Dissertation Research: Influence of Feeding Style on Herbivore Impacts: A Comparison of Leaf and Sap Feeding Insects

虽然昆虫食草动物是一个多样化的群体和攻击植物 在许多方面，很少有研究比较了 不同种类的昆虫以同一种寄主为食 这 研究将研究昆虫的进食方式如何影响其 通过比较三种以一枝黄花为食的昆虫 （Solidago altissima）：一种嚼叶甲虫（Trirhabda sp.），一 韧皮部取食蚜虫（Uroleucon caligatum）和木质部割胶 spittlebug（Philaenus spumarius）。 植物将在花盆中种植 昆虫将被放置在它们上面， 我们长期观察到的实际昆虫密度范围 一枝黄花昆虫的普查。 对生殖和 将研究营养生长。 健身效果将 通过测量生殖力、平均种子重量、根茎 种子和根茎的重量和氮含量。 植物 将确定对芽、叶、茎和根的分配， 叶面积和叶氮水平也是如此。 第二个目的 是为了了解食草动物的影响如何随着营养状况的变化而变化， 寄主植物 植物将在两层土壤中生长 看看对植物适合度的影响如何。 它 目前还无法预测哪种昆虫 喂养对植物的伤害最大，这项研究将有助于 来填补这个空白。

Although insect herbivores are a diverse group and attack plants in a variety of ways, few studies have compared the impacts of different types of insect feeding on a host species. This research will examine how an insect's feeding style affects its impact by comparing three insects that feed on goldenrod (Solidago altissima): a leaf chewing beetle (Trirhabda sp.), a phloem feeding aphid (Uroleucon caligatum), and a xylem tapping spittlebug (Philaenus spumarius). Plants will be grown in pots and insects will be placed on them at densities that span the range of actual insect densities observed in our long-term censuses of goldenrod insects. Impacts on both reproductive and vegetative growth will be investigated. Effects on fitness will be evaluated by measuring fecundity, mean seed weights, rhizome weights, and nitrogen content of seeds and rhizomes. Plant allocation to buds, leaves, stems, and roots will be determined, as will leaf area and leaf nitrogen levels. A second objective is to see how herbivore impacts vary with the nutrient status of the host plant. Plants will be grown at two levels of soil fertility to see how impacts on plant fitness are effected. It is not currently possible to predict which types of insect feeding will be most damaging to plants, and this study will help to fill that gap.