Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:07:31.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Density-dependent processes in leaf beetles feeding on purple loosestrife: aggregative behaviour affecting individual growth rates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2010

P.A. Hambäck*
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, Stockholm University, SE-106 91Stockholm, Sweden
*
*Fax: +46-8-165525 E-mail: peter.hamback@botan.su.se

Abstract

Aggregative responses are commonly observed in insects, including chrysomelids, affecting both individual and population growth rates. In two closely related chrysomelid beetles (Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla) feeding on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), recent studies suggest that male-produced pheromones may cause both inter- and intraspecific attraction. This paper further examines the causes and consequences of feeding aggregations in these species. Olfactometer studies confirm previous findings, showing cross-species attraction to damaged plants, but suggest that also damaged induced plant volatiles may be involved. In addition, the studies suggest that the cross-species attraction observed in previous studies have asymmetric effects on the two beetles. Galerucella pusilla was more attracted to damage by G. calmariensis than to damage by conspecifics. Laboratory and field data suggest that feeding aggregations in these species increase pupal mass, at least at low to intermediate larval densities. This positive feedback may have important consequences for the spatiotemporal dynamics and as a consequence on the role of the two chrysomelid beetles on biological control of purple loosestrife.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ayres, B.D., Aures, M.P., Abrahamson, M.D. & Teale, S.A. (2001) Resource partitioning and overlap in three sympatric species of Ips bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Oecologia 128, 443453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartelt, R.J., Cosse, A.A., Zilkowski, B.W., Weisleder, D., Grode, S.H., Wiedenmann, R.N. & Post, S.L. (2006) Dimethylfuran-lactone pheromone from males of Galerucella calmariensis and Galerucella pusilla. Journal of Chemical Ecology 32, 693712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartelt, R.J., Cosse, A.A., Zilkowski, B.W., Wiedenmann, R.N. & Raghu, S. (2008) Early-summer pheromone biology of Galerucella calmariensis and relationship to dispersal and colonization. Biological Control 46, 409416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blossey, B. (1992) Impact of Galerucella pusilla and G. calmariensis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on field populations of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). pp. 2731in Delfosse, E.S. & Scott, R.R. (Eds) Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Melbourne, Australia, DSIR/CSIRO.Google Scholar
Blossey, B. (1995) Coexistence of two leaf-beetles in the same fundamental niche. Distribution, adult phenology and oviposition. Oikos 74, 225234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blossey, B., Skinner, L.C. & Taylor, J. (2001) Impact and management of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in North America. Biodiversity and Conservation 10, 17871807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, D.G. & Weis, A.E. (1995) Direct and indirect effects of prior grazing of goldenrod upon performance of a leaf beetle. Ecology 76, 426436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, B.R. & Faeth, S.H. (1997) The consequences of larval aggregation in the butterfly Chlosyne lacinia. Ecological Entomology 22, 408415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fordyce, J.A. (2003) Aggregative feeding of pipevine swallowtail larvae enhances hostplant suitability. Oecologia 135, 250257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grevstad, F.S. (1999) Experimental invasions using biological control introductions: the influence of release size on the chance of population establishment. Biological Invasions 1, 313323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grevstad, F.S. & Herzig, A.L. (1997) Quantifying the effects of distance and conspecifics on colonization: experiments and models using the loosestrife leaf beetle. Galerucella calmariensis. Oecologia 110, 6068.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hambäck, P. (2004) Why purple loosestrife in sweet gale shrubs are less attacked by herbivorous beetles? (in swedish with english abstract). Entomologisk Tidskrift 125, 93–102.Google Scholar
Hambäck, P.A. & Englund, G. (2005) Patch area, population density and the scaling of migration rates: the resource concentration hypothesis revisited. Ecology Letters 8, 10571065.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambäck, P.A., Ågren, J. & Ericson, L. (2000) Associational resistance: insect damage to purple loosestrife reduced in thickets of sweet gale. Ecology 81, 17841794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hambäck, P.A., Pettersson, J. & Ericson, L. (2003) Mechanism underlying reduced herbivory on purple loosestrife in shrubby thickets: Is associational resistance species-specific? Functional Ecology 17, 8793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hight, S.D., Blossey, B., Laing, J. & Declerck-Floate, R. (1995) Establishment of insect biological control agents from Europe against Lythrum salicaria in North America. Environmental Entomology 24, 967977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hori, M., Ohuchi, K. & Matsuda, K. (2006) Role of host plant volatile in the host-finding behavior of the strawberry leaf beetle, Galerucella vittaticollis Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology 41, 357363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hultén, E. & Fries, M. (1986) Atlas of North European Vascular Plants North of the Tropic of Cancer. I–III. Königstein, Germany, Koeltz.Google Scholar
Hunter, A.F. (2000) Gregariousness and repellent defences in the survival of phytophagous insects. Oikos 91, 213224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalberer, N.M., Turlings, T.C.J. & Rahier, M. (2001) Attraction of a leaf beetle (Oreina cacaliae) to damaged host plants. Journal of Chemical Ecology 27, 647661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katovich, E.J.S., Becker, R.L. & Ragsdale, D.W. (1999) Effect of Galerucella spp. on survival of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) roots and crowns. Weed Science 47, 360365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katovich, E.J.S., Ragsdale, D.W., Skinner, L.C. & Becker, R.L. (2001) Effect of Galerucella spp. feeding on seed production in purple loosestrife. Weed Science 49, 190194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Landis, D.A., Sebolt, D.C., Haas, M.J. & Klepinger, M. (2003) Establishment and impact of Galerucella calmariensis L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) on Lythrum salicaria L. and associated plant communities in Michigan. Biological Control 28, 7891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manguin, S., White, R., Blossey, B. & Hight, S.D. (1993) Genetics, taxonomy, and ecology of certain species of Galerucella (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 86, 397410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAvoy, T.J. & Kok, L.T. (2004) Temperature dependent development and survival of two sympatric species, Galerucella calmariensis and G-pusilla, on purple loosestrife. BioControl 49, 467480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monkkonen, M., Hardling, R., Forsman, J.T. & Tuomi, J. (1999) Evolution of heterospecific attraction: using other species as cues in habitat selection. Evolutionary Ecology 13, 91–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, W., Grevstad, F. & Herzig, A. (1996) Mechanisms and ecological functions of spatial aggregation in chrysomelid beetles. pp. 303322in Jolivet, P.H.A. & Cox, M.L. (Eds) Chrysomelidae Biology, vol. 2: Ecological Studies. Amsterdam, The Netherlands, SPB Academic Publishing.Google Scholar
Nahrung, H.F., Dunsta, P.K. & Allen, G.R. (2001) Larval gregariousness and neonate establishment of the eucalypt-feeding beetle Chrysophtharta agricola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Paropsini). Oikos 94, 358364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pajares, J.A., Ibeas, F., Diez, J.J. & Gallego, D. (2004) Attractive responses by Monochamus galloprovincialis (Col., Cerambycidae) to host and bark beetle semiochemicals. Journal of Applied Entomology 128, 633638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peacock, L., Lewis, M. & Herrick, S. (2001a) Factors influencing the aggregative response of the blue willow beetle, Phratora vulgatissima. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 98, 195201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peacock, L., Lewis, M. & Powers, S. (2001b) Volatile compounds from Salix spp. varieties differing in susceptibility to three willow beetle species. Journal of Chemical Ecology 27, 19431951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettersson, J., Karunaratne, S., Ahmed, E. & Kumar, V. (1998) The cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora, host plant odours and pheromones. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 88, 177184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prokopy, R.J. & Roitberg, B.D. (2001) Joining and avoidance behavior in nonsocial insects. Annual Review of Entomology 46, 631665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Development Core Team (2007) R: A Language for statistical computing, 3-900051-07-0. Available online at http://www.R-project.org, Vienna.Google Scholar
Raffa, K.F. (2001) Mixed messages across multiple trophic levels: the ecology of bark beetle chemical communication systems. Chemoecology 11, 4965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebolt, D.C. & Landis, D.A. (2002) Neonate Galerucella calmariensis (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) behavior on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) contributes to reduced predation. Biological Control 31, 880886.Google Scholar
Stamps, J. & Krishnan, V.V. (2005) Nonintuitive cue use in habitat selection. Ecology 86, 28602867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storer, A.J., Wainhouse, D. & Speight, M.R. (1997) The effect of larval aggregation behaviour on larval growth of the spruce bark beetle Dendroctonus micans. Ecological Entomology 22, 109115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turchin, P. (1989) Population consequences of aggregative movement. Journal of Animal Ecology 58, 75–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turchin, P.B. (1986) Modelling the effect of host patch size on mexican bean beetle emigration. Ecology 67, 124132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wise, M.J., Kieffer, D.L. & Abrahamson, W.G. (2006) Costs and benefits of gregarious feeding in the meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius. Ecological Entomology 31, 548555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zilkowski, B.W. & Bartelt, R.J. (1999) Cross-attraction of Carpophilus humeralis to pheromone components of other Carpophilus species. Journal of Chemical Ecology 25, 17591770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar