Ecological Determinants of Local Host Range in a Polyphagous Insect

广义食草性昆虫寄主植物的选择是一个复杂的过程，涉及生化植物防御、昆虫行为、昆虫解毒和进化“制约”，这些制约因素与现在和过去的生态因素有关，导致不同植物物种的不同死亡率(从而自然选择使用特定的寄主)。PI提出了一个新的假说来帮助解释当地的取食专门化，在那里有许多宿主选择。这一概念(称为伏打适宜性假说)综合了非生物和生物环境的影响，以便在植物取食昆虫的多种选择面前预测寄主选择。凤蝶是探索捕食、寄生和竞争作为影响寄主选择因素的生态过程的模式系统。这项研究将评估与季节性温度单位限制和昆虫进化史相比，这些选择压力作为广义昆虫特定取食选择的决定因素的相对重要性。这些信息可能会提高关于寄主转移的预测能力，以及对天然植物防御性化学品和合成杀虫剂具有抗性的昆虫种群的进化。

The selection of local host plant for generalized insect herbivores is a complex process that involves biochemical plant defenses, insect behavior, insect detoxification, and evolutionary "constraints" related to recent and past ecological factors which have resulted in differential mortality on different plant species (and hence natural selection for use of specific hosts). The PIs have proposed a new hypothesis to help explain local feeding specialization where numerous host choices are available. This concept (called the voltinism-suitability hypothesis) integrates abiotic and biotic environmental influences in order to predict host selection in the face of multiple options for plant- feeding insects. Species of Papilio butterflies are a model system to explore ecological processes of predation, parasitism, and competition as factors affecting host choice. This research will assess the relative significance of these selective pressures compared to the seasonal thermal unit restrictions and insect evolutionary history as determinants of specific feeding choice in generalized insects. Such information may improve the predictive capabilities in regard to host shifts, and the evolution of insect populations that are resistant to natural plant defensive chemicals and synthetic pesticides.