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Disrupted biotic interactions are a predicted consequence of anthropogenic climate change when interactants differ in the magnitude or direction of phenological responses. Here, we examined the responses to artificial warming of northern, southern and central populations of the eastern tent caterpillar and its hymenopteran egg parasitoids. We subjected egg masses from each region to the typical conditions they experience in their source locality or to a warmer temperature regime, to quantify the effects of simulated warming on their relative phenology, survival and neonate starvation endurance. In addition, we characterized spring heat accumulation and cloud cover at each collection site using 30 years of hourly weather station data. As predicted, degree-day accumulation rates decreased with latitude; however, the mid-latitude site experienced what we predict to be the harshest spring conditions for tent caterpillars: slow heat accumulation combined with thick cloud cover. Remarkably, caterpillars from this site exhibited the largest phenological plasticity, hatching a month earlier under warmer than under typical conditions and doubling caterpillar survival. Survival of caterpillars from all regions was enhanced at warmer temperatures, whereas parasitoid survival was unaffected. The starvation endurance of hatchlings increased under warmer conditions in the central and southern populations only. We show that phenological responses to warming differed between hosts and parasitoids, resulting in a 5-day reduction in the relative phenology of wasps and caterpillars in the northern population. Our findings caution that responses to global warming are likely to be population or region specific and cannot be readily generalized, particularly for wide-ranging organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is disrupting species interactions by altering the timing of phenological events such as budburst for plants and hatching for insects. We combined field observations with laboratory manipulations to investigate the consequences of climate warming on the phenology and performance of the eastern tent caterpillar ( Malacosoma americanum). We evaluated the effects of warmer winter and spring regimes on caterpillar hatching patterns and starvation endurance, traits likely to be under selection in populations experiencing phenological asynchrony, using individuals from two different populations (Washington, DC, and Roswell, GA). We also quantified the proximate and extended fitness effects of early food deprivation and recorded spring phenology of local caterpillars and their host plants. In addition, we conducted laboratory assays to determine if caterpillars are using plant chemical cues to fine-tune their hatching times. Warmer winter temperatures induced earlier hatching and caterpillars from GA survived starvation for periods that were 30 % longer than caterpillars from DC. Warmer spring regimes reduced the starvation endurance of caterpillars overwintering in the wild but not in the laboratory. Early starvation dramatically reduced hatchling survival; however, surviving caterpillars did not show detrimental effects on pupal mass or development time. In the field, hatching preceded budburst in both 2013 and 2014 and the period of optimal foliage quality was 2 weeks shorter in 2013. Hatching time was unaffected by exposure to plant volatiles. Overall, we found that warmer temperatures can trigger late-season asynchrony by accelerating plant phenology and caterpillars from different populations exhibit differential abilities to cope with environmental unreliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]