Parasitic flies alter the dietary preference of grasshoppers  

作　　者：Huanhuan GUAN Shangyun ZHANG Nan YANG Yifei HUANGPU Bin LAN Karl JNIKAS Xinwei WU Shucun SUN 

机构地区：[1]Department of Ecology,School of Life Sciences,Nanjing University,Nanjing,China [2]School of Integrative Plant Science,Cornell University,Ithaca,New York,USA

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2024年第4期743-752,共10页整合动物学(英文版)

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant numbers 32071605 and 31530007).

摘　　要：Parasitism is known to affect the behavior of host species to enhance parasite dispersal and transmission.However,host behavioral responses to parasitism unrelated to parasite dispersal and transmission have been much less studied.The objective of this study was to determine whether grasshopper hosts infected and uninfected with a parasitic fly(Blaesoxipha sp.)differ in terms of the nutrient content of the diet they consume.We investigated the dietary preferences of two grasshopper species(i.e.Asulconotus chinghaiensis and Chorthippus fallax)in terms of the C/N composition of plant species consumed,and determined whether this affected the egg production of unparasitized and parasitized grasshoppers by flies in a Tibetan alpine meadow.The composition of plants consumed differed significantly between the unparasitized and parasitized grasshoppers.Specifically,the abundance of N-rich legumes was lower and that of high C/N grasses was higher in the diet of the parasitized compared to the unparasitized grasshoppers.Diet N content was higher and C/N was lower in the diet of unparasitized grasshoppers,and parasitized females produced fewer eggs than their unparasitized conspecifics.Future enquiries are needed to understand the specific mechanisms underlying these dietary differences.The effects of parasites on the fitness–associated behavior of hosts should be studied more broadly to better understand parasite evolution and adaptation.

关 键 词：C/N diet preference GRASSHOPPER parasitic fly parasitic manipulation 

分 类 号：Q96[生物学—昆虫学]