THE Effects of larval feeding specialization and plant growth form on the consumption and utilization of plant biomass and nitrogen: an ecological consideration
1978
SCRIBER, J.M.
Feeding experiments were carried out on larvae of 22 species of Lepidoptera, belonging mainly to the Papilionidae and the Bombycoidea, with a range of feeding habits from specialists on one plant family to polyphagous on a wide range of families. Consumption rates, conversion rates and hence growth rates were lower in tree-feeders than herb-feeders and may be related to differences in leaf water content. Such “quantitative” plant defense mechanisms may be metabolically more costly for insects to overcome than “qualitative” chemical defenses. It is suggested that, although it is only one of several possible factors involved, leaf water content might provide a useful index of the range in larval gross production efficiences and relative growth rates to be expected from a range of acceptable food plants.
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