0000000001301557
AUTHOR
Jérôme Moreau
Species diversity of larval parasitoids of the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): the influence of region and cultivar.
7 pages; International audience; The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a major pest of grapevines responsible for great economic losses and frequent insecticide applications. Nevertheless, the use of parasitoids as potential biological control agents has received very little attention. In this study, we present results from a survey on parasitoid species collected from French and Swiss vineyards over a period of 2 years. Over 2000 larvae of L. botrana were collected from six grape cultivars out of which a total of 118 parasitoids emerged. Ten species were identified. Exochus notatus (Holmgren, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumoni…
Limiting immunopathology: Interaction between carotenoids and enzymatic antioxidant defences.
The release of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) during the inflammatory response generates damages to host tissues, referred to as immunopathology, and is an important factor in ecological immunology. The integrated antioxidant system, comprising endogenous antioxidant enzymes (e.g. superoxide dismutase SOD, and catalase CAT) and dietary antioxidants (e.g. carotenoids), helps to cope with immune-mediated oxidative stress. Crustaceans store large amounts of dietary carotenoids for yet unclear reasons. While being immunostimulants and antioxidants, the interaction of these pigments with antioxidant enzymes remains unclear. Here, we tested the interaction between dietary supp…
Effects of food abundance and early clutch predation on reproductive timing in a high Arctic shorebird exposed to advancements in arthropod abundance.
12 pages; International audience; Climate change may influence the phenology of organisms unequally across trophic levels and thus lead to phenological mismatches between predators and prey. In cases where prey availability peaks before reproducing predators reach maximal prey demand, any negative fitness consequences would selectively favor resynchronization by earlier starts of the reproductive activities of the predators. At a study site in northeast Greenland, over a period of 17 years, the median emergence of the invertebrate prey of Sanderling Calidris alba advanced with 1.27 days per year. Yet, over the same period Sanderling did not advance hatching date. Thus, Sanderlings increasin…
Biological protection against grape berry moths. A review
International audience; Grape is a major crop, covering 7.5 M ha worldwide, that is currently being confronted with three main challenges: intensive pesticide use that must be reduced, invasion by new pests/diseases, and climate change. The biological control of pests and vectors would help address these challenges. Here, we review the scientific literature on the biological control of grape moths by macroorganisms (excluding nematodes). Two components, biological control with an active human role, mainly using biocontrol agents through inundation or inoculation, and conservation biological control, are considered. The major points are the following. (1) Tortricid grape moths seriously dama…
Personality, immune response and reproductive success: an appraisal of the pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis.
11 pages; International audience; The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis is an extended concept of the life-history theory that includes behavioural traits. The studies challenging the POLS hypothesis often focus on the relationships between a single personality trait and a physiological and/or life-history trait. While pathogens represent a major selective pressure, few studies have been interested in testing relationships between behavioural syndrome, and several fitness components including immunity. The aim of this study was to address this question in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a model species in immunity studies. The personality score was estimated from a multidimensi…
The immune role of the arthropod exoskeleton.
7 pages; International audience; The exoskeleton or cuticle of arthropods is an important feature that contributes to their great success in colonising numerous habitats on earth. It has numerous functions among which to provide protection against parasites. Whereas often regarded as a simple physical barrier to the outside world, the immune protection of the cuticle is slightly more complex than that. Here, we provide an overview of the cuticle defensive traits against parasites and examine their variation as a response to parasitism. It appears that the cuticle is an efficient line of defense, which includes physical, biochemical and physiological defensive components that are potentially…
Induction natale de la préférence pour l'habitat (NHPI)
Chapitre 25; National audience
Circadian variation in shedding of the oocysts of Isospora turdi (Apicomplexa) in blackbirds (Turdus merula): an adaptative trait against desiccation and ultraviolet radiation.
5 pages; International audience; Many parasite species spend part of their life cycle in the external environment waiting for a new host. Emergence of parasites often occurs once a day, which may help to minimise mortality in an inhospitable environment and increase transition rates. Many intestinal parasites in birds are released in faeces only in the late afternoon. However, the adaptative significance of this pattern is unclear. One hypothesis is that a particular time of emergence may prevent parasite desiccation and therefore increase the parasite's life expectancy in the external environment. We tested this hypothesis experimentally using the blackbird (Turdus merula) infected with Is…
Trans-equatorial migration routes, staging sites and wintering areas of a High-Arctic avian predator: the Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus).
The Long-tailed Skua, a small (,300 g) Arctic-breeding predator and seabird, is a functionally very important component of the Arctic vertebrate communities in summer, but little is known about its migration and winter distribution. We used lightlevel geolocators to track the annual movements of eight adult birds breeding in north-east Greenland (n = 3) and Svalbard (n = 5). All birds wintered in the Southern Hemisphere (mean arrival-departure dates on wintering grounds: 24 October-21 March): five along the south-west coast of Africa (0–40uS, 0–15uE), in the productive Benguela upwelling, and three further south (30–40uS, 0–50uE), in an area extending into the south-west Indian Ocean. Diffe…
Spatial distribution ofVespa velutinaindividuals hunting at domestic honeybee hives: heterogeneity at a local scale
Since its recent introduction into Europe, the yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, has become a major predator of the domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera, but little is known about its hunting behavior. We studied V. velutina hunting behavior by a capture-mark-recapture procedure in an experimental apiary. A total of 360 hornets were captured and tagged, and we determined: (i) the number of hornets visiting the apiary and the changes in time, (ii) the average number of individual visits per half-day and the time elapsed between consecutive recaptures, and (iii) the individual and global distribution of the hornets in the apiary. More than 50% of the marked hornets were recaptured at least o…
Lobesia botrana larvae develop faster in the presence of parasitoids.
3 pages; International audience; To combat parasitism hosts often rely on their immune system, which is the last line of defense. However, the immune system may not always be effective, and other non-immunological defenses might be favored to reduce the cost of parasite infection. Here we report that larvae of the moth Lobesia botrana can rapidly accelerate their development and reach maturity earlier in response to cues perceived at a distance from parasitoids. Such a phenotypically plastic life history shift, induced by the perception of deadly enemies in the environment, is likely to be an adaptive defensive strategy to prevent parasitoid attack, and has important implications in host-pa…
Virulent synergistic effect between Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli assayed by using the Caenorhabditis elegans model.
5 pages; International audience; BACKGROUND: The role of enterococci in the pathogenesis of polymicrobial infections is still debated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of virulent enterococci in the presence or absence of Escherichia coli strains in the in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study demonstrated that there was a synergistic effect on virulence when an association of enterococci and E. coli (LT50 = 1.6 days+/-0.1 according to the tested strains and death of nematodes in 4 days+/-0.5) was tested in comparison with enterococci alone (LT50 = 4.6 days+/-0.1 and death in 10.4 days+/-0.6) or E. coli alone (LT50 = 2.1+/-0.9 and deaths 6.6+/…
Climate change and the ecology and evolution of Arctic vertebrates.
25 pages; International audience; Climate change is taking place more rapidly and severely in the Arctic than anywhere on the globe, exposing Arctic vertebrates to a host of impacts. Changes in the cryosphere dominate the physical changes that already affect these animals, but increasing air temperatures, changes in precipitation, and ocean acidification will also affect Arctic ecosystems in the future. Adaptation via natural selection is problematic in such a rapidly changing environment. Adjustment via phenotypic plasticity is therefore likely to dominate Arctic vertebrate responses in the short term, and many such adjustments have already been documented. Changes in phenology and range w…
No evidence of an immune adjustment in response to a parasitoid threat in Lobesia botrana larvae.
5 pages; International audience; Immune function is a key determinant of an organism's fitness, and natural insect populations are highly variable for this trait, mainly due to environmental heterogeneity and pathogen diversity. We previously reported a positive correlation between infection prevalence by parasitoids and host immunity in natural populations of the vineyard pest Lobesia botrana. Here, we tested whether this correlation reflects a plastic adjustment of host immunity in response to the local presence of parasites. To this end, we measured immunity of non-parasitized L. botrana larvae exposed, respectively, to one of the two most common species of parasitoids in vineyards, over…
Interpreting immunological indices: the importance of taking parasite community into account. An example in blackbirds Turdus merula.
13 pages; International audience; Despite the intensive use of immune indices in immunoecology, whether to interpret the results of immune indices in terms of actual immune competence (i.e. ability to control and clear parasite infections as indicated by high values of immune indices associated with low parasite loads) or current immune activation (pathogenic infection being associated with high parasite load and high values of immune indices) is still an open question. Most studies to date have produced contrasting results focused on the effect of a single parasite species despite the fact that hosts usually harbour a community of parasites that influences one another's impact on host immu…
Larval personality does not predict adult personality in a holometabolous insect.
10 pages; International audience; Although personality (consistent inter-individual differences in behavioural traits across time and/or contexts) and behavioural syndromes (suites of correlated personality traits) have been widely studied in the last decades, the origin and development of these traits during ontogeny are still underexplored. In this context, species undergoing metamorphosis are of special interest. To date, however, the persistence of personality traits has been only little investigated in organisms undergoing complete metamorphosis such as in holometabolous insects, although this kind of studies may provide important insights from a functional point of view. Here, we test…
A cost of Wolbachia-induced sex reversal and female-biased sex ratios: decrease in female fertility after sperm depletion in a terrestrial isopod.
A number of parasites are vertically transmitted to new host generations via female eggs. In such cases, host reproduction is an intimate component of parasite fitness and no cost of the infection on host reproduction is expected to evolve. A number of these parasites distort host sex ratios towards females, thereby increasing either parasite fitness or the proportion of the host that transmit the parasite. In terrestrial isopods (woodlice), Wolbachia bacteria are responsible for sex reversion and female-biased sex ratios, changing genetic males into functional neo-females. Although sex ratio distortion is a powerful means for parasites to increase in frequency in host populations, it also …
Contrôle des ravageurs de cultures par les ennemis naturels : la plante hôte facteur régulateur du système immunitaire des chenilles de vers de la grappe.
10 pages; National audience; En raison des nombreux dégâts occasionnés par les vers de la grappe dans les vignobles, trouver un moyen de lutte efficace est devenu un réel challenge. A l’heure actuelle, la lutte biologique apparaît comme une alternative possible à la lutte chimique. Cependant, les résultats obtenus suite aux lâchers de parasitoïdes sont extrêmement variables dans leur efficacité. Des études approfondies de la biologie des vers de la grappe et de leurs parasitoïdes sont donc nécessaires afin d’affiner les méthodes de lutte biologique. Le système immunitaire des insectes représente la dernière ligne de défense des phytophages contre les parasitoïdes. Dans cette étude nous mett…
Control of grape berry moth larvae using parasitoids: should it be developed?
8 pages; International audience; Besides mating disruption techniques and progress in monitoring techniques (e.g. theuse of food traps against females), biological control may reveal itself very efficient at controllinggrape moth populations. Parasitoids active to control grape moths are known for long invineyards; few of them were already described in the middle of the 19th century in Frenchvineyards and their efficiency was already recognized especially against the diapausing and thefirst spring generations of the moths. Rather numerous attempts to release egg parasitoids havebeen done in different European countries using different species of trichogrammas. The resultsobtained varied a l…
Defense strategies used by two sympatric vineyard moth pests.
8 pages; International audience; Natural enemies including parasitoids are the major biological cause of mortality among phytophagous insects. In response to parasitism, these insects have evolved a set of defenses to protect themselves, including behavioral, morphological, physiological and immunological barriers. According to life history theory, resources are partitioned to various functions including defense, implying trade-offs among defense mechanisms. In this study we characterized the relative investment in behavioral, physical and immunological defense systems in two sympatric species of Tortricidae (Eupoecilia ambiguella, Lobesia botrana) which are important grapevine moth pests. …
Grape cultivar affects larval and female fitness of the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)
8 pages; International audience
How to improve grape moth pests control in viticulture. Which research fields should be promoted?
National audience
Different emergence phenology of European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on six varieties of grapes.
AbstractThe phenology of insect emergence affects reproductive success and is especially critical in short-lived species. An increasing number of studies have documented the effects of thermal and other climatic variations and of unpredictable habitats on the timing of adult insect emergence within and between populations and years. Numerous interacting factors may affect the phenology of adult emergence. Host-plant quality and availability is a key factor that has been largely neglected in studies of the phenology of phytophagous insects. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of host plant characteristics on the rate of larval growth and the pattern of emergence in a wild p…
Immunocompetence increases with larval body size in a phytophagous moth
Despite the obvious benefit of an immune system, its efficacy against pathogens and parasites may show great variation among individuals, populations and species. Understanding the causes of this variation is becoming a central theme in ecology. Many biotic and abiotic factors are known to influence immunocompetence (temperature, age, etc.). However, for a given age, size among individuals varies, probably as a result of accumulated resources. Thus, these variable resources could be allocated to immune defence and, consequently, body size may explain part of the variation in immune responsiveness. However, the influence of body size on immune defence is often overlooked. The present study i…
Food-mediated modulation of immunity in a phytophagous insect: An effect of nutrition rather than parasitic contamination.
7 pages; International audience; Inherent to the cost of immunity, the immune system itself can exhibit tradeoffs between its arms. Phytophagous insects face a wide range of microbial and eukaryotic parasites, each activating different immune pathways that could compromise the activity of the others. Feeding larvae are primarily exposed to microbes, which growth is controlled by antibiotic secondary metabolites produced by the host plant. The resulting variation in abundance of microbes on plants is expected to differentially stimulate the insect antimicrobial immune defenses. Under the above tradeoff hypothesis, stimulation of the insect antimicrobial defenses is expected to compromise imm…
Caution on the assessment of intestinal parasitic load in studying parasite-mediated sexual selection: the case of Blackbirds coccidiosis.
6 pages; International audience; The parasite-mediated sexual selection (PMSS) theory has led to an increasing number of experimental studies essentially focussed on blood parasites. Currently, more research is being carried out on intestinal parasites in relationship to this theory. Before testing the theory with gastrointestinal parasites, it is important: (i) to determine an optimal research methodology to obtain an accurate assessment of parasite burden and (ii) to have information about life-history traits of the parasite to interpret data appropriately. In this study, we present data on oocyst output of Isosporaturdi in the faeces of blackbirds (Turdus merula) that illustrate the impo…
Relationship between maternal transfer of immunity and mother fecundity in an insect.
Trans-generational immune priming (TGIP) corresponds to the plastic adjustment of offspring immunity as a result of maternal immune experience. TGIP is expected to improve mother's fitness by improving offspring individual performance in an environment where parasitism becomes more prevalent. However, it was recently demonstrated that maternal transfer of immunity to the offspring is costly for immune-challenged female insects. Thus, these females might not provide immune protection to all their offspring because of the inherent cost of other fitness-related traits. Females are therefore expected to adjust their investment to individual offspring immune protection in ways that maximize the…
Differences in nutritional quality of parts of Vitis vinifera berries affect fitness of the European grapevine moth
International audience; The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermuller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a major grapevine pest in Europe. The larva is polyphagous and able to develop on more than 25 plant species, several of them being more suitable than Vitaceae for the fitness of L. botrana. Larvae normally eat the pulp of the berry, but may also consume the seeds according to the development stage of the berry and the larval density per bunch. Understanding the effect on individual fitness of such feeding behaviour is important to assess how suitable the different berry tissues are for this insect. We offered to the larvae either entire berries, seeds, or pulp with s…
Virulence genotype and nematode-killing properties of extra-intestinal Escherichia coli producing CTX-M beta-lactamases.
8 pages; International audience; This study evaluated the virulence potential of Escherichia coli isolates producing CTX-M beta-lactamases. During a 24-month period, 33 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli, including 14 CTX-M-producers, were isolated from urinary tract infections at N?s University Hospital, France. The prevalence of 14 major virulence factors (VFs) was investigated by PCR and compared with the prevalence in a group of 99 susceptible E. coli isolates. Ten VFs were less prevalent (p <0.05) in the ESBL isolates than the susceptible E. coli, while iutA and traT were more prevalent in ESBL isolates (p <0.05). Moreover, the CTX-M-producing isolates had signif…
Behavioural responses of breeding arctic sandpipers to ground-surface temperature and primary productivity
Most birds incubate their eggs, which requires time and energy at the expense of other activities. Birds generally have two incubation strategies: biparental where both mates cooperate in incubating eggs, and uniparental where a single parent incubates. In harsh and unpredictable environments, incubation is challenging due to high energetic demands and variable resource availability. We studied the relationships between the incubation behaviour of sandpipers (genus Calidris) and two environmental variables: temperature and a proxy of primary productivity (i.e. NDVI). We investigated how these relationships vary between incubation strategies and across species among strategies. We also stud…
Comparaison de la qualité alimentaire des baies de différents cépages sur les chenilles d'un papillon deprédateur de raisin
National audience
Male mating success during parturial intermoults in the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare revealed by the use of a microsatellite locus
3 pages; International audience; We investigated the value of microsatellite DNA markers to improve our knowledge of mating strategy with inference to sperm competition in particular, in the woodlouse Armadillidium vulgare. In terrestrial isopods, mature females develop a brood pouch or marsupium before egg laying, the pouch being formed by overlapping oöstegites during a special moult called parturial moult. Under laboratory conditions, we show that Armadillidium vulgare females are able to mate during parturial intermoults, even in the presence of a physical barrier such as that represented by the ventral marsupial plates. Our results reveal that the contribution of a second male mating w…
Raman spectroscopy as a tool for ecology and evolution.
7 pages; International audience; Scientists are always on the lookout for new modalities of information which could reveal new biological features that are useful for deciphering the complexity of biological systems. Here, we introduce Raman spectroscopy as a prime candidate for ecology and evolution. To encourage the integration of this microscopy technique in the field of ecology and evolution, it is crucial to discuss first how Raman spectroscopy fits within the conceptual, technical and pragmatic considerations of ecology and evolution. In this paper, we show that the spectral information holds reliable indicators of intra- and interspecies variations, which can be related to the enviro…
Discriminating uniparental and biparental breeding strategies by monitoring nest temperature
10 pages; International audience; Birds exhibit a wide diversity of breeding strategies. During incubation or chick-rearing, parental care can be either uniparental, by either the male or the female, or biparental. Understanding the selective pressures that drive these different strategies represents an exciting challenge for ecologists. In this context, assigning the type of parental care at the nest (e.g. biparental or uniparental incubation strategy) is often a prerequisite to answering questions in evolutionary ecology. The aim of this study was to produce a standardized method unequivocally to assign an incubation strategy to any Sanderling Calidris alba nest found in the field by moni…
Insect personality: what can we learn from metamorphosis?
6 pages; International audience; Ontogeny of animal personality is still an open question. Testing whether personality traits correlated with state variables (e.g. metabolic rate, hormones) and/or life history traits, and which ones are involved, requires more empirical studies. Insects with metamorphosis represent a good opportunity to tackle this question. Because of the various degrees of internal (physiological, nervous) and environmental changes linked to metamorphosis they allow testing whether these modifications drive consistency in personality traits between immature and adult stages. In this review, we establish general predictions for the effects of metamorphosis on personality i…
Variable male potential rate of reproduction: high male mating capacity as an adaptation to parasite–induced excess of females?
Numerous animals are known to harbour intracytoplasmic symbionts that gain transmission to a new host generation via female eggs and not male sperm. Bacteria of the genus Wolbachia are a typical example. They infect a large range of arthropod species and manipulate host reproduction in several ways. In terrestrial isopods (woodlice), Wolbachia are responsible for converting males into females (feminization (F)) in some species, or for infertility in certain host crosses in other species (cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)). Wolbachia with the F phenotype impose a strong excess of females on their host populations, while Wolbachia expressing CI do not. Here, we test the possibility that male m…
Colonisation and diversification of the Zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita) in the Antilles: phylogeography, contemporary gene flow and morphological divergence.
12 pages; International audience; Caribbean avifaunal biogeography has been mainly studied based on mitochondrial DNA. Here, we investigated both past and recent island differentiation and micro-evolutionary changes in the Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita) based on combined information from one mitochondrial (Cytochrome c Oxydase subunit I, COI) and 13 microsatellite markers and four morphological characters. This Caribbean endemic and abundant species has a large distribution, and two subspecies are supposed to occur: Z. a. zenaida in the Greater Antilles (GA) and Z. a. aurita in the Lesser Antilles (LA). Doves were sampled on two GA islands (Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands) and six…
Host plant variation plastically impacts different traits of the immune system of a phytophagous insect
Summary 1. Host plant quality affects herbivorous insect performance and consequently their susceptibility to natural enemies. Recently, it has been hypothesized that the immune function of herbivorous insects can be altered by their host plant, thus generating variation in their susceptibility to entomopathogens. Previous studies testing this hypothesis provided contradictory outcomes, mainly as a result of the differences in methodology such as measuring a single-immune parameter rather than considering trade-off-mediated interactions between immune defence systems of the insect. Here, we hypothesized that plant-mediated changes in insect immunity could result from the alteration of physi…
CTX-M β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli in French Hospitals: Prevalence, Molecular Epidemiology, and Risk Factors▿
ABSTRACT In 2004, 65 CTX-M-producing Escherichia coli isolates were collected from infected patients in four French hospitals. The bla CTX-M-15 genes were predominant. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis highlighted a clonal propagation of CTX-M-15-producing strains belonging to phylogenetic group B2, notably in the community. The main risk factors for acquiring these isolates were urinary tract infections or the presence of a urinary catheter in diabetic or renal failure patients.
Trans-generational immune priming is constrained by the maternal immune response in an insect.
5 pages; International audience; Immune-challenged vertebrate and invertebrate females can transfer immunity to their off spring. Th is trans-generational immune priming (TGIP) is benefi cial for the off spring if the maternal infection risk persists across generations. However, because immunity is costly, fi tness consequences of TGIP have been found in primed off spring. Furthermore, transferring immunity to off spring may be costly for immune-challenged females who are also carrying the costs of their immune response. A negative relationship between levels of immunity between mothers and off spring might therefore be expected. Consistent with this hypothesis, we show that in the insect, …
Assembling and testing a generic phenological model to predict Lobesia botrana voltinism for impact studies.
13 pages; International audience; The physiological development of insect pests is driven by temperature and photoperiod. Geographic variations in the speed of growth reflect current patterns in thermal conditions as a function of latitude and altitude. Global warming will likely lead to shifts in pests’ phenology. Insects are expected to overwinter earlier and develop more generations, with implications for the risks of damage to agricultural crops. Understanding and monitoring of the voltinism of insect pests will be increasingly important to anticipate critical phases of pest development and devise options for adapting pest control measures. In this study, we describe a new generic pheno…
Condition-dependent ecdysis and immunocompetence in the amphipod crustacean, Gammarus pulex.
The exoskeleton of arthropods forms an efficient protection against pathogens, but this first line of defence is periodically weakened during ecdysis, increasing the opportunity for surrounding pathogens to invade the body cavity. Since the richness of pathogens in the environment can be spatially and temporally variable, arthropods may have a fitness advantage in moulting in a place and time of low infection risk. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that the amphipod crustacean, Gammarus pulex , exhibits temporal adjustment of the moult cycle in response to elevated risks of infection. Interestingly, this phenomenon is variable between two populations and independent of levels of im…
Assessing larval food quality for phytophagous insects: are the facts as simple as they appear?
9 pages; International audience; We argue here that host plant quality affects many life-history traits of herbivorous insects and these traits often interact. Studies that look only at a limited number of traits often fail to determine the overall effect of plant quality on larval performance and adult fitness. Parameters such as mating success and adult longevity are frequently neglected even though they are affected by larval feeding and are crucial to overall fitness. To illustrate this, we examined a whole suite of life-history traits of the moth Lobesia botrana after rearing larvae of this grape pest on three different grape cultivars. Development time, mating success, fecundity, egg …
Larval intraspecific competition for food in the European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana.
AbstractEffective pest management with lower amounts of pesticides relies on accurate prediction of insect pest growth rates. Knowledge of the factors governing this trait and the resulting fitness of individuals is thus necessary to refine predictions and make suitable decisions in crop protection. The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, the major pest of grapes in Europe, is responsible for huge economic losses. Larvae very rarely leave the grape bunch on which they were oviposited and thus cannot avoid intraspecific competition. In this study, we determined the impact of intraspecific competition during the larval stage on development and adult fitness in this species. This was tes…
Induction natale de la préférence pour l’habitat (NHPI).
7 pages; National audience
The relative abundance of hemocyte types in a polyphagous moth larva depends on diet.
7 pages; International audience; Hemocytes are crucial cells of the insect immune system because of their involvement in multiple immune responses including coagulation, phagocytosis and encapsulation. There are various types of hemocytes, each having a particular role in immunity, such that variation in their relative abundance affects the outcome of the immune response. This study aims to characterize these various types of hemocytes in larvae of the grapevine pest insect Eupoecilia ambiguella, and to assess variation in their concentration as a function of larval diet and immune challenge. Four types of hemocytes were found in the hemolymph of 5th instar larvae: granulocytes, oenocytoids…
Behavioral syndrome in a native and an invasive hymenoptera species
Recent studies have focused on the role of behavior in biological invasions. Individuals may differ consistently in time for several behavioral traits (personality) which covary(behavioralsyndrome)resultingindifferentbehavioraltypes,someofthemfavoring invasion. Social hymenopterans have a strong potential to be invaders and their success depends primarily on the foundresses' ability to found viable colonies. They are expected to be active, explorative and bold for optimally establishing their nest. In Europe, 2 hornet species coexist: the native Vespa crabro and the invasive Vespa velutina. These 2 species may compete for nesting sites and we suggest that the initial success of V. velutina …
Carotenoid trade-off between parasitic resistance and sexual display: an experimental study in the blackbird (Turdus merula).
Many parasites depress the expression of the carotenoid-based colour displays of their hosts, and it has been hypothesized that animals face a trade-off in carotenoid allocation between immune functions and ‘degree of ornamentation’. While numerous correlative studies suggest that parasite infection decreases the intensity of carotenoid-based colour displays, the existence of this trade-off has never been demonstrated experimentally in a host–parasite model. In this study, we used the blackbird ( Turdus merula ) and Isospora (an intestinal parasite) to assess whether this trade-off does indeed exist. Blackbirds were supplemented with carotenoids while simultaneously being exposed to parasi…
Pest management under climate change: The importance of understanding tritrophic relations.
11 pages; International audience; Plants and insects depend on climatic factors (temperature, solar radiation, precipitations, relative humidity and CO2) for their development. Current knowledge suggests that climate change can alter plants and insects development and affect their interactions. Shifts in tritrophic relations are of particular concern for Integrated Pest Management (IPM), because responses at the highest trophic level (natural enemies) are highly sensitive to warmer temperature. It is expected that natural enemies could benefit from better conditions for their development in northern latitudes and IPM could be facilitated by a longer period of overlap. This may not be the ca…
Should grape moth larval immunity help explaining resistance against natural enemies?
National audience; In tritrophic systems (plants, phytophagous insects and natural enemies), host plant variation often keys the relative performance of both the herbivore and its associated natural enemies. In bottom-up effects, host plants could affect the fitness of phytophagous insects including growth rate and adult fertility. These effects are indirectly reflected in parasitoids whose success depends on their host quality. For instance, nutrient deficiency or/and toxic defensive compounds of the plants could slow-down the development of herbivorous insects, thus extending the window of vulnerability of attacks by natural enemies. The immune system is arguably the most common resistanc…
Assortative pairing for boldness and consequences for reproductive success in Montagu’s harrier
Abstract Behavioural combination within pairs depending on personality and plasticity might influence reproductive success. However, studies testing this hypothesis are rare, especially in the case of monogamous species with bi-parental care in which the sexes exhibit different behavioural roles. In this study, we investigated the pairing patterns for both boldness and boldness plasticity in Montagu’s harriers (Circus pygargus), a species with sex-specific care, and the consequences for their reproductive success. We measured individual boldness and plasticity for both sexes, and we assessed the pairing pattern in the Montagu’s harrier population for these two traits. We calculated four ind…
Sensitive measure of prevalence and parasitaemia of haemosporidia from European blackbird (Turdus merula) populations: value of PCR-RFLP and quantitative PCR.
8 pages; International audience; Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds in which they act as an important selective pressure. While most studies so far have focused on the effect of their prevalence on host life-history traits, no study has measured the effect of parasitaemia. We developed molecular methods to detect, identify and quantify haemosporidia in 2 natural populations of the Blackbird Turdus merula. Three different parasite genotypes were found - 1 Haemoproteus and 2 Plasmodium. A PCR-RFLP screening revealed that only approximately 3% of blackbirds were free of parasites, compared to the 34% of uninfected birds estimated by blood smear screening. A quantitative PCR (q-PCR) a…
Host plant cultivar of the grapevine moth Lobesia botrana affects the life history traits of an egg parasitoid.
6 pages; International audience; The quality and susceptibility of insect eggs for egg parasitoids may be affected by the diet experienced by the females that produce the host eggs. We tested the hypothesis that the host plant fed upon by an herbivore during the larval stages will determine the quality of the eggs laid by the adult for an egg parasitoid. We used the tritrophic system comprising five grape cultivars, the European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana and the parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens. Parasitoid performance in host eggs of different sizes and originating from five grape cultivars was determined. Overall, egg parasitism was higher on cultivars on which L. botrana laid larg…
Differential expression and costs between maternally and paternally derived immune priming for offspring in an insect
1. When parasitized, both vertebrates and invertebrates can enhance the immune defence of their offspring, although this transfer of immunity is achieved by different mechanisms. In some insects, immune-challenged males can also initiate trans-generational immune priming (TGIP), but its expressions appear qualitatively different from the one induced by females similarly challenged. 2. The existence of male TGIP challenges the traditional view of the parental investment theory, which predicts that females should invest more into their progeny than males. However, sexual dimorphism in life-history strategies and the potential costs associated with TGIP may nevertheless lead to dissymmetric in…
Climate change and the ecology and evolution of Arctic vertebrates
Climate change is taking place more rapidly and severely in the Arctic than anywhere on the globe, exposing Arctic vertebrates to a host of impacts. Changes in the cryosphere dominate the physical changes that already affect these animals, but increasing air temperatures, changes in precipitation, and ocean acidification will also affect Arctic ecosystems in the future. Adaptation via natural selection is problematic in such a rapidly changing environment. Adjustment via phenotypic plasticity is therefore likely to dominate Arctic vertebrate responses in the short term, and many such adjustments have already been documented. Changes in phenology and range will occur for most species but wil…
Grape variety affects female but also male reproductive success in wild European grapevine moths
7 pages; International audience; 1. For insect herbivores the quality of the larval host plant is a key determinant of their fitness. Only little attention, however, has been given to the effects of plants on mating success of males and its consequence for the reproductive output of their mates. In addition, almost all the studies that have investigated the influence of host plants on herbivore fitness components have been done in the laboratory, and less is known of these effects in natural conditions. 2. Using the phytophagous European grapevine moth ( Lobesia botrana Den. & Schiff., Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), we tested the influence of grape cultivars as larval food on the probability of…
First Observation of a Four-egg Clutch of Long-tailed Jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
5 pages; International audience; Long-tailed Jaegers (Stercorarius longicaudus) normally lay one or two eggs (rarely three), with a maximum of two eggs set by the existence of only two brood patches. Here, however, we present the first documentation of a clutch of four eggs in a Long-tailed Jaeger nest found at Zackenberg in northeastern Greenland.
Dynamics of PHA-induced immune response and plasma carotenoids in birds: should we have a closer look?
SUMMARY Allocation trade-offs of limited resources are thought to ensure the honesty of sexual signals and are often studied using controlled immune challenges. One such trade-off between immunity and ornaments is that involving carotenoids. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced immune response is a widely used immune challenge, yet more details on the underlying physiological mechanisms and potential costs are needed. We investigated the temporal dynamics of PHA-induced immune response and associated changes in blood carotenoids, body mass and a carotenoid-based coloured signal. We found variation in individual response patterns to PHA after peak swelling was reached, with birds showing either …
Qualité de la plante hôte et succès reproducteur
Chapitre 24; National audience
Origin of the natural variation in the storage of dietary carotenoids in freshwater amphipod crustaceans
16 pages; International audience; Carotenoids are diverse lipophilic natural pigments which are stored in variable amounts by animals. Given the multiple biological functions of carotenoids, such variation may have strong implications in evolutionary biology. Crustaceans such as Gammarus amphipods store large amounts of these pigments and inter-population variation occurs. While differences in parasite selective pressure have been proposed to explain this variation, the contribution of other factors such as genetic differences in the gammarid ability to assimilate and/or store pigments, and the environmental availability of carotenoids cannot be dismissed. This study investigates the relati…
Origin of the natural variation in the storage of dietary carotenoids in freshwater amphipod crustaceans
Carotenoids are diverse lipophilic natural pigments which are stored in variable amounts by animals. Given the multiple biological functions of carotenoids, such variation may have strong implications in evolutionary biology. Crustaceans such as Gammarus amphipods store large amounts of these pigments and inter-population variation occurs. While differences in parasite selective pressure have been proposed to explain this variation, the contribution of other factors such as genetic differences in the gammarid ability to assimilate and/or store pigments, and the environmental availability of carotenoids cannot be dismissed. This study investigates the relative contributions of the gammarid g…
Data from: Effects of food abundance and early clutch predation on reproductive timing in a high Arctic shorebird exposed to advancements in arthropod abundance
Climate change may influence the phenology of organisms unequally across trophic levels and thus lead to phenological mismatches between predators and prey. In cases where prey availability peaks before reproducing predators reach maximal prey demand, any negative fitness consequences would selectively favor resynchronization by earlier starts of the reproductive activities of the predators. At a study site in northeast Greenland, over a period of 17 years, the median emergence of the invertebrate prey of Sanderling Calidris alba advanced with 1.27 days per year. Yet, over the same period Sanderling did not advance hatching date. Thus, Sanderlings increasingly hatched after their prey was m…