Abstract
Cuticular ridges on plant surfaces can control insect adhesion and wetting behaviour and might also offer stability to underlying cells during growth. The growth of the plant cuticle and its underlying cells possibly results in changes in the morphology of cuticular ridges and may also affect their function. We present spatial and temporal patterns in cuticular ridge development on the leaf surfaces of the model plant, Hevea brasiliensis. We have identified, by confocal laser scanning microscopy of polymer leaf replicas, an acropetally directed progression of ridges during the ontogeny of Hevea brasiliensis leaf surfaces. The use of Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) as a model insect species has shown that the changing dimensions of cuticular ridges on plant leaves during ontogeny have a significant impact on insect traction forces and act as an effective indirect defence mechanism. The traction forces of walking insects are significantly lower on mature leaf surfaces compared with young leaf surfaces. The measured walking traction forces exhibit a strong negative correlation with the dimensions of the cuticular ridges.
Highlights
Cuticular ridges on plant surfaces can control insect adhesion and wetting behaviour and might offer stability to underlying cells during growth
The use of Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) as a model insect species has shown that the changing dimensions of cuticular ridges on plant leaves during ontogeny have a significant impact on insect traction forces and act as an effective indirect defence mechanism
By means of confocal microscopy observations and traction force experiments, we show that the changing dimensions of the cuticular ridges on plant leaves during ontogeny have a significant impact on insect walking behaviour
Summary
Cuticular ridges on plant surfaces can control insect adhesion and wetting behaviour and might offer stability to underlying cells during growth. The mesoscale morphology on the peripheral side of the cuticle is highly diverse among the different plant species and includes hairs, branched or unbranched trichomes, cuticular ridges and valleys ( referred to as wrinkles or striations) and epicuticular waxes [4,5] These structures in addition to the various underlying cell shapes and to the plant surface chemistry influence abiotic interactions with water and light [6] and biotic interactions with pollinators, herbivores and prey [7]. The attachment structures of Colorado potato beetles are similar to those of other relevant insects, for example, Mupli beetle (Luprops tristis, a common herbivore of H. brasiliensis leaves) [33] The selection of these plant and insect model species in this study provides a general insight into how the walking abilities (measured as traction forces) of beetles vary with the ontogenetic growth-induced changes in plant cuticular structures. By means of confocal microscopy observations and traction force experiments, we show that the changing dimensions of the cuticular ridges on plant leaves during ontogeny have a significant impact on insect walking behaviour
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