Relationships between leaf age and the food quality of cottonwood foliage for the gypsy moth,Lymantria dispar |
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Authors: | G. A. Meyer M. E. Montgomery |
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Affiliation: | (1) Center for Biological Control of Northeastern Forest Insects and Diseases, USDA Forest Service, 51 Mill Pond Road, 06514 Hamden, CT, USA;(2) Present address: Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, 14853 Ithaca, NY, USA |
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Abstract: | Summary The cottonwood tree, Populus deltoides, continues to produce leaves late into the growing season, exposing midseason herbivores to leaves of a wide range of maturity. Gypsy moth larvae preferred and grew best on the oldest cottonwood leaves and suffered higher mortality and 85% less growth when fed young, expanding leaves. Concentration of phenolics in the youngest leaves was 3 times that in the oldest leaves and was negatively correlated with caterpillar growth rate. The active phenolics were not identified; tannin was present but its concentration changed more with season than leaf age. |
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Keywords: | Lepidoptera Salicaceae Herbivory Resource allocation Chemical defense |
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