Abstract
Plant defense from phytophages by association with other phytophages is known, but presently considered unusual compared with chemical, morphological, injury repair, or escape mechanisms. Pecan escapes nut feeders by synchronously producing nuts in a 2 to 7-yr cycle. Nut production in nonmast years would increase carrying capacity for late-season nut feeders. The pecan nut casebearer, Acrobasis nuxcorella Neunzig, acts as a fruiting cycle enhancer in pecan by removing nuts early in years of low production, thereby denying late-season nut feeders such as pecan weevil, ClIrm/io caryae (Horn), food. Pecan nut casebearer benefits pecan by increasing estimated average lifetime nut production of an archetypical tree in the presence of pecan weevil by 71,116 nuts at a cost of 210 mature nut equivalents provided pecan nut casebearer, representing a 339:1 return on reproductive effort to pecan.
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