Environmental Entomology (1998) 27, 926-935

Claudio Gratton and Stephen C. Welter (1998)
Oviposition preference and larval performance of Liriomyza helianthi (Diptera : Agromyzidae) on normal and novel host plants
Environmental Entomology 27 (4), 926-935
Abstract: The relationship between oviposition preference and larval performance has often been regarded as central to the evolution of insect-plant interactions. Studies examining correlations between oviposition preference and larval performance have yielded results ranging from good to poor suggesting that features other than a positive correlation between the preference and performance may influence the evolution of host plant use. In this study, we examined oviposition behavior and larval performance of the specialist leafminer Liriomyza helianthi Spencer on normal host plants-sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., and cocklebur, Xanthium strumarium L. (Asteraceae, tribe Heliantheae), and a number of novel, but related, plants in the Asteraceae. Using choice and no-choice oviposition experiments, L. helianthi was observed to oviposit preferentially in its normal host plants and in some novel hosts in the same tribe (Heliantheae). Plants outside the normal tribe in both subfamilies of the Asteraceae were rarely used for oviposition. Larval performance, as assayed by development time, developmental rate, larval survivorship and pupal weight , was assessed by transfers of larvae between normal and novel hosts as well as by direct oviposition into those hosts. The transfer of leafininer larvae allows the decoupling of oviposition and larval performance components of host use, a traditionally difficult task when studying herbivores living inside plant tissues. Our results found no significant relationship between oviposition preference and larval performance in normal and novel hosts. Leafminer larvae have greater latitude than adults in successful use of novel hosts, including use of plants in the alternate subfamily, Cichorioideae. There are some novel^, plants that are not used for oviposition but are as suitable for^, development as the normal host. Thus, there is an asymmetry between oviposition preference and larval performance in novel hosts.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Claudio Gratton

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.
	Liriomyza helianthi	Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)