| Summary: | The response to host plant variation shapes the long-term success of phytophagous insects. Two gall-forming tephritid flies, Urophora affinis and U. quadrifasciata, oviposit in flower buds of Centaurea diffusa and C. maculosa (Asteraceae). Females of both fly species chose among plants, among groups of buds on plants, and among buds. Among plant choices were correlated with buds per plant. Among bud choices corresponded to larval developmental requirements. Insect attack led to gall formation, bud abortion, and reduced seed production. Bud abortion, caused by probing females, limited gall densities.
Increased densities of U. affinis females relative to oviposition sites led to more U. affinis galls, increased bud abortion, fewer U. quadrifasciata galls, and fewer seeds. A temporal refuge for seed production was observed. Plants compensated only slightly for aborted buds.
Bud abortion may increase the search time between successful ovipositions. A simulation model based on this premise implied that bud abortion may dramatically reduce total gall formation.
Plant quality was manipulated in an attempt to shift three population limiting factors. Plants responded to fertilization and watering with an increase in bud numbers. Except for two year-site-treatment combinations, galls per developed bud did not differ significantly between treatments. Treated plants did not differ in their propensity to abort buds. U. affinis larvae developed faster in fertilized plants. Among year comparisons showed that the density of buds available for oviposition was limited by precipitation, non-random insect attack, and, in the longer term, by the reduction in seed production due to fly attack. Bud densities, in turn, limited gall densities. === Science, Faculty of === Zoology, Department of === Graduate
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