global warming scenario. In spite of its relevance, phenotypic selection on flowering phenology has rarely been explored in alpine plants and never in Mediterranean high mountain species, where selective pressures are very different due to the summer drought imposed over the short growth season. We hypothesized that late-flowering plants in Mediterranean mountains should present stronger selective pressures towards early onset of reproduction than early-flowering species, because less water is available in the soil as growing season progresses. We performed selection analyses on flowering onset and duration in two high mountain species of contrasting phenology. Since phenotypic selection can be highly context-dependent, we studied several populations of each species for 2 years, covering their local altitudinal ranges and their different microhabitats. Surrogates of biotic selective agents, like fruitset for pollinators and flower and fruit loss for flower and seed predators, were included in the analysis. Differences between the early- and the late-flowering species were less than expected. A consistent negative correlational selection of flowering onset and duration was found affecting plant fitness, i.e., plants that bloomed earlier flowered for longer periods improving plant fitness. Nevertheless, the late-flowering species may experience higher risks under climate warming because in extremely warm and dry years the earlier season does not bring about a longer flowering duration due to summer drought.     

Phenological synchrony between a plant and a specialised herbivore

Global anthropogenic climate change is altering the phenology of many species, with implications for interacting species. If species use different cues or respond at different rates, this could result in asynchrony between hosts and herbivores. The larval stage of the endemic critically endangered Sinai Baton Blue butterfly (Pseudophilotes sinaicus) feeds exclusively on the buds and flowers of an endangered near-endemic plant, the Sinai Thyme (Thymus decussatus), with a narrow window in time when both larvae and flowers are present. We test for synchrony in time and space between the flowering phenology of the host plant and the associated timings and abundances of the Sinai Baton Blue. Together with significant spatial variation amongst patches, there were large inter-annual variations in flowering period, up to two weeks between years, indicating phenotypic plasticity in response to abiotic conditions. The butterfly flight period was approximately synchronised to the flowering of its host plant, but there was no evidence of any detailed spatial or temporal correlations in phenology. The dramatic annual population changes, possibly cycles, in the butterfly, may partly be driven by differences in the responses between plant and herbivore to climate that cause varying degrees of synchrony between years.     

Stage‐dependent physiological responses in a butterfly cause non‐additive effects on phenology

Studies illustrating climate‐induced shifts in phenology typically focus on the timing of a single lifecycle stage. In contrast, species’ responses to climate change are likely to be complex and constrained by interactions and tradeoffs across the lifecycle. We characterized the thermal sensitivity of egg, larval and pupal stages of a native Australian butterfly and then integrated these responses to predict sensitivity of emergence time, survival, and feeding performance on oviposition date and climate. Thermal physiology varied among lifecycle stages and between sexes, with the development rate of eggs, first instar larvae, and pupae being the most sensitive to temperature. As lifecycle stages have different thermal physiologies, the environment experienced by a given stage depends in a complex way on the experience of previous stages. Our simulations indicate that oviposition date strongly influences time spent in each lifecycle‐stage, as well as performance. Under a high emissions climate warming scenario (CSIRO Mk 3.5 climate model, high emissions SRES marker scenario A1F1, and a moderate rate of global warming), we predict development times to decrease by 38 days by 2070. Our analysis illustrates how differences in thermal physiology across the lifecycle may result in non‐additive effects on phenology which, in turn, may constrain species’ responses to global warming. These results highlight the need to view shifts in phenology in the context of an organism's entire lifecycle.     

Wise flies: a pre‐dispersal seed predator prefers hermaphrodites over females in the gynodioecious Polemonium foliosissimum

1. Oviposition choices can profoundly affect offspring performance. Oviposition decisions of the dipteran pre‐dispersal seed predator, Hylemya sp. (Diptera: Anthomyiidae), when choosing among sex morphs of their host‐plant—Polemonium foliosissimum Hook—were evaluated. Polemonium foliosissimum is gynodioecious, with female and hermaphrodite sex morphs that differ in flower size. 2. It was asked: Do female flies preferentially oviposit on hermaphrodite plants and, if so, are oviposition choices correlated with flower size? Is larval survivorship higher on hermaphrodite plants and, if so, is larval success correlated with flower size? Can the differences in oviposition and/or larval success be explained by slight differences in flowering phenology between the sexes? 3. Hermaphrodite flowers received 45% more Hylemya eggs than females. Although hermaphrodites had larger petals and sepals than females, egg loads were not correlated with petal or sepal size. Larval survival was 30% greater on hermaphrodites than females and higher on plants with larger sepals. However, the difference in sepal area between genders did not fully explain larval survival differences. Egg numbers declined over weeks, but differences in egg loads between the sex morphs were not attributable to a slight phenological delay of females. Larval survival declined over the season; however, larval survival differences between sex morphs were consistent. 4. Hylemya preferentially oviposited on hermaphrodites where their larvae had a significantly greater survival rate compared with females. The present results add to the knowledge that intra‐specific choices have consequences for phytophagous insects and that the relationship between antagonists and their gynodioecious host plants is complex.     

Butterfly–host plant synchrony determines patterns of host use across years and regions

Variation in the degree of synchrony among host plants and herbivores can disrupt or intensify species interactions, alter the strength of natural selection on traits associated with phenological timing, and drive novel host plant associations. We used field observations from three regions during four seasons to examine how timing of the butterfly herbivore Anthocharis cardamines relative to six host plant species (Arabis hirsuta, Cardamine pratensis, Arabis glabra, Arabidopsis thaliana, Thlaspi caerulescens and Capsella bursa‐pastoris) influenced host species use and the choice of host plant individuals within populations. Butterflies laid a larger fraction of their eggs on species that were closer to the butterfly's preferred stage of development than on other host species. Within host plant populations, butterflies showed a stronger preference for individuals with a late phenology when plants within the population were on average more developed at the time of butterfly flight. Our results suggest that changes in synchrony between herbivores and their host plants are associated with changes in both host species use and the choice of host plant individuals differing in phenology within populations. This is likely to be an important mechanism generating variation in interaction intensities and trait selection in the wild, and therefore also relevant for understanding how anthropogenic induced changes, such as global warming, will influence natural communities.