Life Sciences Commons^™

Leaf Herbivory Induces Resistance Against Florivores In Raphanus Sativus, Andrew C. Mccall, Samantha Case, Kelsy Espy, Grant Adams, Stephen J. Murphy

Student Publications

Florivory can have significant negative effects on plant fitness, driving selection for resistance traits in flowers. In particular, herbivory to leaves may induce resistance in flowers because herbivores on leaves often become florivores on flowers as plant ontogeny proceeds. The literature on inducible resistance in floral tissues is limited, so we used a series of experiments to determine whether prior leaf damage by Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) caterpillars affected florivore preference and performance on wild radish (Raphanus sativus L.). We found that Spodoptera exigua larvae preferred petals from control plants versus petals from plants exposed to prior leaf damage, and …