RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cooperative herbivory between two important pests of rice
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.03.10.434708
DO 10.1101/2021.03.10.434708
A1 Qingsong Liu
A1 Xiaoyun Hu
A1 Shuangli Su
A1 Yufa Peng
A1 Gongyin Ye
A1 Yonggen Lou
A1 Ted C. J. Turlings
A1 Yunhe Li
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/03/11/2021.03.10.434708.abstract
AB Normally, when different species of herbivorous arthropods feed on the same plant this leads to fitness reducing competition. We found this to be uniquely different for two of Asia’s most destructive rice pests, the brown planthopper and the rice striped stem borer. Both insects directly and indirectly benefit from jointly attacking the same host plant. Double infestation improved plant quality, particularly for the stemborer because the planthopper fully suppresses caterpillar-induced production of proteinase inhibitors. It also drastically reduced the risk of egg parasitism, due to diminished parasitoid attraction. Females of both pests have adapted their oviposition behaviour accordingly. Their strong preference for plants infested by the other species even overrides their avoidance of plants already attacked by conspecifics. This uncovered cooperation between herbivores is telling of the exceptional adaptations resulting from the evolution of plant-insect interactions, and points out mechanistic vulnerabilities that can be targeted to control two major pests.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.