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Insects
Special Issues
Impact of Introduced Plants on Insects
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Impact of Introduced Plants on Insects

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 9946

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy

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Guest Editor
Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, 245 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19716, USA
Interests: restoration; food webs; Lepidoptera; ecosystem function
Dr. Susannah B. Lerman

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
Interests: native bees; urban biodiversity; backyard habitats; socioecology of residential landscapes; management decisions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Evidence that insects are in rapid decline within human-dominated landscapes in North America and Europe is accumulating rapidly. Despite E.O. Wilson’s 1987 warnings about the many ecological consequences of losing local insect populations, factors leading to insect declines have been understudied for decades. One in particular is the collapse of insect-based food webs through the loss of the plants that support them. Widescale use of introduced ornamentals, competitive exclusion of native plant communities by invasive plants, and the replacement of millions of acres of diverse forest plant communities with monocultures of introduced forest trees, such as Eucalyptus, teak, and Australian pine, are all taking their toll on the specialized relationships that define most plant/insect interactions. It is surprising that much of this is still under the radar of many restoration and forestry practitioners and even many ecologists globally. In this Special Issue we hope to turn a spotlight on the many ways introduced plants impact insects by inviting the submission of high-quality, original research papers and mini-reviews covering all aspects of this critical ecological challenge.

Prof. Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy
Dr. Susannah B. Lerman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • non-native plants
  • introduced plants
  • insect herbivore
  • host-plant specialization
  • invasive species
  • insect declines

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1192 KiB  
Article
Exposure to Non-Native Tropical Milkweed Promotes Reproductive Development in Migratory Monarch Butterflies
by Ania A. Majewska and Sonia Altizer
Insects 2019, 10(8), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10080253 - 16 Aug 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6868
Abstract
Background: North American monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are well-known for their long-distance migrations; however, some monarchs within the migratory range have adopted a resident lifestyle and breed year-round at sites where tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is planted in the southern [...] Read more.
Background: North American monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are well-known for their long-distance migrations; however, some monarchs within the migratory range have adopted a resident lifestyle and breed year-round at sites where tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is planted in the southern coastal United States. An important question is whether exposure to exotic milkweed alters monarch migratory physiology, particularly the ability to enter and remain in the hormonally-induced state of reproductive diapause, whereby adults delay reproductive maturity. Cued by cooler temperatures and shorter photoperiods, diapause is a component of the monarch’s migratory syndrome that includes directional flight behavior, lipid accumulation, and the exceptional longevity of the migratory generation. Methods: Here, we experimentally test how exposure to tropical milkweed during the larval and adult stages influences monarch reproductive status during fall migration. Caterpillars reared under fall-like conditions were fed tropical versus native milkweed diets, and wild adult migrants were placed in outdoor flight cages with tropical milkweed, native milkweed, or no milkweed. Results: We found that monarchs exposed to tropical milkweed as larvae were more likely to be reproductively active (exhibit mating behavior in males and develop mature eggs in females) compared to monarchs exposed to native milkweed. Among wild-caught fall migrants, females exposed to tropical milkweed showed greater egg development than females exposed to native or no milkweed, although a similar response was not observed for males. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that exposure to tropical milkweed can increase monarch reproductive activity, which could promote continued residency at year-round breeding sites and decrease monarch migratory propensity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Introduced Plants on Insects)
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13 pages, 544 KiB  
Article
Changing Host Plants Causes Structural Differences in the Parasitoid Complex of the Monophagous Moth Yponomeuta evonymella, but Does Not Improve Survival Rate
by Adrian Łukowski, Wanda Janek, Edward Baraniak, Urszula Walczak and Piotr Karolewski
Insects 2019, 10(7), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects10070197 - 04 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2669
Abstract
Recently in Poland, cases of host expansion have frequently been observed in the typically monophagous bird-cherry ermine moth (Yponomeuta evonymella), which has moved from its native host plant, bird cherry (Prunus padus), to a new, widely distributed plant that [...] Read more.
Recently in Poland, cases of host expansion have frequently been observed in the typically monophagous bird-cherry ermine moth (Yponomeuta evonymella), which has moved from its native host plant, bird cherry (Prunus padus), to a new, widely distributed plant that is invasive in Europe, black cherry (P. serotina). We attempted to verify the reasons behind this host change in the context of the enemy-free space hypothesis by focusing on parasitoids attacking larval Y. evonymella on one of three host plant variants: The primary host, P. padus; initially P. padus and later P. serotina (P. padus/P. serotina); or the new host, P. serotina. This experiment investigated if changing the host plant could be beneficial to Y. evonymella in terms of escaping from harmful parasitoids and improving survival rate. We identified nine species of parasitoids that attack larval Y. evonymella, and we found that the number of parasitoid species showed a downward trend from the primary host plant to the P. padus/P. serotina combination to the new host plant alone. We observed a significant difference among variants in relation to the percentage of cocoons killed by specific parasitoids, but no effects of non-specific parasitoids or other factors. Total mortality did not significantly differ (ca. 37%) among larval rearing variants. Changing the host plant caused differences in the structure of the parasitoid complex of Y. evonymella but did not improve its survival rate. This study does not indicate that the host expansion of Y. evonymella is associated with the enemy-free space hypothesis; we therefore discuss alternative scenarios that may be more likely. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Introduced Plants on Insects)
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