what is the effect of the Catterpillar

As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies are commonly called caterpillars as well.[1][2] Both lepidopteran and symphytan larvae have eruciform body shapes.

Caterpillars of most species eat plant material (often leaves), but not all; some (about 1%) eat insects, and some are even cannibalistic. Some feed on other animal products. For example, clothes moths feed on wool, and horn moths feed on the hooves and horns of dead ungulates.

Caterpillars are typically voracious feeders and many of them are among the most serious of agricultural pests. In fact, many moth species are best known in their caterpillar stages because of the damage they cause to fruits and other agricultural produce, whereas the moths are obscure and do no direct harm. Conversely, various species of caterpillar are valued as sources of silk, as human or animal food, or for biological control of pest plants.

Ladypatriciatimbolviz Ladypatriciatimbolviz · Answer 2

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Abstract

A survey of 85 species of Lepidoptera feeding on 40 hosts on Barro Colorado Island, Panama showed that growth and defensive traits of caterpillars were correlated with the nutritional and defensive traits of their hosts. Growth rates were faster on young than mature leaves, reflecting the higher nitrogen and water content of the former. Growth was also positively correlated with leaf expansion rate, partially because of higher nitrogen and water contents of fast-expanding young leaves. Specialists grew faster than generalists, but both responded positively to nutritional quality. There was no effect of lepidopteran family on growth. In analyses where the effects of nitrogen and water were removed, the residuals for growth rate were greater for young than for mature leaves and were positively correlated with expansion rates of young leaves. This suggests that traits other than nutrition were also important. As young, expanding leaves cannot use toughness as a defense, one possible explanation for the differences in growth is differences in chemical defenses. Growth rate residuals for both specialists and generalists were higher for the more poorly defended fast-expanders, but the effect was greatesti for generalists, perhaps because generalists were more sensitive to secondary metabolites. We predicted that slow growth for caterpillars would increase their risk to natural enemies and would select for higher defenses. Generalists had more defensive traits than specialists and were less preferred in feeding trials with ants. Similarly, species feeding on mature leaves were the most defended and those feeding on fast-expanding young leaves were the least defended and most preferred by ants. Thus the effects of plant secondary metabolites and nutrients dictate herbivore growth rates, which in turn influence their susceptibility to the third trophic level and the importance of defenses.

Journal Information

Oikos is a journal issued by the Nordic Ecological Society and is one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in ecology. Oikos publishes original and innovative research on all aspects of ecology. Emphasis is on theoretical and empirical work aimed at generalization and synthesis across taxa, systems and ecological disciplines. Papers should be well founded in ecological theory and contribute to new developments in ecology by reporting novel theory or critical experimental results. Confirming or extending the established literature is given less priority. Synthesis of new and emerging fields in ecology and beyond is encouraged. Papers of review character should should strive for conceptual unification and being a point of departure for future work rather that restrospective summaries of established fields or topics.

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