Sexual differences in flower defense and correlated male-biased florivory in a plant-florivore system

Abstract

Male-biased florivory is a prominent phenomenon in the interaction between plants and florivores, and is potentially related to the evolution of flower traits and sex expression; however, its adaptive significance is not well understood. We studied florivory in the geometrid moth Chloroclystis excisa utilizing flower buds of a sexually polymorphic shrub, Eurya japonica, to reveal relationships between flower sex and moth oviposition preference, moth larval performance, and plant phenolics composition. In the field, C. excisa exploited flower buds on male and hermaphrodite trees but never those on female trees. In the laboratory, moths showed a strong oviposition preference for male over female flower buds, and larvae did not survive on female buds. Mortality was caused solely by feeding on the calyx covering the female bud. Female calyces contained higher concentrations of total phenolics and condensed tannins than did male calyces. These results suggest that substantial sexual differences in defense against florivory may have evolved in association with the differentiation of flower sexes and that a strong preference for the weakly defended flower sex may have evolved in florivores as a counter-adaptation.