Can monophagous specialists mediate host plant choices in generalist planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)?

Dittrich, Alex ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2642-8254 and Helden, Alvin J. (2020) Can monophagous specialists mediate host plant choices in generalist planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)? Ecological Entomology, 45 (6). pp. 1509-1512.

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Abstract

A preference experiment was set up with two planthopper species (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) to test the influence of competition on host plant choice. The delphacid Javesella pellucida was chosen as a generalist and the rarer Ribautodelphax imitans as a monophagous specialist, which feeds on the grass, tall fescue Schedonorus arundinaceus. In the absence of the specialist, the generalist showed a marked preference for tall fescue. In some experiments, however, the introduction of the specialist resulted in a shift of preference to an alternative plant if the specialist was established prior to the introduction of the generalist. This experiment supports the hypothesis that specialist herbivores can potentially alter the host plant choices of generalists, which may lead to differing host plant use patterns in insect communities.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Ecological Entomology
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1365-2311
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Forestry and Conservation
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Depositing User:	Insight Administrator
SWORD Depositor:	Insight Administrator
Date Deposited:	01 Sep 2020 09:04
Last Modified:	15 May 2025 08:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/5675

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