Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T00:20:59.898Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating the diet of the omnivorous mirid Dicyphus hesperus using stable isotopes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2009

J.A. Bennett ,
D.R. Gillespie  and
S.L. VanLaerhoven
J.A. Bennett
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave., Windsor, ON, CanadaN9B 3P4
D.R. Gillespie
Affiliation:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaAgassiz, BC, Canada
S.L. VanLaerhoven*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave., Windsor, ON, CanadaN9B 3P4
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: +1-519-9713609 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Omnivory involves numerous feeding relationships and a complex web of interactions. When using omnivores in biocontrol, these interactions need to be understood to maximize feeding on the target species and minimize non-target interactions. Dicyphus hesperus is used along with Encarsia formosa for biocontrol of whiteflies in greenhouse tomato crops. Dicyphus hesperus is a generalist omnivore which feeds on all components of the system. To quantify these interactions, stable isotope analysis was used to identify trophic position with nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) and plant sources with carbon isotopes (δ13C). Feeding trials were used to establish baseline isotopic data for D. hesperus and their diet, including Verbascum thapsus, an alternative plant food. Cage trials were used to monitor population abundances and the isotopic signature of D. hesperus. In feeding trials, D. hesperus were enriched relative to their food, suggesting an elevated trophic position. However, large amounts of isotopic variation were found within all diet components, with only V. thapsus exhibiting a distinct signature. In cage trials, the average δ15N and δ13C of the omnivore declined over time, coinciding with declines in total available prey, though it may be confounded by changes in temperature. The range of δ13C, but not the range of δ15N, also declined over time. This suggests a change in the plant source within the diet, but also some unquantified variability within the population. We suggest that diet variability exists within D. hesperus populations, declining as prey become less abundant.

Keywords

stable isotopeomnivoryDicyphus hesperuswhiteflytomatodiet switching
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 99 , Issue 4 , August 2009 , pp. 347 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agrawal, A.A., Kobayashi, C. & Thaler, J.S. (1999) Influence of prey availability and induced host-plant resistance on omnivory by western flower thrips. Ecology 80, 518–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arim, M. & Marquet, P.A. (2004) Intraguild predation: a widespread interaction related to species biology. Ecology Letters 7, 557–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bearhop, S., Adams, C.E., Waldron, S., Fuller, R.A. & Macleod, H. (2004) Determining trophic niche width: a novel approach using stable isotope analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology 73, 1007–1012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bluthgen, N., Gebauer, G. & Fiedler, K. (2003) Disentangling a rainforest food web using stable isotopes: dietary diversity in a species-rich ant community. Oecologia 137, 426–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Branstrator, D.K., Cabana, G., Mazumder, A. & Rasmussen, J.B. (2000) Measuring life-history omnivory in the opossum shrimp, Mysis relicta, with stable nitrogen isotopes. Limnology and Oceanography 45, 463–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruno, J.F. & O'Connor, M.I. (2005) Cascading effects of predator diversity and omnivory in a marine food web. Ecology Letters 8, 1048–1056.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coll, M. & Guershon, M. (2002) Omnivory in terrestrial arthropods: Mixing plant and prey diets. Annual Review of Entomology 47, 267–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crone, E.E. & Jones, C.G. (1999) The dynamics of carbon-nutrient balance: Effects of cottonwood acclimation to short-and long-term shade on beetle feeding preferences. Journal of Chemical Ecology 25, 635–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, T.E., Mambelli, S., Plamboeck, A.H., Templer, P.H. & Tu, K.P. (2002) Stable isotopes in plant ecology. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33, 507–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deniro, M.J. & Epstein, S. (1978) Influence of diet on distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 42, 495–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deniro, M.J. & Epstein, S. (1981) Influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 45, 341–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diehl, S. (1995) Direct and indirect effects of omnivory in a litoral lake community. Ecology 76, 1727–1740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diehl, S. (2003) The evolution and maintenance of omnivory: Dynamic constraints and the role of food quality. Ecology 84, 2557–2567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eubanks, M.D. & Denno, R.F. (1999) The ecological consequences of variation of plants and prey for an omnivorous insect. Ecology 80, 1253–1266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, R.D. (2001) Physiological mechanisms influencing plant nitrogen isotope composition. Trends in Plant Science 6, 121–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farquhar, G.D., Ehleringer, J.R. & Hubick, K.T. (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 40, 503–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadd, C.A. & Raubenheimer, D. (2000) Nutrient-specific learning in an omnivorous insect: The American cockroach Periplaneta Americana L. learns to associate dietary protein with the odors citral and carvone. Journal of Insect Behavior 13, 851–864.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Handley, L.L. & Scrimgeour, C.M. (1997) Terrestrial plant ecology and N-15 natural abundance: The present limits to interpretation for uncultivated systems with original data from a Scottish old field. Advances in Ecological Research 27, 133–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoddle, M.S., van Driesche, R.G. & Sanderson, J.P. (1998) Biology and use of the whitefly parasitoid Encarsia formosa. Annual Review of Entomology 43, 645–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janssen, A., Willemse, E. & van der Hammen, T. (2003) Poor host plant quality causes omnivore to consume predator eggs. Journal of Animal Ecology 72, 478–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, R.A., Read, D.S., Traugott, M. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2008) Molecular analysis of predation a review of best practice for DNA-based approaches. Molecular Ecology 17, 947–963.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langellotto, G.A., Rosenheim, J.A. & Williams, M.R. (2005) Enhanced carbon enrichment in parasitoids (hymenoptera): A stable isotope study. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 98, 205–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langellotto, G.A., Rosenheim, J.A. & Williams, M.R. (2006) Assessing trophic interactions in a guild of primary parasitoids and facultative hyperparasitoids: stable isotope analysis. Oecologia 150, 291–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Roux, X., Bariac, T., Sinoquet, H., Genty, B., Piel, C., Mariotti, A., Girardin, C. & Richard, P. (2001) Spatial distribution of leaf water-use efficiency and carbon isotope discrimination within an isolated tree crown. Plant, Cell and Environment 24, 1021–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magalhaes, S., Janssen, A., Montserrat, M. & Sabelis, M.W. (2005) Host-plant species modifies the diet of an omnivore feeding on three trophic levels. Oikos 111, 47–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, B. & Mazumder, A. (2004) A critical evaluation of intrapopulation variation of delta C-13 and isotopic evidence of individual specialization. Oecologia 140, 361–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCann, K. & Hastings, A. (1997) Re-evaluating the omnivory-stability relationship in food webs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences 264, 1249–1254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGregor, R.R. & Gillespie, D.R. (2005) Intraguild predation by the generalist predator Dicyphus hesperus on the parasitoid Encarsia formosa. Biocontrol Science and Technology 15, 219–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGregor, R.R., Gillespie, D.R., Quiring, D.M.J. & Foisy, M.R.J. (1999) Potential use of Dicyphus hesperus Knight (Heteroptera: Miridae) for biological control of pests of greenhouse tomatoes. Biological Control 16, 104–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mooney, K.A. & Tillberg, C.V. (2005) Temporal and spatial variation to ant omnivory in pine forests. Ecology 86, 1225–1235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsome, S.D., Martinez del Rio, C., Bearhop, S. & Phillips, D.L. (2007) A niche for stable isotope ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5, 429–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichols-Orians, C.M. (1991) Environmentally induced differences in plant traits consequences for susceptibility to a leaf-cutter ant. Ecology 72, 1609–1623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orians, C.M. & Jones, C.G. (2001) Plants as resource mosaics: a functional model for predicting patterns of within-plant resource heterogeneity to consumers based on vascular architecture and local environmental variability. Oikos 94, 493–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orians, C.M., Ardon, M. & Mohammad, B.A. (2002) Vascular architecture and patchy nutrient availability generate within-plant heterogeneity in plant traits important to herbivores. American Journal of Botany 89, 270–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ostrom, P.H., ColungaGarcia, M. & Gage, S.H. (1997) Establishing pathways of energy flow for insect predators using stable isotope ratios: Field and laboratory evidence. Oecologia 109, 108–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polis, G.A., Myers, C.A. & Holt, R.D. (1989) The ecology and evolution of intraguild predation: Potential competitors that eat each other. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 20, 297–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, D.M. (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83, 703–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sagers, C.L. & Goggin, F.L. (2007) Isotopic enrichment in a phloem-feeding insect: influences of nutrient and water availability. Oecologia 151, 464–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanchez, J.A., Gillespie, D.R. & McGregor, R.R. (2003) The effects of mullein plants (Verbascum thapsus) on the population dynamics of Dicyphus hesperus (Heteroptera: Miridae) in tomato greenhouses. Biological Control 28, 313–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, M.S. & Bernays, E.A. (2003) Understanding omnivory needs a behavioral perspective. Ecology 84, 2532–2537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smedley, M.P., Dawson, T.E., Comstock, J.P., Donovan, L.A., Sherrill, D.E., Cook, C.S. & Ehleringer, J.R. (1991) Seasonal carbon isotope discrimination in a grassland community. Oecologia 85, 314–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, K.O. & Rosenheim, J.A. (2005) Isotopic enrichment in herbivorous insects: a comparative field-based study of variation. Oecologia 146, 89–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tooker, J.F. & Hanks, L.M. (2004) Trophic position of the endophytic beetle, Mordellistena aethiops Smith (Coleoptera: Mordellidae). Environmental Entomology 33, 291–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Lenteren, J.C. & Noldus, L.P.J.J. (1990) Whitefly-plant relationships: behavioural and ecological aspects. pp 47–90. in Gerling, D. (Ed.) Whiteflies: Their Bionomics, Pest Status and Management. Andover, Intercept.Google Scholar
Zanne, A.E., Lower, S.S., Cardon, Z.G. & Orians, C.M. (2006) 15N partitioning in tomato: vascular constraints versus tissue demand. Functional Plant Biology 33, 457–464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zar, J.H. (1999) Biostatistical analysis. 929 pp. New Jersey, Prentice Hall.Google Scholar