Are Hylemya avoiding dusted <i>Ipomopsis aggregata</i> for good reason?

Abstract

Waser et al. (2016) found that road dust consistently reduces the pollen received by Ipomopsis aggregata flowers but does not consistently reduce seed set. Over three years we tested the hypothesis that the reason undusted plants do not have higher seed sets is that more of their fruits are eaten by larvae of Hylemya sp. (Anthomyiidae), a predispersal seed predator. In all three years, Hylemya indeed oviposited on a greater fraction of the flowers of undusted than dusted plants, though the overall oviposition rate varied among years. In 2017 and 2018 we also compared the fates of Hylemya eggs laid on dusted and undusted flowers to determine whether the flies were choosing undusted plants because their eggs are more successful there. In 2017, 33.42% of eggs laid on dusted flowers and 55% of eggs laid on undusted flowers successfully hatched into a larva. In 2018, the success rate was 48.6% and 21.8% on dusted and undusted flowers, respectively. We conclude that Hylemya oviposition preferences are adaptive and likely contribute to the inconsistent effects of road dust on Ipomopsis reproduction.

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