Evolution of Specificity in Insect/Plant Interactions: The Relationship of Oviposition Preference and Larval Performance

本研究探讨了鳞翅目凤蝶中不同植物科的近亲产卵偏好与幼虫表现之间的关系。该研究将利用最近的发现，即产卵偏好部分由X染色体上的位点控制。这一发现首次提出了一些关于昆虫/植物相互作用中寄主关联进化中产卵偏好和幼虫表现的遗传关系的基本问题。本研究的第一部分测试了不同植物物种的幼虫表现是否部分或完全由X染色体上的位点控制，就像这些物种的产卵偏好一样。然后，第二节分析种群内同雌系在不同植物物种上的幼虫表现是否存在差异，因为这些物种的产卵雌性存在寄主选择。最后，第三节考虑了幼虫表现的变化如何与通过X染色体遗传的产卵偏好的变化相关联。总之，这三个部分的结果将通过解决不同寄主上的产卵偏好和幼虫表现之间关系的基本问题，有助于昆虫/植物相互作用理论和宿主关联进化生态学的发展。

Thisresearch concerns the relationship between oviposition preference and larval performance in closely-related butterfly species of Papilio (Lepidoptera) that differ in the plant families on which they feed. The study will take advantage of the recent finding that oviposition preference in P. oregonius is controlled partly by loci on the X chromosome. This finding provides for the first time the opportunity to ask some fundamental questions on how oviposition preference and larval performance are genetically related in the evolution of host associations in insect/plant interactions. Section I of the study tests whether larval performance on different plant species is controlled, partly or solely, by loci on the X chromosome as is oviposition preference in these species. Section II then analyzes whether there is variation among isofemale lines within population in larval performance on different plant species as there is for host selection in ovipositing females in these species. Finally, section III considers how variation in larval performance correlates with variation in oviposition preference with respect to inheritance through the X chromosome. Together, the results from these three sections will aid in the development of the theory of insect/plant interactions and the evolutionary ecology of host association by addressing the fundamental problem of the relationship between oviposition preference and larval performance on different hosts.