INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI AND FOLIAR-FEEDING INSECTS IN PLANTAGO-LANCEOLATA L

A field experiment was conducted to investigate whether infection by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has any effect on herbivory by foliar-feeding insects. Plants of Plantago lanceolata L. were grown in a randomized block design and natural levels of mycorrhizal infection reduced by the application of the granular fungicide iprodione. Plant growth responses were examined and herbivore bioassays performed by rearing both a chewing and sucking insect on the leaves of mycorrhizal and fungicide-treated plants. Fungicide application successfully reduced mycorrhizal infection, and this led to reductions in foliar biomass, caused by a lower leaf number. However, fungicide-treated plants suffered consistently higher levels of damage by generalist chewing and leaf-mining insects, which colonized the plants. The chewing insect bioassay confirmed the field results, in that larvae of Arctia caja L. (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) consumed more leaf material from plants in which infection was reduced. There was no evidence that AM fungi altered food quality for the chewing insect. Instead, infection caused an increase in the carbon/nutrient balance, which in turn led to increased levels of the carbon-based feeding deterrents, aucubin and catalpol. The sucking insect, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) reacted in an opposite fashion to the chewer, with performance being greater on mycorrhizal plants. Again, there was no evidence that an alteration in food quality was the cause, and in this case infection may result in changes in leaf morphology which benefit the insect. We suggest that under conditions of high light and low nutrient availability, AM infection can alter the carbon/nutrient balance of plants, leading to an increased allocation to carbon-based defences. This can have important consequences for insect herbivore performance and the patterns of herbivory in field situations.