Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Plant carbohydrate content limits performance and lipid accumulation of an outbreaking herbivore.


ABSTRACT: Locusts are major intermittent threats to food security and the ecological factors determining where and when these occur remain poorly understood. For many herbivores, obtaining adequate protein from plants is a key challenge. We tested how the dietary protein : non-structural carbohydrate ratio (p : c) affects the developmental and physiological performance of 4th-5th instar nymphs of the South American locust, Schistocerca cancellata, which has recently resurged in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. Field marching locusts preferred to feed on high carbohydrate foods. Field-collected juveniles transferred to the laboratory selected artificial diets or local plants with low p : c. On single artificial diets, survival rate increased as foods became more carbohydrate-biased. On single local plants, growth only occurred on the plant with the lowest p : c. Most local plants had p : c ratios substantially higher than optimal, demonstrating that field marching locusts must search for adequate carbohydrate or their survival and growth will be carbohydrate-limited. Total body lipids increased as dietary p : c decreased on both artificial and plant diets, and the low lipid contents of field-collected nymphs suggest that obtaining adequate carbohydrate may pose a strong limitation on migration for S. cancellata. Anthropogenic influences such as conversions of forests to pastures, may increase carbohydrate availability and promote outbreaks and migration of some locusts.

SUBMITTER: Talal S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7739925 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC5247453 | biostudies-literature
| PRJEB26629 | ENA
| S-EPMC10708506 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5111722 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6934381 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5991399 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4117570 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC10878797 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7410181 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3606276 | biostudies-literature