Adaptations of an Insect to a Novel Host Plant: A Phylogenetic Approach

1. The importance of behavioural vs physiological adaptations in the evolution of host associations by herbivorous insects is largely unknown. 2. We compared sister species of beetles, one of which, Ophraella slobodkini, feeds on the lineage's ancestral host, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, while O. n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Functional ecology 2006-06, Vol.20 (3), p.478-485
Main Authors: Gassmann, A. J., Levy, A., Tran, T., Futuyma, D. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambrosia
Ambrosia artemisiifolia
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Consumption
conversion efficiency
Ecological genetics
Evolution
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Herbivores
Host plants
host shift
Human ecology
Insect ecology
Insect physiology
Insecta
Invertebrates
Iva frutescens
Larvae
phylogeny
Phytophagous insects
plant–herbivore interactions
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Summary:1. The importance of behavioural vs physiological adaptations in the evolution of host associations by herbivorous insects is largely unknown. 2. We compared sister species of beetles, one of which, Ophraella slobodkini, feeds on the lineage's ancestral host, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, while O. notulata has shifted to a novel host, Iva frutescens. Assuming O. slobodkini represents the features of the Ambrosia-feeding ancestor, we asked if behavioural and physiological barriers to utilizing Iva existed and if adaptation to these barriers occurred. We also tested for trade-offs between use of novel and ancestral hosts by O. notulata. 3. We found evidence that the ancestor of O. notulata would have been deterred from feeding on Iva and suffered lower conversion efficiency. 4. Ophraella notulata appears to have adapted behaviourally by increasing consumption of Iva, but we did not detect a significant increase in its physiological capacity to use Iva. Additionally, the switch to Iva by O. notulata did not reduce its physiological capacity to use the ancestral host, Ambrosia. 5. Our results suggest that novel host associations may arise from behavioural adaptations, with physiological adaptations a secondary result of behavioural changes. We discuss implications for hypotheses of host shifts and the evolution of specialization.
ISSN:0269-8463
1365-2435
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01118.x