Plasticity of host finding behaviour of herbivorous insects in dependence of environmental factors

欧洲的大多数植食性昆虫都是捕食专家。它们必须找到适合它们取食和产卵的特定寄主植物。从远处看，挥发性和视觉线索被使用，而在接触后，趋化性线索也在宿主发现和接受行为中发挥作用。不同的植物物种含有各自特有的化学代谢物谱，即使在同一物种中，由于器官的不同和年龄的不同，其组成也会有很大的差异。此外，紫外线辐射和氮素有效性等环境因素可以诱导植物代谢产物的质量和数量以及植物的视觉外观发生变化。因此，食草昆虫必须具有明显的行为可塑性，以应对这种变化，并能够识别合适的寄主。此外，它可能更喜欢能提高适应性的植物。该项目的主要目的是评价寡食芥菜叶甲虫（鞘翅目：金叶甲虫科）如何通过嗅觉、化学反应和/或视觉线索来发现植物之间的化学差异，甲虫的寻找寄主行为如何受到环境影响的植物质量变化的影响，以及寻找寄主行为是否受到个体经验的改变。

Most phytophagous insects within Europe are feeding specialists. They necessarily need to find their specific host plants which are acceptable for feeding and oviposition. From the distance, volatile and visual cues are used, whereas after contact also chemotactile cues play a role in the host finding and acceptance behaviour. Different plant species contain each their characteristic chemical metabolite profile, which can vary highly in its composition even within a species from organ to organ and due to age. Furthermore, environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation and nitrogen availability can induce changes in the quality and quantity of plant metabolites as well as the visual appearance of the plant. Thus, an herbivorous insect must possess a pronounced behavioural plasticity to respond to such variation and to be able to recognise a suitable host. Also, it might prefer plants that increase its fitness. The main aims of the project are to evaluate, how the oligophagous mustard leaf beetle, Phaedon cochleariae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), can detect chemical differences between plants with regard to olfactory, chemotactile and/or visual cues, how the host finding behaviour of the beetles is affected by environmentally influenced changes of plant quality, and whether the host finding behaviour is modified by the experience of the individual.