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RESPONSE OF AN INSECT PREDATOR TO PREY FED MULTIPLE ALLELOCHEMICALS UNDER REPRESENTATIVE THERMAL REGIMES
Author(s) -
Stamp Nancy E.,
Yang Yuelong,
Osier Tod L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(1997)078[0203:roaipt]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - allelopathy , nymph , biology , instar , botany , predator , predation , horticulture , ecology , germination , larva
We examined the effects of three allelochemicals found in tomato (chlorogenic acid, rutin, and tomatine) and two thermal regimes (21°:10°C and 26°:15°C, representing spring and summer, respectively) on the performance of a generalist insect predator ( Podisus maculiventris : Pentatomidae) fed prey containing those allelochemicals. The prey were Manduca sexta (Sphingidae) caterpillars, Solanaceae specialists with a preference for tomato. Whether an allelochemical had a negative, neutral, or positive effect on developmental time or mass gained by the predators depended on thermal regime and the combination of allelochemicals in the prey’s diet. The effects of multiple allelochemicals were not always additive. For the most part, the allelochemicals had greater negative effects at the warmer thermal regime. Effects of allelochemicals also depended on the stage of the predator. Individually, chlorogenic acid and rutin prolonged developmental time of second‐instar nymphs. In contrast, only rutin and tomatine together affected developmental time of fourth‐instar nymphs, and this combination of allelochemicals reduced developmental time. Tomatine substantially reduced mass gained by second‐instar nymphs but had no effect on mass gained by fourth‐instar nymphs. Rutin and tomatine together had no effect on second‐instar nymphs but increased the mass of fourth‐instar nymphs. There were no allelochemical by temperature interactions for second‐instar nymphs, whereas allelochemical by temperature interactions influenced stadium duration, final dry mass, and relative growth rate of fourth‐instar nymphs. Rutin and tomatine together eliminated the negative effect of chlorogenic acid on consumption of prey by the fourth‐instar nymphs. Chlorogenic acid by itself and rutin and tomatine together increased the efficiency of conversion of ingested prey to nymphal biomass. Comparison with an earlier study revealed that the effects of these thermal and dietary conditions were distinctly different for prey and predators, which suggests that such conditions would promote developmental asynchrony between prey and predator populations.