| 1. |
- Fogelström, Elsa, et al.
(författare)
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Plant-herbivore synchrony and selection on plant flowering phenology
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 98:3, s. 703-711
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Temporal variation in natural selection has profound effects on the evolutionary trajectories of populations. One potential source of variation in selection is that differences in thermal reaction norms and temperature influence the relative phenology of interacting species. We manipulated the phenology of the butterfly herbivore Anthocharis cardamines relative to genetically identical populations of its host plant, Cardamine pratensis, and examined the effects on butterfly preferences and selection acting on the host plant. We found that butterflies preferred plants at an intermediate flowering stage, regardless of the timing of butterfly flight relative to flowering onset of the population. Consequently, the probability that plant genotypes differing in timing of flowering should experience a butterfly attack depended strongly on relative phenology. These results suggest that differences in spring temperature influence the direction of herbivore-mediated selection on flowering phenology, and that climatic conditions can influence natural selection also when phenotypic preferences remain constant.
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| 2. |
- Stålhandske, Sandra, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Phenological matching rather than genetic variation in host preference underlies geographical variation in host plants used by the orange tip butterflies
- 2016
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 119:4, s. 1060-1067
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An insect species that shows variation in host species association across its geographical range may do so either because of local adaptation in host plant preference of the insect, or through environmentally or genetically induced differences in the plants, causing variation in host plant suitability between regions. Here we experimentally investigate host plant preference of Anthocharis cardamines (orange tip butterfly) of two populations from UK and two from Sweden. Previous reports indicate that A. cardamines larvae are found on different host plant species in different regions of the United Kingdom, and some variation has been reported in Sweden. Host plant choice trials showed that females prefer to oviposit on plants in an earlier phenological stage, as well as on larger plants. When controlling for plant phenological stage and size, the host species had no statistically significant effect on the choice of the females. Moreover, there were no differences in host plant species preference among the four butterfly populations. Based on our experiment, the oviposition choice by A. cardamines mainly depends on the phenological stage and the size of the host plant. This finding supports the idea that the geographical patterns of host-plant association of A. cardamines in the UK and Sweden are consequences of the phenology and availability of local hosts, rather than regional genetic differences in host species preference of the butterfly.
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