Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that feeding by a specialized insect is more closely associated with the chemical similarity of potential host plant species than it is to phylogenetic similarity of these species. Tests were conducted with Brassicaceae-specialized weevil, Ceutorhynchus cardariae Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), on 13 test plant species differing in their suitability as hosts for the weevil. We compared the associations between feeding by C. cardariae and either phenotypic similarity (secondary chemistry glucosinolate profile) or genetic similarity (sequence of the chloroplast gene ndhF) using two methods simple correlations or strengths of association between feeding by each species, and dendrograms based on either glucosinolates or ndhF sequence (i.e., a phylogram). For comparison with C. cardariae, we performed a similar test with the oligophagous Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) using the same plant species. The data sets are the feeding data from bioassays with both species, the glucosinolate profiles of the test species, and a matrix of similarity in glucosinolate profiles among the test plant species.
There are four files:
Rapo_et al_Glucosinolates _RawData.csv
Columns: Plant Species, Population ID, Ind# (plant), Y/O (young/old leaf), Label (internal code), subset (internal code), Glc Weight (weight of tissue extracted), Names of glucosinolates (columns J-AJ) with values in mol, Total = sum of columns J-AJ
Rapo_et al_Glucosinolate Distances_young leaves.csv
Distance matrix based on similarity of mean glucosinolate profiles for all species used to calculate dendrogram. Methods as in Rapo et al.
Rapo_et al_Glucosinolate Distances_old leaves.csv
Distance matrix based on similarity of mean glucosinolate profiles for all species used to calculate dendrogram (old leaves only). Methods as in Rapo et al.
Rapo_et al_Glucosinolate Distances_all leaves.csv
Distance matrix based on similarity of mean glucosinolate profiles for all species used to calculate dendrogram(young leaves only). Methods as in Rapo et al.