| 1. |
- Lhomme, Patrick, et al.
(författare)
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A context-dependent induction of natal habitat preference in a generalist herbivorous insect
- 2018
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Ingår i: Behavioral Ecology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1045-2249 .- 1465-7279. ; 29, s. 360-367
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some herbivorous insects remember their childhood, but they recall only the nice memories! We show in a moth that host-plant odor exposure associated with high-quality food during larval stage induces a preference shift in adults for the experienced plant, whereas no such preference shift was found for odors associated with low-quality food.In many species, adults exploit sensory information experienced in their natal habitat when searching for resources. This behavioral plasticity may help animals to establish themselves in new habitats by quickly locating suitable resources and avoiding unsuitable resources in complex environments. However, the processes guiding positive or negative natal habitat preference induction (NHPI) remain poorly understood. In the polyphagous moth Spodoptera littoralis, earlier studies have shown that female innate host-plant preference is modulated by larval feeding experience. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate how variability in food quality associated with habitat olfactory cues can modulate NHPI in this species. We found that larvae showed appetitive or aversive responses to the experienced plant olfactory cues based on their values as predictors of food quality. Furthermore, larval exposure to host-plant olfactory cues alone induced oviposition preference for these plants in adult females, but only when the females had been feeding on high-quality food as larvae. Females reared on poor quality food retained their innate plant oviposition preference as adults. These results show that NHPI in S. littoralis is context-dependent and based on food quality with which olfactory cues are associated. They also suggest that larval experience to plant olfactory cues alone is sufficient to modulate the adult host-plant preference. Finally, this study suggests that polyphagous insects with particular innate plant preferences may only show phenotypic plasticity in this trait when the fitness benefits are high.
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| 2. |
- Lhomme, Patrick, et al.
(författare)
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A sensitive period for the induction of host plant preference in a generalist herbivorous insect
- 2020
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 169, s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many species use early life sensory experiences to guide phenotypic plasticity and facilitate decision making during later adult settlement in new habitats or location of suitable resources. However, only some of the available sensory information in the environment is relevant for future decision making and, in addition, it may only be informative during certain times during development. This means that sampling of environmental information that should be retained to adulthood could be limited to certain sensitive periods. In the polyphagous moth Spodoptera littoralis, recent studies have demonstrated that adult females exhibit an innate preference hierarchy for certain plants that can be modulated by olfactory experience during the larval stage. This olfactory-driven phenotypic plasticity requires that information about plant quality is transferred over the full metamorphosis. However, the timing of information acquisition that affects adult behaviour and whether there is a sensitive period for the sensory experience inducing host plant preferences are not known. In this study, we tested whether experience used by adult females during host plant choice was acquired during early or later larval stages and whether adult females can retain larval experience from only one or from sequential feeding events on different plants. We found that only plant feeding experience during the later larval stages induced a host plant preference shift in adult females. Furthermore, our experiments demonstrated that when given an artificial diet in the later larval stage, adult females relied on their innate plant preference hierarchy even if they had feeding experience from a host plant in the early stages. The existence of a sensitive period during late larval stages may be constrained not only by neural development or limitations, but also by ecological factors affecting when the larval experience is most reliable for adult decisions. (C) 2020 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Lhomme, Patrick, et al.
(författare)
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Diversification Pattern of the Widespread Holarctic Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Bombus flavidus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) : The East Side Story
- 2021
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Ingår i: Insect Systematics and Diversity. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2399-3421. ; 5:2, s. 1-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent bumble bee declines have made it increasingly important to resolve the status of contentious species for conservation purposes. Some of the taxa found to be threatened are the often rare socially parasitic bumble bees. Among these, the socially parasitic bumble bee, Bombus flavidus Eversmann, has uncertain species status. Although multiple separate species allied with B. flavidus have been suggested, until recently, recognition of two species, a Nearctic Bombus fernaldae (Franklin) and Palearctic B. flavidus, was favored. Limited genetic data, however, suggested that even these could be a single widespread species. We addressed the species status of this lineage using an integrative taxonomic approach, combining cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and nuclear sequencing, wing morphometrics, and secretions used for mate attraction, and explored patterns of color polymorphism that have previously confounded taxonomy in this lineage. Our results support the conspecificity of fernaldae and flavidus; however, we revealed a distinct population within this broader species confined to eastern North America. This makes the distribution of the social parasite B. flavidus the broadest of any bumble bee, broader than the known distribution of any nonparasitic bumble bee species. Color polymorphisms are retained across the range of the species, but may be influenced by local mimicry complexes. Following these results, B. flavidusEversmann, 1852 is synonymized with Bombus fernaldae (Franklin, 1911) syn. nov. and a subspecific status, Bombus flavidus appalachiensisssp. nov., is assigned to the lineage ranging from the Appalachians to the eastern boreal regions of the United States and far southeastern Canada.
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| 4. |
- Lhomme, Patrick
(författare)
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Subspecific differentiation in male reproductive traits and virgin queen preferences, in Bombus terrestris
- 2015
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Ingår i: Apidologie. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-8435 .- 1297-9678. ; 46, s. 595-605
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many species display local variations in pre-mating signals and in mating preferences. This may lead to discrimination against potential foreign mates that may ultimately lead to reproductive isolation. However, the extent to which population differentiation in mating cues affects the species recognition has received little empirical support. Here, we investigate the consequence of geographic differentiation in male reproductive traits on female preferences to these traits in Bombus terrestris. We characterise (1) the geographic differentiation in male cephalic labial gland secretions (CLGS), a key trait for mate attraction, and (2) the preference of virgin females to the CLGS of different subspecies. Our results show geographic CLGS differences parallel with divergences in female preferences for these secretions. This geographic CLGS differentiation in males, along with female preference for sympatric males, could lead to or reflect a pre-mating isolation among subspecies.
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| 5. |
- Rösvik, Axel, et al.
(författare)
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Plant-Induced Transgenerational Plasticity Affecting Performance but Not Preference in a Polyphagous Moth
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Environmental variation experienced by a single genotype can induce phenotypic plasticity in various traits, such as behavioural, physiological and developmental characteristics. It can occur within the lifetime of an individual through within-generation phenotypic plasticity (WGP) or vertically across generations through transgenerational phenotypic plasticity (TGP). However, knowledge about TGP and the co-occurrence of WGP and TGP is still limited. In insect host-plant selection, the ability to alter phenotypic traits through WGP is well documented while the importance of TGP and the possible co-occurrence between the two is largely unknown. Host-plant selection of both larvae and adults of the polyphagous mothSpodoptera littoraliscan be modified by previous experience through WGP. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate if parental host-plant experience can influence host-plant choice behaviour and performance ofS. littoralisoffspring through TGP. For this, we tested effects of rearing parents on different host plants on the offspring's first instar larval migration and host plant choice, larval development and adult oviposition. A transgenerational effect on larval development was found, with increased pupal weight on a matching host-plant diet to that of the parent, when larvae were reared on cotton (good larval host plant) while no such effect was found on maize (poor larval host plant). These findings indicate that TGP ofS. littoralisprogeny development traits may only occur under favourable conditions. Parental diet did not affect larval host plant choice or migration. Furthermore, no effect of parental diet was found on offspring oviposition behaviour, indicating that adult female host-plant selection is governed by innate preference hierarchy and WGP, rather than TGP. Thus, parental diet may influence offspring performance but not behaviour, indicating that WGP is most important for host-plant selection behaviours inS. littoralis, but TGP can affect progeny development. If so, the importance of different types of plasticity may vary among traits ofS. littoralisassociated with host plant utilisation.
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