Dropping behaviour of pea aphid nymphs increases their development time and reduces their reproductive capacity as adults

PeerJ

article

Barbara Agabiti¹  Roxanne J. Wassenaar¹  Linton Winder² 

[1] Department of Natural Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology;Department of Forestry and Resource Management

关键词: Trade-off;    Acyrthosiphon pisum;    Dislodgement;    Aphid;    Non-consumptive;    Population dynamics;    Energy;    Dropping;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2236

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background. Many aphid species, including the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, exhibit a behaviour where they drop or fall from their host plant, a commonly used strategy to avoid predation, parasitism or physical disturbance. We hypothesised that there was a physiological non-consumptive cost due to such dropping behaviour because aphids would expend energy re-establishing themselves on a host plant and also lose feeding time.Methods. We evaluated this non-consumptive cost by determining the development time and reproductive potential of pea aphids that whilst developing as nymphs had regularly dropped to the ground following dislodgment from their host plant. Using a microcosm approach, in a replicated and balanced laboratory experiment, we caused aphid dropping behaviour by tapping the plants on which they were feeding.Results. The results demonstrated that disturbance by dropping behaviour increased nymphal development time and reduced their subsequent reproductive capacity as adults.Discussion. We conclude that dropping behaviour had a strong negative effect on the development of nymphs and their subsequent reproductive capacity. This implies that the physiological cost of such a behaviour choice is substantial, and that such avoidance strategies require a trade-off which reduces the capacity of a population to increase.

【 授权许可】

CC BY