Data from: Damage from non-glandular trichomes suppresses the growth and diet consumption of an herbivore
While it is easy to study the effects of damage in plants, studies on the effects of damage in animals can be difficult to justify. However, herbivores routinely face damage by consuming plants that contain harmful mechanisms that protect the plant by deterring herbivory. These chemical and physical plant defenses are known to inhibit herbivore growth, survival, and reproduction. While the effects of consuming chemical defenses have been extensively studied, the long-term effects of consuming physical defenses are less understood due to the difficulties of separating them from the plant chemistry. Distinguishing the chemical and physical effects on herbivores improves the ability to predict outcomes of plant-insect interactions which can be useful when investigating plant breeding, adaptation, and evolution. Studies of one particular physical defense, non-glandular trichomes, often confound effects of trichomes with leaf chemistry and only study short-term effects. This study examined short and long-term effects of trichomes on tobacco hornworms (Manduca sexta) by using artificial diet and natural leaf treatments with the presence or absence of trichomes of horsenettle (Solanum carolinense). Larvae facing short-term exposure to treatments containing trichomes ate less diet, gained less mass, and produced less frass as compared to larvae exposed to treatments without trichomes. They also shifted more resources from growth to metabolic activity. The effect of trichomes was consistent across both diet types. Larvae facing long-term exposure to treatments containing trichomes also ate less diet, gained less mass, and produced less frass, but only when trichomes were consumed on natural leaves and not when trichomes were consumed in artificial diet. In the long-term, trichomes reduced growth and increased development time, but they had no significant effect on survival or reproduction. Ultimately, trichomes should be considered a plant defense distinct from other physical and chemical defenses. Future work should expand uponthe consequences of consuming trichomes and the long-term effects damage in animals.
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Work Title | Data from: Damage from non-glandular trichomes suppresses the growth and diet consumption of an herbivore |
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License | CC BY 4.0 (Attribution) |
Work Type | Dataset |
Publication Date | February 16, 2021 |
DOI | doi:10.26207/w4tn-e926 |
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Deposited | February 15, 2021 |
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