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Opposing survivorship and fecundity effects of host phenology on the gall‐forming aphid Hormaphis hamamelidis
Author(s) -
Rehill Brian,
Schultz John
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00423.x
Subject(s) - biology , gall , aphid , fecundity , host (biology) , phenology , herbivore , survivorship curve , botany , understory , alate , hatching , ecology , aphididae , pest analysis , homoptera , canopy , population , demography , sociology , genetics , cancer
1. This study examined the synchronisation and roles of host and insect phenology for fundatrices of the gall‐forming aphid Hormaphis hamamelidis , which forms galls on the leaves of the understorey tree Hamamelis virginiana . 2. Host and insect phenologies varied widely among years and individual host trees. 3. Most winter eggs (≈ 85%) hatched before budbreak and galls could be initiated but in 2 years there was no inherent risk for earlier hatching fundatrices in terms of greater mortality. Egg hatch was not synchronised tightly with host trees but instead seemed to occur well in advance of budbreak as a conservative, bet‐hedging strategy to ensure the opportunity to form galls. 4. Fundatrices that formed galls later had higher fecundity, contrary to typical patterns for insects that feed on the first flush of leaves in temperate forests, where later herbivores have lower fecundity. Also, unlike many other systems, trees that had later budbreak had greater densities of galls.