Plant spines deter herbivory by restricting caterpillar movement.

ABSTRACT: The spines of flowering plants are thought to function primarily in defence against mammalian herbivores; however, we previously reported that feeding by Manduca sexta caterpillars on the leaves of horsenettle plants (Solanum carolinense) induces increased development of internode spines on new growth. To determine whether and how spines impact caterpillar feeding, we conducted assays with three Solanaceous plant species that vary in spine numbers (S. carolinense, S. atropurpureum and S. aethiopicum) and also manipulated spine numbers within each species. We found that M. sexta caterpillars located experimentally isolated target leaves much more quickly on plants with experimentally removed spines compared with plants with intact spines. Mor

SUBMITTER: Kariyat RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5454246 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature