Frequency-dependent herbivory by a leaf beetle, Phaedon brassicae, on hairy and glabrous plants of Arabidopsis halleri subsp. gemmifera

Frequency-dependent prey choice by natural enemies may influence the coexistence of multiple prey types, but little is known about whether frequency-dependent foraging choice occurs in herbivory on plants showing resistance polymorphism within a single population. Here we examined frequency-dependent foraging by a crucifer-feeding leaf beetle, Phaedon brassicae, on trichome-producing (hairy) and trichomeless (glabrous) plants coexisting within a natural population of the perennial herb Arabidopsis halleri subsp. gemmifera. Larvae of P. brassicae fed on hairy leaves showed slower growth than those fed on glabrous leaves. Although adult beetles consumed similar amounts of leaves when they were fed either hairy or glabrous leaves in no-choice conditions, our choice experiment showed that adult beetles fed at less than the proportionally expected level on hairy leaves compared to glabrous leaves when the hairy leaves were less or equally abundant. Both types of leaves were consumed at the proportionally expected levels when the hairy leaves were more abundant than the glabrous leaves. In a natural population, the leaf damage on the hairy plants was negatively correlated with the local proportion of the glabrous plants in a 1-m diameter patch across 2 years, while correlations between the leaf damage on the glabrous plants and their proportion differed between the 2 years. Additionally, we found five glucosinolates in leaves of A. halleri, but their accumulation did not differ between hairy and glabrous plants. Our experimental results indicate that hairy plants incur less herbivory by P. brassicae when glabrous plants are abundant. The field pattern provides evidence suggestive of frequency-dependent herbivory acting on hairy plants. The present study highlights one of the putative mechanisms of maintaining plant resistance polymorphism.