Although polyploidy can alter host plants in important ways (e.g., size, phenology, resource use, and ecological range), little is known about the effects of polyploidy-associated changes on plant-insect interactions. The presence of Campiglossa footeorum Novak (Diptera: Tephritidae) and its effect on its host plant Arnica cordifolia Hook. (Asteraceae) were monitored throughout Colorado, where triploids and tetraploids of the host plant occur. Campiglossa footeorum is more abundant in sites with more tetraploids and attacks tetraploids more than triploids. Polyploidy could be an important force shaping the current evolutionary trajectory of the plants and insects in this system. Campiglossa footeorum is intimately linked to A. cordifolia, and polyploidy should be included in any assessment of the insect's population dynamics.
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1 June 2008
Implications of Polyploidy in the Host Plant of a Dipteran Seed Parasite
Rebecca Hufft Kao
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Western North American Naturalist
Vol. 68 • No. 2
June 2008
Vol. 68 • No. 2
June 2008
Arnica cordifolia
Campiglossa footeorum
plant-insect interactions
polyploidy
seedhead gall former
Tephritidae