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Natural selection in the tropical treehopper Alchisme grossa (Hemiptera: Membracidae) on two sympatric host-plants

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Abstract

The pronotum is the most distinctive and representative structure in treehoppers. Although several functions have been proposed for this structure, its involvement in fitness has not been formally evaluated. Given the high degree of maternal investment exhibited by the subsocial membracid Alchisme grossa (Hoplophorionini), the pronotum has been suggested as a shield for offspring protection. We performed selection gradient analyses on A. grossa in order to evaluate how natural selection is acting upon two traits associated with this structure considering three different fitness proxies: (1) number of eggs, (2) the ratio between the number of first-stage nymphs and the number of eggs (early survival), and (3) the number of third-stage nymphs (late survival). Since A. grossa feeds, oviposits and mates on two alternative host-plants (Brugmansia suaveolens and Solanum ursinum, both Solanaceae), we also evaluated and compared selection gradients between these host-plants. We found positive linear selection acting upon pronotum length considering the number of eggs and the late survival fitness proxies and positive linear selection acting on the distance between the suprahumeral horns considering the early survival proxy on females ovipositing on both host-plants. These results highlight the importance of the pronotum in treehoppers females’ fitness and suggest that maternal care appears to have a greater importance in the way that natural selection is operating than the host-plant where oviposition occurs.

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Acknowledgments

Liliana Caceres and Alejandro Coca provided field support. Comments of Mariano Ordano, Santiago Benitez and two anonymous reviewers improved an earlier version of the manuscript. LANBIO (Latin American Network for Research on Bioactive Natural Compounds) and International Foundation for Science (IFS), who supported and funded this work, and INTEGRA S.A. authorized the work at Incachaca and provided housing facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Química Ecológica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile

    Daniel Torrico-Bazoberry, Carlos F. Pinto & Hermann M. Niemeyer

  2. Laboratorio de Ecología Química, Facultad de Ciencias y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Parque La Torre # 1720, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Daniel Torrico-Bazoberry & Carlos F. Pinto

  3. Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, Estudiantes # 97, Sucre, Bolivia

    Carlos F. Pinto

  4. Instituto de Entomología, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, Av. José Pedro Alessandri 774, Santiago, Chile

    Luis Flores-Prado

  5. Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile

    Francisco E. Fontúrbel

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  1. Daniel Torrico-Bazoberry
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  2. Carlos F. Pinto
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  3. Luis Flores-Prado
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  5. Hermann M. Niemeyer
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Correspondence to Carlos F. Pinto.

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Torrico-Bazoberry, D., Pinto, C.F., Flores-Prado, L. et al. Natural selection in the tropical treehopper Alchisme grossa (Hemiptera: Membracidae) on two sympatric host-plants. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 10, 229–235 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-016-9427-y

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