Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Apartado Postal 70-275, Coyoacán, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA; Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, 14853, NY, USA.
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2019 Apr;32:61-67. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.11.004. Epub 2018 Nov 20.
Insect herbivores express tremendous ontogenetic variation in traits related to growth and maturation, but also as an evolutionary consequence of ecological interactions with plants and predators. These selective pressures can either reinforce or restrict expression of particular ontogenetic strategies, allowing herbivores to simultaneously cope with plant resistance and risk of predation through ontogenetic change. For example, whereas an increase in defense-sabotaging behavior, aposematism and sequestration along herbivore ontogeny seems to be reinforced by both bottom-up and top-down forces, some ontogenetic trends in anti-predator behavior can be limited by plant resistance. Communication among plants, herbivores and their natural enemies is also influenced by insect ontogenies. The study of ontogenetic strategies of herbivores requires the assessment of the genetic variation, heritability and adaptive value across herbivore development, considering the variation in plant quality and predation risk.
昆虫食草动物在与植物和捕食者的生态相互作用中表现出与生长和成熟相关的巨大的个体发育变化，但这也是进化的结果。这些选择压力可以加强或限制特定个体发育策略的表达，使食草动物能够通过个体发育变化同时应对植物的抗性和被捕食的风险。例如，尽管防御破坏行为、警戒色和隔离随着食草动物个体发育而增加，似乎受到自上而下和自下而上的力量的加强，但一些防御捕食者的行为的个体发育趋势可能受到植物抗性的限制。植物、食草动物及其天敌之间的交流也受到昆虫个体发育的影响。研究食草动物的个体发育策略需要评估遗传变异、可遗传性和在考虑植物质量和捕食风险变化的情况下在食草动物发育过程中的适应性价值。
