Environmental Entomology (1993) 22, 418-424

Ty T. Vaughn and Casey W. Hoy (1993)
Effects of leaf age, injury, morphology, and cultivars on feeding behavior of Phylloteta cruciferae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
Environmental Entomology 22 (2), 418-424
Abstract: The flea beetle Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) is selective of its host plants, both between cultivars and between plants of different ages within cultivars. Previous work has associated these preferences with chemical differences between plants. Factors suspected of affecting P. cruciferae behavior, including host plant chemistry and morphology, were isolated and examined. in laboratory assays. P. cruciferae fed equally well on collard and kale cotyledons in both choice and no-choice assays. During 15-min observation periods, flea beetles spent more time on cotyledons than on older leaves of either cultivar. Injured collard and kale cotyledons were fed upon more than uninjured cotyledons in both choice and no-choice assays, and this preference is associated with release of chemical cues from the host. Leaf morphology, however, also affected flea beetle behavior. During 15-min observation periods, P. cruciferae spent more time on 6-wk-old collard leaves than on 6-wk-old kale leaves, and on collard leaf models than on kale leaf models treated with identical leaf extracts. Laboratory results indicate that P. cruciferae host preference is associated with chemical and morphological differences and help explain the spatial patterns in population density observed in the field.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Casey W. Hoy

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Phyllotreta cruciferae	Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)