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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Molecular characterization of trophic ecology within an island radiation of insect herbivores (Curculionidae: Entiminae: Cratopus)
Molecular Ecology, Volume 22, No. 21, Year 2013
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Description
The phytophagous beetle family Curculionidae is the most species-rich insect family known, with much of this diversity having been attributed to both co-evolution with food plants and host shifts at key points within the early evolutionary history of the group. Less well understood is the extent to which patterns of host use vary within or among related species, largely because of the technical difficulties associated with quantifying this. Here we develop a recently characterized molecular approach to quantify diet within and between two closely related species of weevil occurring primarily within dry forests on the island of Mauritius. Our aim is to quantify dietary variation across populations and assess adaptive and nonadaptive explanations for this and to characterize the nature of a trophic shift within an ecologically distinct population within one of the species. We find that our study species are polyphagous, consuming a much wider range of plants than would be suggested by the literature. Our data suggest that local diet variation is largely explained by food availability, and locally specialist populations consume food plants that are not phylogenetically novel, but do appear to represent a novel preference. Our results demonstrate the power of molecular methods to unambiguously quantify dietary variation across populations of insect herbivores, providing a valuable approach to understanding trophic interactions within and among local plant and insect herbivore communities. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kitson, James J.N.
United Kingdom, Norwich
University of East Anglia
Warren, Ben H.
France, Saint-denis
Université de la Réunion
Florens, F. B. Vincent
Mauritius, Reduit
University of Mauritius
Baider, Claudia
Mauritius, Reduit
Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute
Mauritius, Reduit
The Mauritius Herbarium
Strasberg, Dominique
France, Saint-denis
Université de la Réunion
Emerson, Brent C.
United Kingdom, Norwich
University of East Anglia
Spain, San Cristobal de la Laguna
Csic - Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiologia Ipna
Statistics
Citations: 33
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/mec.12477
ISSN:
09621083
e-ISSN:
1365294X
Research Areas
Cancer
Food Security
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
Mauritius