Competing beetles attract egg laying in a hawkmoth

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.021
• Publication Date: 2022-01-10T15:31:06Z
• Authors: Jin Zhang; Syed Ali Komail Raza; Zhiqiang Wei; Ian W. Keesey; Anna L. Parker; Felix Feistel; Jingyuan Chen; Sina Cassau; Richard A. Fandino; Ewald Grosse-Wilde; Shuanglin Dong; Joel Kingsolver; Jonathan Gershenzon; Markus Knaden; Bill S. Hansson
• Keywords: Laying

In nature, plant-insect interactions occur in complex settings involving multiple trophic levels, often with species at each level.1Poelman E.H. From induced resistance to defence interactions.Entomol. Exp. Appl. 2015; 157: 11-17Google Scholar Herbivore attack of a host plant typically dramatically alters the plant's odor emission terms concentration and composition.2Aljbory Z. Chen M.-S. Indirect defense against insect herbivores: review.Insect Sci. 2018; 25: 2-23Google Scholar,3Mithöfer A. Boland W. Plant chemical aspects.Annu. Rev. Biol. 2012; 63: 431-450Google Therefore, well-adapted herbivore should be able predict whether is still suitable as by judging these changes emitted bouquet. Although studies have demonstrated that oviposition preferences successive insects were affected previous infestations,4Shiojiri K. Takabayashi J. Yano S. Takafuji Oviposition herbivores are tritrophic interaction webs.Ecol. Lett. 2002; 5: 186-192Google Scholar,5Hu X.Y. Su S.L. Liu Q.S. Jiao Y.Y. Peng Y.F. Li Y.H. Turlings T.C.J. Caterpillar-induced rice volatiles provide enemy-free space for offspring brown planthopper.eLife. 2020; 9: 19Google underlying molecular olfactory mechanisms remain unknown. Here, we report tobacco hawkmoths (Manduca sexta) preferentially oviposit on Jimson weed (Datura wrightii) already infested specialist, three-lined potato beetle (Lema daturaphila). Interestingly, moths' do not benefit directly, larvae develop more slowly when feeding together Lema beetles. However, one M. sexta's main enemies, parasitoid wasp Cotesia congregata, prefers headspace sexta-infested plants both herbivores. Hence, conclude female sexta ignore interspecific competition beetles deliberately beetle-infested their an enemy-reduced space, thus providing trade-off generates net survival fitness subsequent generation. We identify α-copaene, Datura, plays role this preference. By performing heterologous expression single-sensillum recordings, show odorant receptor (Or35) involved α-copaene detection.