Drought events are predicted to increase due to climate change, yet consequences for plant–insect interactions are only partially understood. Drought-mediated interactions between herbivores and their host plants are affected by a combination of factors, including characteristics of the affected plant, its associated herbivore and of the prevailing drought. Studying the effect of these factors in combination may provide important insight into plant and herbivore responses to drought. We studied drought effects on plant resistance to two leaf-chewing herbivores by considering differing growth conditions, plant chemistry and insect responses in concert. We exposed Alliaria petiolata plants from several wild populations to different intensities of intermittent drought stress and quantified drought-mediated changes in plant chemistry. Simultaneously, we assessed behavior (feeding preference) and performance of two lepidopteran herbivores: Pieris brassicae, a specialist, and Spodoptera littoralis, a generalist. Drought led to lowest concentrations of secondary defense compounds in severely stressed plants, without affecting total nitrogen content. Additionally, drought evoked opposite patterns in feeding preferences (plant palatability) between the herbivore species. Pieris brassicae consumed most of well-watered plants, while S. littoralis preferred severely drought-stressed plants. Hence, feeding preferences of S. littoralis reflected changes in plant secondary chemistry. Contrary to their feeding preference, P. brassicae performed better on drought-stressed than on well-watered plants, with faster development and higher attained pupal mass (plant suitability). Spodoptera littoralis showed retarded development in all treatments. In conclusion, drought caused plant secondary defense compounds to decrease consistently across all studied plant populations, which evoked contrasting feeding preferences of two herbivore species of the same feeding guild. These results suggest herbivore specificity as a possible explanation for herbivore responses to drought and emphasize the importance of herbivore characteristics such as feeding specialization in understanding and predicting consequences of future drought events.

Drought changes plant chemistry and causes contrasting responses in lepidopteran herbivores

As dispersal plays a key role in gene flow among populations, its evolutionary dynamics under environmental changes is particularly important. The inter-dependency of dispersal with other life history traits may constrain dispersal evolution, and lead to the indirect selection of other traits as a by-product of this inter-dependency. Identifying the dispersalOs relationships to other life-history traits will help to better understand the evolutionary dynamics of dispersal, and the consequences for species persistence and ecosystem functioning under global changes. Dispersal may be linked to other life-history traits as their respective evolutionary dynamics may be interdependent, or, because they are mechanistically related to each other. We identify traits that are predicted to co-vary with dispersal, and investigated the correlations that may constrain dispersal using published information on butterflies. Our quantitative analysis revealed that (1) dispersal directly correlated with demographic traits, mostly fecundity, whereas phylogenetic relationships among species had a negligible influence on this pattern, (2) gene flow and individual movements are correlated with ecological specialisation and body size, respectively and (3) routine movements only affected short-distance dispersal. Together, these results provide important insights into evolutionary dynamics under global environmental changes, and are directly applicable to biodiversity conservation.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01709.x

How is dispersal integrated in life histories: a quantitative analysis using butterflies

Chapter 4 – Glucosinolates: Chemistry and Ecology

Novel lighting technology offers the possibility of improved arthropod integrated pest management (IPM) in artificially lighted crops. This review compiles the current knowledge on how greenhouse pest and beneficial arthropods are directly affected by light, with the focus on whiteflies. The effect of ultraviolet depletion on orientation and colour-coded phototaxis are to some extent studied and utilised for control of the flying adult stage of some pest species, but far less is known about the visual ecology of commercially used biological control agents and pollinators, and about how light affects arthropod biology in different life stages. Four approaches for utilisation of artificial light in IPM of whiteflies are suggested: (a) use of attractive visual stimuli incorporated into traps for monitoring and direct control, (b) use of visual stimuli that disrupt the host-detection process, (c) radiation with harmful or inhibitory wavelengths to kill or suppress pest populations and (d) use of time cues to manipulate daily rhythms and photoperiodic responses. Knowledge gaps are identified to design a road map for research on IPM in crops lighted with high-pressure sodium lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photoselective films. LEDs are concluded to offer possibilities for behavioural manipulation of arthropods, but the extent of such possibilities depends in practice on which wavelength combinations are determined to be optimal for plant production. Furthermore, the direct effects of artificial lighting on IPM must be studied in the context of plant-mediated effects of artificial light on arthropods, as both types of manipulations are possible, particularly with LEDs.

In the light of new greenhouse technologies: 2. Direct effects of artificial lighting on arthropods and integrated pest management in greenhouse crops

Our understanding of how variable wind in natural environments affects flying insects is limited because most studies of insect flight are conducted in either smooth flow or still air conditions. Here, we investigate the effects of structured, unsteady flow (the von Karman vortex street behind a cylinder) on the flight performance of bumblebees ( Bombus impatiens ). Bumblebees are ‘all-weather’ foragers and thus frequently experience variable aerial conditions, ranging from fully mixed, turbulent flow to unsteady, structured vortices near objects such as branches and stems. We examined how bumblebee flight performance differs in unsteady versus smooth flow, as well as how the orientation of unsteady flow structures affects their flight performance, by filming bumblebees flying in a wind tunnel under various flow conditions. The three-dimensional flight trajectories and orientations of bumblebees were quantified in each of three flow conditions: (1) smooth flow, (2) the unsteady wake of a vertical cylinder (inducing strong lateral disturbances) and (3) the unsteady wake of a horizontal cylinder (inducing strong vertical disturbances). In both unsteady conditions, bumblebees attenuated the disturbances induced by the wind quite effectively, but still experienced significant translational and rotational fluctuations as compared with flight in smooth flow. Bees appeared to be most sensitive to disturbance along the lateral axis, displaying large lateral accelerations, translations and rolling motions in response to both unsteady flow conditions, regardless of orientation. Bees also displayed the greatest agility around the roll axis, initiating voluntary casting maneuvers and correcting for lateral disturbances mainly through roll in all flow conditions. Both unsteady flow conditions reduced the upstream flight speed of bees, suggesting an increased cost of flight in unsteady flow, with potential implications for foraging patterns and colony energetics in natural, variable wind environments.

Rolling with the flow: Bumblebees flying in unsteady wakes

The large white butterfly. The biology, biochemistry and physiology of Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus): by John Feltwell. Series Entomologica, volume 18. ISBN 90-6193-128-8. (xxvi+535 pp; Dfl. 225.00; US $98.00; approx. £46.50). The Hague: Dr W. Junk BV Publishers. 1981

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The large white butterfly. The biology, biochemistry and physiology of Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus): by John Feltwell. Series Entomologica, volume 18. ISBN 90-6193-128-8. (xxvi+535 pp; Dfl. 225.00; US $98.00; approx. £46.50). The Hague: Dr W. Junk BV Publishers. 1981