Abstract
Plant quality (bottom-up) and natural enemies (top-down) can influence the individual performance of herbivorous insects on their host plants, but few studies measured at the same time the influence on population densities in the field. We investigated if plant quality of different wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Fabaceae), affects the performance of the bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), and one of its enemies, the ectoparasitoid Dinarmus basalis (Rondani) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), in controlled laboratory experiments. Additionally, we examined if parasitoids influence the beetles' development and if increased individual beetle and parasitoid fitness lead to higher field population densities. We show that bean quality and parasitoids affected individual bean weevil performance under laboratory and field conditions. In the presence of parasitoids, fewer and smaller beetles emerged. However, beetle and parasitoid performance were not correlated. Increased individual performance was not leading to higher population densities; we found no correlations between measured performance components and beetle field infestation levels or parasitism rates. We conclude that bottom-up or top-down effects measured at the individual level do not always translate into population effects; therefore it is important to discriminate between effects acting on individual insects and those acting on populations.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Wild bean quality affected individual bean weevil performance in laboratory and field conditions.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.
Phaseolus vulgarise0 - Material
- different wild common bean populationse0
- Interactor
- bean weevile1pest
- Outcome
- individual bean weevil performancee1
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“plant quality of different wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Fabaceae)”
e1“bean quality and parasitoids affected individual bean weevil performance under laboratory and field conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
Parasitoids affected individual bean weevil performance in laboratory and field conditions.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Interactor
- bean weevile0pest
- Second interactor
- parasitoidse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- individual bean weevil performancee0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“bean quality and parasitoids affected individual bean weevil performance under laboratory and field conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
Fewer bean weevils emerged in the presence of parasitoids.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Treatment
- presence of parasitoidse0
- Interactor
- beetlesColeopterae0pest
- Second interactor
- parasitoidse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- beetles emergede0
- Direction
- fewere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“In the presence of parasitoids, fewer and smaller beetles emerged.”
Claim · model-written summary
Smaller bean weevils emerged in the presence of parasitoids.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Treatment
- presence of parasitoidse0
- Interactor
- beetlesColeopterae0pest
- Second interactor
- parasitoidse0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- beetles emergede0
- Direction
- smallere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“In the presence of parasitoids, fewer and smaller beetles emerged.”
Claim · model-written summary
Bean weevil and parasitoid performance were not correlated.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Interactor
- beetlee0pest
- Second interactor
- parasitoide0biocontrol_agent
- Outcome
- beetle and parasitoid performancee0
- Direction
- not correlatede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“beetle and parasitoid performance were not correlated”
Claim · model-written summary
Individual insect performance was not correlated with beetle field infestation levels.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Interactor
- beetlee0pest
- Outcome
- beetle field infestation levelse0
- Direction
- no correlationse0
- Qualifier
- measured performance componentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“we found no correlations between measured performance components and beetle field infestation levels or parasitism rates”
Claim · model-written summary
Individual insect performance was not correlated with parasitism rates.
- Taxon
- Phaseolus vulgaris L.Phaseolus vulgarist0
- Interactor
- beetlee0pest
- Outcome
- parasitism ratese0
- Direction
- no correlationse0
- Qualifier
- measured performance componentse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wild common bean populations, Phaseolus vulgaris L.”
e0“we found no correlations between measured performance components and beetle field infestation levels or parasitism rates”