Article
Ecology
James P. Michielini, Xianfeng Yi, Leone M. Brown, Shan Ming Gao, Colin Orians, Elizabeth E. Crone
Summary: Understanding the circumstances under which insect herbivores will adopt a novel host plant is a longstanding question in ecology. This study found that both individual preference and regional differences in the insect and non-native host contribute to the geographic variation in host plant use.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Thomas E. Saunders, Gonzalo A. Avila, Gregory I. Holwell
Summary: Retrospective host range testing is crucial for understanding the physiological host range of biological control agents and non-target risks. This study focused on determining the host ranges of Trissolcus basalis and Trissolcus oenone in New Zealand. The results showed that T. basalis attacks and develops in all tested pentatomid species, while T. oenone attacks and develops in seven out of eight species. The importance of physiological host range testing for assessing non-target effects is discussed in the context of introducing Trissolcus japonicus for brown marmorated stink bug control.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Jing-Yun Zhu, Zhong-Wen Xiang, Shi-Ze Zhang, Lin-Nan Wu, Tong-Xian Liu
Summary: The diamondback moth females prefer to lay eggs on the cotyledons of Chinese kale despite the higher glucosinolates and waxy powder content in the true leaves. The hatched larvae show a preference for feeding and performing better on true leaves, indicating an adaptation to the waxy host plant.
JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bo Wang
Summary: A new study has revealed the earliest known tritrophic association of a host plant, ovipositing insect, and egg-predating insect by characterizing Triassic insect eggs within ginkgophyte leaves.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fang Guan, Xiaoguang Dai, Bofeng Hou, Shuwen Wu, Yihua Yang, Yanhui Lu, Kongming Wu, Bruce E. Tabashnik, Yidong Wu
Summary: Transgenic crops have revolutionized insect pest control, but the evolution of resistance threatens their success. The primary strategy for combating resistance is using refuges of non-Bt host plants, which was believed to delay rare and recessively inherited resistance. However, a 15-year study found that refuges countered neither rare nor recessive resistance to Bt cotton. Computer simulations also showed that increased refuge percentage can explain the observed halt in resistance evolution.
Article
Biology
Lu Chen, Jun-Jie Gu, Qiang Yang, Dong Ren, Alexander Blanke, Olivier Bethoux
Summary: Through the investigation of a new lobeattid species using various photographic techniques, the research team was able to document its morphology and infer its phylogenetic position as a stem relative of all living Orthoptera. The study suggests an early diversification of this group and highlights the omnivorous nature of the species, explaining the paucity of external damage on contemporaneous plant foliage.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jannicke Gallinger, Margit Rid-Moneta, Christine Becker, Annette Reineke, Juergen Gross
Summary: The impact of climate change drivers on cultivated plants and pest insects has been studied, with atmospheric carbon dioxide as one of the significant drivers. Elevated CO2 concentrations affect plant chemistry, which in turn influences the interaction between plants and insects. In this study, pear trees were cultivated under different CO2 levels, and the volatiles emitted by the trees were analyzed. Although the composition of volatiles did not change significantly, the relative release of certain compounds was affected by CO2 increase. However, these changes did not impact the host choice behavior of the female C. pyri insect.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biology
Pia U. Olafson, Serap Aksoy, Geoffrey M. Attardo, Greta Buckmeier, Xiaoting Chen, Craig J. Coates, Megan Davis, Justin Dykema, Scott J. Emrich, Markus Friedrich, Christopher J. Holmes, Panagiotis Ioannidis, Evan N. Jansen, Emily C. Jennings, Daniel Lawson, Ellen O. Martinson, Gareth L. Maslen, Richard P. Meisel, Terence D. Murphy, Dana Nayduch, David R. Nelson, Kennan J. Oyen, Tyler J. Raszick, Jose M. C. Ribeiro, Hugh M. Robertson, Andrew J. Rosendale, Timothy B. Sackton, Perot Saelao, Sonja L. Swiger, Sing-Hoi Sze, Aaron M. Tarone, David B. Taylor, Wesley C. Warren, Robert M. Waterhouse, Matthew T. Weirauch, John H. Werren, Richard K. Wilson, Evgeny M. Zdobnov, Joshua B. Benoit
Summary: This study utilizes high-quality genome sequencing and RNA-Seq analysis to delve into the biology of stable flies, focusing on genes related to reproduction, vision, chemosensation, immunity, and metabolic detoxification pathways. The results of the study will lay the groundwork for controlling stable fly infestations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mohammed A. Khallaf, Medhat M. Sadek, Peter Anderson
Summary: Unlike mammals, most invertebrates do not provide direct parental care, making the selection of an appropriate oviposition site crucial. Little is known about how females evaluate opportunities and threats during host selection. In this study, we examined oviposition choice in Spodoptera littoralis, a polyphagous pest, between two plants of different nutritional quality. We found that females prefer to lay their eggs on the host plant with inferior larval development and more natural enemies, but lower predation rates. The behavior of predators and the attraction to herbivore-induced volatiles play a role in enemy-free space, rather than predator abundance.
Article
Entomology
Lotte Frooninckx, Siebe Berrens, Meggie Van Peer, Ann Wuyts, Laurens Broeckx, Sabine Van Miert
Summary: This study investigated the effect of various factors on the reproduction of the yellow mealworm Tenebrio molitor. The results showed that factors such as oviposition duration, beetle density, and the use of a grid had a clear impact on the number of eggs laid by each beetle. By separating and harvesting the eggs, the influence of beetle density, oviposition duration, beetle age, and the use of a grid on the number of eggs produced, as well as the egg hatching rate and timing, could be determined.
Article
Entomology
Natalie Constancio, Doug Higgins, Mary Hausbeck, Zsofia Szendrei
Summary: Insect vector and phytopathogen interactions are influenced by host plants. Onion thrips, an economically devastating pest of onions, prefer and perform best on onion plants infected with the fungal pathogen C. coccodes.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Emilie Mauduit, Charlotte Lecureuil, Joel Meunier
Summary: Exposure to deltamethrin had both positive and negative effects on the European earwig mothers, enhancing factors related to future reproduction while limiting certain behaviors and physiological traits. This study highlights the importance of considering the diverse impacts of pesticides on non-target beneficial insects, rather than focusing on narrow parameters.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Laure Olazcuaga, Robin Guilhot, Jean-Loup Claret, Nicolas O. Rode
Summary: The variation in host use among polyphagous insects is well documented but poorly understood. The proximate mechanisms responsible for variation in oviposition preference among host plants in many pest insects remain to be elucidated. The invasive crop pest, Drosophila suzukii, attacks a wide range of host fruits with a preference for ovipositing on fruits rich in phosphorus.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marlena Herbertz, Safaa Dalla, Vera Wagschal, Rohin Turjalei, Marlies Heiser, Susanne Dobler
Summary: Cardiac glycosides are chemical defense toxins that inhibit the Na,K-ATPase throughout the animal kingdom. Some animals have evolved target-site insensitivity through substitutions in the highly conserved cardiac glycoside binding pocket. The large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, has evolved multiple duplications of the NKA1a gene, leading to resistance-conferring substitutions and sub-functionalization of the enzymes.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Lorelie A. Burgos, Gyo Itani
Summary: The reproductive behavior of the bopyrid isopod Bopyrus crangorum in relation to host ecdysis was studied based on video recordings. The study revealed that females undergo biphasic moulting after host ecdysis, with the shedding of the posterior body preceding the anterior body. Males exhibit repeated visiting behavior to the female gonopore, and it is proposed that this behavior is an attempt to inseminate the female.
JOURNAL OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Remi Allio, Benoit Nabholz, Stefan Wanke, Guillaume Chomicki, Oscar A. Perez-Escobar, Adam M. Cotton, Anne-Laure Clamens, Gael J. Kergoat, Felix A. H. Sperling, Fabien L. Condamine
Summary: The antagonistic interaction between swallowtail butterflies and toxic birthworts, along with multiple host-plant shifts, has led to an increase in global diversity, driven by genome-wide adaptive molecular evolution and repeated bursts of speciation rates.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Maria de la Paz Celorio-Mancera, Pasi Rastas, Rachel A. Steward, Soren Nylin, Christopher W. Wheat
Summary: The study assembled and annotated a high-quality genome of the comma butterfly, providing an important resource for investigating coevolutionary dynamics and comparative analyses in Lepidoptera.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Helene Audusseau, Nils Ryrholm, Constanti Stefanescu, Suzanne Tharel, Camilla Jansson, Lucile Champeaux, Mark R. Shaw, Chris Raper, Owen T. Lewis, Niklas Janz, Reto Schmucki
Summary: This study in Sweden investigated interactions between nettle-feeding butterflies and their shared natural enemies, parasitoids. It found that parasitoids caused high mortality with substantial overlap in parasitoid complexes associated with the different butterfly species, and that parasitism rates differed significantly among butterflies and were influenced by the presence of the newly-established butterfly species Araschnia levana.
Review
Entomology
Mariana P. Braga, Niklas Janz
Summary: One of the main challenges faced by ecologists today is understanding and predicting how species interactions will respond to current environmental change, with a particular focus on intimate and specialised ecological interactions. The differentiation between fundamental and realised host repertoires is vital for understanding how insect-plant interactions will respond to the ecological opportunities instigated by environmental change.
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Mariana P. Braga, Niklas Janz, Soren Nylin, Fredrik Ronquist, Michael J. Landis
Summary: The study reveals that as pierids gained new hosts and re-colonized ancestral hosts, it promoted a phase transition in network structure. Combining network analysis with Bayesian inference of host-repertoire evolution proves effective in understanding changes in complex species interactions over time.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Tyler D. Nelson, Zachary G. MacDonald, Felix A. H. Sperling
Summary: Temporal separation of reproductive timing plays an important role in species diversification, but it is not the sole factor contributing to reproductive isolation within the spruce budworm species complex. Other mechanisms, such as ecologically mediated selection, also play a role in evolutionary divergence.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Olle Lindestad, Soren Nylin, Christopher W. Wheat, Karl Gotthard
Summary: Geographical variation in voltinism, the number of generations produced per year, has been observed in many insect species. This study used population genomics to compare nine Scandinavian populations of the butterfly Pararge aegeria with different life cycle traits along both north-south and east-west clines. The results identified candidate genes related to the insect circadian clock, including a novel gene deletion in a single population. This research adds to the understanding of circadian gene variation as a potential mechanism for generating local adaptation of life cycles.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Christopher Keeling, Erin O. Campbell, Philip D. Batista, Victor A. Shegelski, Stephen A. L. Trevoy, Dezene P. W. Huber, Jasmine K. Janes, Felix A. H. Sperling
Summary: Advancements in genome sequencing methods and assembly tools have significantly improved the contiguity and gap reduction in insect genome assemblies since the draft genome assemblies of the mountain pine beetle were published in 2013. The new assemblies have greatly increased contiguity, with 90% of the content now contained in 12 and 11 scaffolds for the female and male assemblies, respectively. Analysis of two chromosome regions revealed significant differentiation between northern and southern Canadian populations.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicolas Chazot, Fabien L. Condamine, Gytis Dudas, Carlos Pena, Ullasa Kodandaramaiah, Pavel Matos-Maravi, Kwaku Aduse-Poku, Marianne Elias, Andrew D. Warren, David J. Lohman, Carla M. Penz, Phil DeVries, Zdenek F. Fric, Soren Nylin, Chris Muller, Akito Y. Kawahara, Karina L. Silva-Brandao, Gerardo Lamas, Irena Kleckova, Anna Zubek, Elena Ortiz-Acevedo, Roger Vila, Richard Vane-Wright, Sean P. Mullen, Chris D. Jiggins, Christopher W. Wheat, Andre V. L. Freitas, Niklas Wahlberg
Summary: The study finds that the global increase in species richness in butterflies towards the tropics is mainly influenced by global climate change and tropical niche conservatism. The Neotropical region has high diversity due to low extinction rates, while Southeast Asia has low speciation rates but serves as a main source of dispersal events throughout history.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Lise Dupont, Helene Audusseau, David Porco, Kevin R. Butt
Summary: Researchers found different patterns of reproductive isolation among different lineages of earthworms. If earthworms belong to different mitochondrial lineages that cannot be distinguished by nuclear markers, they produce significantly more offspring when mating with both potential mates. In crosses between lineages that differ at both mitochondrial and nuclear levels, a high production of cocoons is counterbalanced by a low hatching rate, suggesting post-zygotic reproductive isolation.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Erin O. Campbell, Zachary G. MacDonald, Edward V. Gage, Randy V. Gage, Felix A. Sperling
Summary: Recent advances in genomics and ecological modelling have helped resolve species boundaries and understand niche divergence in the complex North American butterfly group Speyeria atlantis-hesperis. The study combined high-throughput DNA sequencing and ecological niche modelling to identify genetic divergences and niche distinctions within the complex. The results suggest that ecological selection plays a role in maintaining genomic integrity and support recognizing the southern lineage as a distinct species based on taxonomic priority.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Oksana V. Vernygora, Erin O. Campbell, Nick Grishin, Felix A. H. Sperling, Julian R. Dupuis
Summary: Divergence times are crucial for understanding evolutionary hypotheses, but conflicting age estimates across studies undermine their validity. By analyzing genomic data of tiger swallowtail butterflies, we found significant variations in divergence age estimates among different analytical approaches. Our study enhances the understanding of divergence time estimation and sheds light on the biases in age estimation analyses.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Zachary G. MacDonald, Kyle L. Snape, Amanda D. Roe, Felix A. H. Sperling
Summary: This study used landscape genomics to investigate the determinants of genomic differentiation in the forest tent caterpillar. The results showed that differentiation in the genome is primarily influenced by isolation by distance, isolation by environment, and differences in host association. The study provides evidence of host-associated differentiation and suggests that ecological factors play a role in the variation within this forest pest.
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Catherine Beliveau, Patrick Gagne, Sandrine Picq, Oksana Vernygora, Christopher Keeling, Kristine Pinkney, Daniel Doucet, Fayuan Wen, J. Spencer Johnston, Halim Maaroufi, Brian Boyle, Jerome Laroche, Ken Dewar, Nikoleta Juretic, Gwylim Blackburn, Audrey Nisole, Bryan Brunet, Marcelo Brandao, Lisa Lumley, Jun Duan, Guoxing Quan, Christopher J. Lucarotti, Amanda D. Roe, Felix A. H. Sperling, Roger C. Levesque, Michel Cusson
Summary: Insects, such as the spruce budworm, have developed antifreeze proteins (AFPs) to survive harsh winter conditions. A study on the genome of the budworm found that the genes responsible for AFPs were present in other related species as well, suggesting a common origin. The study also identified a zonadhesin-like protein that may have served as a precursor to tortricid AFPs.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)