Intraspecific competition counters the effects of elevated and optimal temperatures on phloem-feeding insects in tropical and temperate rice.

ABSTRACT: The direct effects of rising global temperatures on insect herbivores could increase damage to cereal crops. However, the indirect effects of interactions between herbivores and their biotic environment at the same temperatures will potentially counter such direct effects. This study examines the potential for intraspecific competition to dampen the effects of optimal temperatures on fitness (survival × reproduction) of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens [BPH] and whitebacked planthopper, Sogatella furcifera [WBPH], two phloem-feeders that attack rice in Asia. We conducted a series of experiments with increasing densities of ovipositing females and developing nymphs on tropical and temperate rice varieties at 25, 30 and 35°C. Damage from planthoppers to the tropical variety was grea

SUBMITTER: Horgan FG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7538200 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature