Plant responses to multiple herbivory : phenotypic changes and their ecological consequences

This thesis explores whether aphid-infestation interferes with the plant response to chewing herbivores and whether this impacts performance and behaviour of individual chewing insect herbivores and their natural enemies, as well as the entire insect community. I investigated this using three wild cabbage populations (Brassica oleracea) that are known to differ in inducible secondary chemistry, to reveal whether patterns were consistent. A literature review on recent developments in the field of plant interactions with multiple herbivores (Chapter 2) addressed how plant traits mediate interactions with various species of the associated insect community and their dynamics. In addition, the mechanisms underlying phenotypic changes in response to different herbivores were discussed from the expression of defence-related genes, phytohormones and secondary metabolites in plants to their effects on the performance and behaviour of individual insects as well as the entire insect community. In Chapter 3, I investigated the effects of early-season infestation by the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae on the composition and dynamics of the entire insect community throughout the season in a garden experiment replicated in two consecutive years. Aphid infestation in the early season only affected a subset of the community, i.e. the natural enemies of aphids, but not the chewing herbivores and their natural enemies. Moreover, the effects were only significant in the first half (June & July), but waned in the second half of the season (August & September). The effect of aphid infestation on the community of natural enemies also varied among the cabbage populations. Chapter 4 investigated the effects of aphid infestation on plant direct defences against chewing herbivores in laboratory experiments by comparing the performance of chewing herbivores and their parasitoids on aphid-infested and aphid-free plants. The performance of the specialist herbivore Plutella xylostella and its parasit