Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Av. Vélez Sarsfield 1611, X5016GCA, Cordoba, Argentina.
Oecologia. 2012 Jul;169(3):743-51. doi: 10.1007/s00442-011-2231-6. Epub 2012 Jan 15.
Insect preferences for particular plant species might be subjected to trade-offs among several selective forces. Here, we evaluated, through laboratory and field experiments, the feeding and ovipositing preferences of the polyphagous leafminer Liriomyza huidobrensis (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in relation to adult and offspring performance and enemy-free space. Female leafminers preferred laying their eggs on Vicia faba (Fabaceae) over Beta vulgaris var. cicla (Chenopodiaceae), in both laboratory and field choice experiments, although no oviposition preference was observed in no-choice tests. Females fed more often on B. v. var. cicla (no-choice test) or showed no feeding preference (choice test), even when their realized fecundity was remarkably higher on V. faba. Offspring developed faster, tended to survive better, and attained bigger adult size on the preferred host plant. Also, a field experiment showed higher overall parasitism rates for leafminers developing on B. v. var. cicla, with a nonsignificant similar tendency in field surveys. According to these results, host plant selection by L. huidobrensis appears to be driven mainly by variation in host quality. Moreover, the consistent oviposition choices for the best host and the labile feeding preferences observed here, suggest that host plant selection might be driven by maximization of offspring fitness even without a conflict of interest between parents and offspring. Overall, these results highlight the complexity of decisions performed by phytophagous insects regarding their host plants, and the importance of simultaneous evaluation of the various driving forces involved, in order to unravel the adaptive significance of female choices.
昆虫对特定植物物种的偏好可能会受到多种选择压力的权衡。在这里，我们通过实验室和野外实验评估了多食性叶潜蝇 Liriomyza huidobrensis（双翅目：叶蝇科）在成虫和后代表现以及无天敌空间方面对植物的取食和产卵偏好。在实验室和野外选择实验中，雌性叶潜蝇更喜欢在蚕豆（豆科）上产卵，而不是在菠菜（藜科）上产卵，尽管在非选择实验中没有观察到产卵偏好。在非选择实验中，雌性更喜欢取食 B. vulgaris var. cicla（无选择实验）或没有取食偏好（选择实验），即使在 V. faba 上实现的繁殖力明显更高的情况下也是如此。幼虫在偏好的宿主植物上发育更快，存活更好，成年体型更大。此外，野外实验表明，在 B. vulgaris var. cicla 上发育的叶潜蝇总体寄生率更高，野外调查也显示出类似的非显著趋势。根据这些结果，L. huidobrensis 对宿主植物的选择似乎主要是由宿主质量的变化驱动的。此外，这里观察到的对最佳宿主的一致产卵选择和不稳定的取食偏好表明，即使在亲代和后代之间没有利益冲突的情况下，宿主植物的选择也可能是通过最大化后代的适应性来驱动的。总的来说，这些结果强调了植食性昆虫在选择其宿主植物时所做出的决策的复杂性，以及同时评估涉及的各种驱动因素的重要性，以便揭示雌性选择的适应性意义。
