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"Everything that kills me makes me feel alive": The paradox of plant defense and insect preference

Insects rely on plants for food, but plants fight back by producing defenses that make them harder to eat. However, creating these defenses uses up a lot of the plant's energy. The amount of nutrients a plant has affects both how strong its defenses are and how well insects can grow after eating it. This means insects must choose between getting good nutrition and avoiding harmful defenses. It is still unclear which of these factors insects prioritize when picking a plant to eat. In this study, we explore how plant nutrition and defense impact insect feeding choices and growth. We hypothesize that herbivore insects will prefer plants that are rich in nutrients and that plants with fewer nutrients will have weaker defenses.

Second place winner in the PSU Graduate Exhibition Data Learning Center Data Visualization Award competition

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Work Title "Everything that kills me makes me feel alive": The paradox of plant defense and insect preference
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Sujay Manoj Paranjape
  2. Faith Mihalick
  3. Annett Richter
  4. Georg Jander
  5. Jared Ali
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Poster
Acknowledgments
  1. The Ali Lab
  2. Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR)
  3. Penn State College of Agriculture
Publisher
  1. ScholarSphere
Publication Date May 21, 2025
Subject
  1. Entomology
Language
  1. English
Deposited May 21, 2025

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Version 1
published

  • Created

    May 21, 2025 10:51 by bde125

  • Updated

    May 21, 2025 10:51 by [unknown user]

  • Updated Subject, Language, Publisher, and 2 more Show Changes

    May 21, 2025 10:55 by bde125

    Subject
    • Entomology
    Language
    • English
    Publisher
    • ScholarSphere
    Description
    • Insects rely on plants for food, but plants fight back by producing defenses that make them harder to eat. However, creating these defenses uses up a lot of the plant's energy. The amount of nutrients a plant has affects both how strong its defenses are and how well insects can grow after eating it. This means insects must choose between getting good nutrition and avoiding harmful defenses. It is still unclear which of these factors insects prioritize when picking a plant to eat. In this study, we explore how plant nutrition and defense impact insect feeding choices and growth. We hypothesize that herbivore insects will prefer plants that are rich in nutrients and that plants with fewer nutrients will have weaker defenses.
    Publication Date
    • 2025-05-21
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

    Acknowledgments
    • The Ali Lab, Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR), Penn State College of Agriculture
  • Added Creator Sujay Manoj Paranjape

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

  • Added Creator Faith Mihalick

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

  • Added Creator Annett Richter

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

  • Added Creator Georg Jander

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

  • Added Creator Jared Ali

    May 21, 2025 10:56 by bde125

  • Added Paranjape_Graduate_exhibition_Poster.pdf

    May 21, 2025 10:57 by bde125

  • Updated Description, License Show Changes

    May 21, 2025 10:57 by bde125

    Description
    • Insects rely on plants for food, but plants fight back by producing defenses that make them harder to eat. However, creating these defenses uses up a lot of the plant's energy. The amount of nutrients a plant has affects both how strong its defenses are and how well insects can grow after eating it. This means insects must choose between getting good nutrition and avoiding harmful defenses. It is still unclear which of these factors insects prioritize when picking a plant to eat. In this study, we explore how plant nutrition and defense impact insect feeding choices and growth. We hypothesize that herbivore insects will prefer plants that are rich in nutrients and that plants with fewer nutrients will have weaker defenses.
    • Insects rely on plants for food, but plants fight back by producing defenses that make them harder to eat. However, creating these defenses uses up a lot of the plant's energy. The amount of nutrients a plant has affects both how strong its defenses are and how well insects can grow after eating it. This means insects must choose between getting good nutrition and avoiding harmful defenses. It is still unclear which of these factors insects prioritize when picking a plant to eat. In this study, we explore how plant nutrition and defense impact insect feeding choices and growth. We hypothesize that herbivore insects will prefer plants that are rich in nutrients and that plants with fewer nutrients will have weaker defenses.
    • Second place winner in the PSU Graduate Exhibition Data Learning Center Data Visualization Award competition
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • Published

    May 30, 2025 09:49 by smp6934

  • Updated

    May 30, 2025 22:05 by [unknown user]