Improvement of <i>Bemisia tabaci</i> (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Fitness on Chinese Kale upon Simultaneous Herbivory by <i>Plutella xylostella</i> (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)
Jun Jiang | Li-Li Xu | Wen-Yuan Yu | Shi-Ze Zhang | Tong-Xian Liu
<i>Bemisia tabaci</i> and the diamondback moth (DBM), <i>Plutella xylostella</i>, are two major cosmopolitan pests that often occur together and cause severe economic losses to cruciferous crops. However, little is known about how they interact with each other. To determine the effects of defense responses induced by the two pests on the biology and population dynamics of the herbivores, we studied the performance and fitness of <i>B. tabaci</i> and DBM when they damaged Chinese kale simultaneously and in different orders. The results showed that DBM pre-infestation shortened the developmental duration, increased longevity, oviposition days, and fecundity of <i>B. tabaci</i>. Meanwhile, the intrinsic rate of increase (<i>r</i>), net reproductive rate (<i>R</i><sub>0</sub>) and finite rate of increase (<i>λ</i>) of <i>B. tabaci</i> increased significantly with dual infection as compared with only <i>B. tabaci</i> infestation. In contrast, <i>B. tabaci</i> pre-infestation reduced the longevity and oviposition days of DBM, but the population parameters <i>r</i>, <i>R</i><sub>0</sub>, and <i>λ</i> did not vary significantly compared with only DBM infestation. Thus, co-infestation of <i>B. tabaci</i> and DBM was beneficial to the performance of the <i>B. tabaci</i> population. The present findings highlight that <i>B. tabaci</i> has become a dominant competitor when mixing with DBM on the same host plant.
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