Phytophagous British insects and mites and their food-plant families: total numbers and polyphagy

Abstract

The Phytophagous Insects Data Base (PIDB) was used to summarize information about 6933 species of British insects/mites and their food-plant families. Total species in 183 insect families on 127 vascular plant families were correlated with numbers of plant species in each family in Britain and Europe, accounting for 41.8% of the variation. Families with trees had more insects, while ferns and aquatic, uncommon and ephemeral plants, particularly orchids, had fewer. Seven individual insect families were analysed separately: Aphididae were more closely correlated with plant species numbers than were the more polyphagous Geometridae. Agromyzidae were uncommon on families with trees. Of insect species 75.8% fed on only one plant family and 10.1% were recorded on two families. Species feeding on three families or more were considered to be polyphagous. In the 30 largest insect families, eight had species feeding on only one plant family, while 12 had more than 20% of their species polyphagous. Proportions of family-restricted insects were high on Pinaceae, Gramineae and Compositae, but low on Corylaceae, Primulaceae and Tiliaceae. More pest species were polyphagous. Polyphagy was related to large larvae, larvae overwintering, wood-feeding, ephemeral food sources, poor dispersal abilities and omnivory. Some polyphagous species might be actively evolving in exploitation of vacant niches, leading to later progressive specialization to food-plants.