The spitting image of plant defenses: Effects of plant secondary chemistry on the efficacy of caterpillar regurgitant as an anti-predator defense.

ABSTRACT: In the arms race between plants, herbivores, and their natural enemies, specialized herbivores may use plant defenses for their own benefit, and variation in plant traits may affect the benefits that herbivores derive from these defenses. Pieris brassicae is a specialist herbivore of plants containing glucosinolates, a specific class of defensive secondary metabolites. Caterpillars of P. brassicae are known to actively spit on attacking natural enemies, including their main parasitoid, the braconid wasp Cotesia glomerata. Here, we tested the hypothesis that variation in the secondary metabolites of host plants affects the efficacy of caterpillar regurgitant as an anti-predator defense. Using a total of 10 host plants with different glucosinolate profiles, we first stud

SUBMITTER: Desurmont GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5574803 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature