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Efficiency of a herbivore–plant interaction: conversion of biomass from flax (Linaceae) to aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

Robert J. Lamb  and
Larry Grenkow
Robert J. Lamb*
Affiliation:
Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
Larry Grenkow
Affiliation:
Cereal Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 195 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2M9
*
2Corresponding author (e-mail: rlamb@agr.gc.ca).
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Abstract

The specific impact of the aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) on seedlings of common flax, Linum usitatissimum L., is 3.317 mg/mg, quantified as the dry mass of plant tissue required to produce a unit of herbivore tissue. This measure of the efficiency of biomass conversion between trophic levels for the aphid–flax interaction is similar to that previously reported for seven species of aphid on monocotyledonous cereals (Poaceae), but lower than that for two species of aphid on a species of Brassicaceae, a dicotyledonous plant. Therefore, the interaction between M. euphorbiae and the dicot, flax, does not support the hypothesis that aphids have less impact on monocots than on dicots.

Résumé

L’impact spécifique de Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) sur des semis de lin oléagineux, Linum usitatissimum L., est de 3,317 mg/mg, mesuré comme la masse sèche de tissu de plante nécessaire pour produire une unité de tissu d’herbivore. Cette mesure de l’efficacité de la conversion de la biomasse entre niveaux trophiques dans l’interaction puceron-lin est semblable à celles signalées antérieurement chez sept pucerons vivant sur des céréales monocotylédones (Poaceae), mais plus faible de celles chez deux espèces de pucerons vivant sur une espèce de Brassicaceae, une dicotylédone. Donc, l’interaction entre M. euphorbiae et le lin, une dicotylédone, n’appuie pas l’hypothèse qui veut que les pucerons aient moins d’impact sur les plantes monocotylédones que sur les dicotylédones.

[Traduit par la Rédaction]

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 140 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 600 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2008

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References

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