Data from: Temperature elevation broadens the dietary niche of an insect herbivore
Data files
Jul 24, 2026 version files 25.82 KB
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README.md
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Zvereva-etal-DataS1-240726.csv
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Zvereva-etal-DataS2-240726.csv
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Zvereva-etal-DataS3-240726.csv
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Zvereva-etal-DataS4-240726.csv
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Abstract
Ambient temperature influences plant‒herbivore interactions in multiple ways, through both direct effects on insects and indirect effects mediated by changes in host plant quality as a food source for herbivores. These effects may have important consequences for ecosystem structure and functions under climate warming.
We used the willow-feeding leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica to experimentally test the hypothesis that increasing air temperature changes the realised dietary niche breadth of insect herbivores.
We examined the direct effects of temperature on C. lapponica at 10, 15, 20 and 25°C, using leaves from one optimal host (Salix myrsinifolia) and two suboptimal hosts (S. caprea and S. phylicifolia) grown under the same thermal conditions. At 10°C (the average air temperature during host selection by beetles in nature), beetles exhibited a strong preference for, and best survival on, the optimal host, but the differences between optimal and suboptimal hosts diminished at higher temperatures. Correspondingly, the realised dietary niche was narrowest at 10°C and broadened with increasing temperature.
Larval survival on suboptimal hosts grown under elevated temperatures in open-top chambers approached the level observed on the optimal host. Consistently, bioassays conducted over eight years using field-collected willow foliage grown under different (year-specific) thermal conditions showed that the differences in larval survival between optimal and suboptimal hosts decreased significantly with increasing June temperature.
Our findings demonstrate that elevated temperature broadens the realised dietary niche of C. lapponica through both direct and indirect effects. We conclude that climate warming may benefit insect herbivores by enhancing food resource availability through the increased use of suboptimal host plants, potentially leading to an increase in herbivory and the spread of insect damage to a wider range of plant species.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j0zpc86x8
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
File: Zvereva-etal-DataS1-240726.csv
Description: Performance of Chrysomela lapponica fed with field-collected willow foliage in climatic chambers.
Variables
- Year: Year of the experiment (2016 or 2017).
- Temperature: Temperature in climatic chambers (10, 15, 20 or 25°C).
- Host: Host species (cap, S. caprea; myr, S. myrsinifolia; phy, S. phylicifolia).
- Individual: Individual plant (1 to 5), nested within each species × year combination.
- Larvae_placed: Number of larvae placed in each vial.
- Larvae_pupated: Number of larvae that successfully pupated.
- Beetles_emerged: Number of emerged adult beetles.
- Beetle_mass: Average fresh weight of emerged beetles (mg). Missing values indicate that no beetles emerged in this experimental unit.
- Development_time: Average number of days from larval hatching to adult emergence. Missing values indicate that no beetles emerged from this experimental unit.
File: Zvereva-etal-DataS4-240726.csv
Description: Performance of Chrysomela lapponica reared at 20°C on field-collected willow foliage.
Variables
- Year: Year of the experiment (1993‒2006).
- Temperature: Average air temperature in June (°C).
- Site Code of study site.
- Latitude: Latitude of study site (°N).
- Longitude: Longitude of study site (°E).
- Host: Host species (cap, S. caprea; myr, S. myrsinifolia).
- Survival: Larval survival to pupation (%).
File: Zvereva-etal-DataS3-240726.csv
Description: Performance of Chrysomela lapponica reared at 20°C on foliage of plants grown in field conditions inside and outside open-top chambers.
Variables
- Host: Host species (cap, S. caprea; myr, S. myrsinifolia; phy, S. phylicifolia).
- Individual: Sequential number of the plant individual (1 to 20), nested within each species.
- Treatment: Treatment (chamber or open control).
- Larvae_placed: Number of larvae placed in each vial.
- Larvae_placed: Number of larvae that successfully pupated.
- Beetles_emerged: Number of emerged adult beetles.
- Beetle_mass: Average fresh weight of emerged beetles (mg). Missing values indicate that no beetles emerged in this experimental unit.
- Beetle_mass: Average number of days from larval hatching to adult emergence. Missing values indicate that no beetles emerged from this experimental unit.
File: Zvereva-etal-DataS2-240726.csv
Description: Preference of willow species by adult beetles of Chrysomela lapponica in climatic chambers.
Variables
- Year: Year of the experiment (2016 or 2017).
- Temperature: Temperature in climatic chambers (10, 15, 20 or 25°C).
- Host: Host species (cap, S. caprea; myr, S. myrsinifolia; phy, S. phylicifolia).
- Dish: Dish number (1 to 40 in each study year).
- Individual: Sequential number of plant individual (1 to 5), nested within each species × year combination.
- Disk_consumption: Area consumed from an individual leaf disk by the end of the experiment (%). Missing value indicates that a beetle did not feed during the entire experiment.
- Total_consumption: Sum of areas consumed from all leaf disks in the same Petri dish by the end of the experiment (%). Missing value indicates that a beetle did not feed during the entire experiment.
Code/software
Any software accepting csv files.