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Nonsensical choices? Fall armyworm moths choose seemingly best or worst hosts for their larvae, but neonate larvae make their own choices
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 5, p e0197628 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Selecting optimal host plants is critical for herbivorous insects, such as fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), an important maize pest in the Americas and Africa. Fall armyworm larvae are presumed to have limited mobility, hence female moths are presumed to be largely responsible for selecting hosts. We addressed host selection by fall armyworm moths and neonate and older (3rd-instar) larvae, as mediated by resistance and herbivory in maize plants. Thus, we compared discrimination among three maize cultivars with varying degrees of resistance to fall armyworm, and between plants subjected or not to two types of herbivory. The cultivars were: (i) susceptible, and deficient in jasmonic acid (JA) production and green leaf volatiles (GLV) emissions (inbred line B73-lox10); (ii) modestly resistant (B73), and; (iii) highly resistant (Mp708). The herbivory types were: (i) ongoing (= fall armyworm larvae present), and; (ii) future (= fall armyworm eggs present). In choice tests, moths laid more eggs on the highly resistant cultivar, and least on the susceptible cultivar, though on those cultivars larvae performed poorest and best, respectively. In the context of herbivory, moths laid more eggs: (i) on plants subject to versus free of future herbivory, regardless of whether plants were deficient or not in JA and GLV production; (ii) on plants subject versus free of ongoing herbivory, and; (iii) on plants not deficient in compared to deficient in JA and GLV production. Neonate larvae dispersed aerially from host plants (i.e. ballooned), and most larvae colonized the modestly resistant cultivar, and fewest the highly resistant cultivar, suggesting quasi-directional, directed aerial descent. Finally, dispersing older larvae did not discriminate among the three maize cultivars, nor between maize plants and (plastic) model maize plants, suggesting random, visually-oriented dispersal. Our results were used to assemble a model of host selection by fall armyworm moths and larvae, including recommendations for future research.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Life Cycles
Physiology
Oviposition
Inbred Strains
lcsh:Medicine
Plant Science
Moths
01 natural sciences
Choice Behavior
chemistry.chemical_compound
Larvae
Reproductive Physiology
Medicine and Health Sciences
Cultivar
lcsh:Science
2. Zero hunger
Larva
Multidisciplinary
Behavior, Animal
Ecology
Jasmonic acid
Green leaf volatiles
food and beverages
Eukaryota
Plants
Trophic Interactions
Horticulture
Experimental Organism Systems
Community Ecology
Fall armyworm
Research Article
animal structures
Context (language use)
Biology
Research and Analysis Methods
Zea mays
Host-Parasite Interactions
Model Organisms
Plant-Animal Interactions
Plant and Algal Models
Animals
Herbivory
Grasses
Host (biology)
Plant Ecology
lcsh:R
fungi
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Plant-Herbivore Interactions
15. Life on land
biology.organism_classification
Maize
010602 entomology
chemistry
Seedlings
lcsh:Q
PEST analysis
010606 plant biology & botany
Developmental Biology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....213a9422cc7f760fabc48ef2ae22d54a