Environmental Entomology (2015) 44, 379-391

Dan Li, Huiyan Zhao, Huanhuan Gao, Zuqing Hu and Xiangshun Hu (2015)
Temperature-mediated effects of host alternation on the adaptation of Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
Environmental Entomology 44 (2), 379-391
Abstract: Local adaptation, an important phenomenon in ecological speciation, occurs in Myzus persicae (Sulzer), with the tobacco-adapted line proposed as a subspecies. Recent studies showed that temperature could alter the selection strength and direction in host–herbivore interactions. To understand the formation of host-adapted speciation and the effects of temperature on host adaptation, the parthenogenetic progeny of an M. persicae egg were conditioned on two hosts for >10 generations. Then, their life table parameters were studied after reciprocal transfer under a temperature gradient. The results showed that aphids habituated on tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and rape (Brassica napus L.) had different optimal temperatures, including different upper thresholds of development and reproduction on original and alternative hosts. After habituation for >10 generations, local adaptation of aphids on the host of origin was formed, which was observed as the better performance of the native aphids compared with the foreign ones. The M. persicae that habituated on rape appeared more generalized to the host plants than the aphids that habituated on tobacco. The adaptation patterns of green peach aphids on two hosts varied differentially according to temperature, which verified the temperature-mediated effects of host selection on herbivores, implying the presence of a demographic basis of aphid seasonal migration.
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Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Hui-Yan Zhao

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

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Myzus persicae	Rape/canola (Brassica napus)
	Myzus persicae	Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)