Simultaneous or sequential attack by herbivores and microbes is common in plants. Many seed plants exhibit a defence trade-off against chewing herbivorous insects and leaf-colonizing ( phyllosphere ) bacteria, which arises from cross-talk between the phytohormones jasmonic acid (JA, induced by many

Many plants that bear hidden or recessed floral nectar experience nectar robbing, the removal of nectar by a floral visitor through holes pierced in the corolla. Although robbing can reduce plant reproductive success, many studies fail to find such effects. We outline three mechanistic hypotheses th

Invasive and native plant interactions are well studied, but the influence of invasive plants on native pollination systems is largely ignored. Native pollinators, specifically bees, feed their young with pollen and nectar they harvest from plants. An invasive plant could greatly augment the foragin

The butterfly Pieris napi (L.) and relatives exemplify recently evolving taxa, exhibiting variation that makes their evolutionary dynamics interesting, but their systematics difficult. Wing-pattern characters commonly used to distinguish these Holarctic insects display both genetic polymorphism and

Despite the strong influence of pollination ecology on the evolution of selfing, we have little information on how distinct groups of insect pollinators influence outcrossing rate. However, differences in behavior between pollinator groups could easily influence how each group affects outcrossing ra

Summary The causes of lagged population and geographical range expansions after species introductions are poorly understood, and there are relatively few detailed case studies. We document the 29‐year history of population dynamics and structure for a population of Euphydryas gillettii Barnes that w

A picture is provided of the intra-specific response of a suite of traits to ecological stress in the butterfly Speyeria mormonia, whereby fecundity is affected by adult dietary restriction, a pattern reminiscent of a survival/reproduction trade-off, but across a developmental boundary.

There are numerous species of organisms that live in woody vegetation. Their species diversity will be equal to the total number of species and their relative abundance. This study compared the species diversity of arthropods between perennial shrubs and evergreen trees. I hypothesized that a larger

Variation in the degree of insect wing melanin affects thermoregulation, and is expected to be adapted to local environmental conditions, for example over an elevational gradient. The effects of melanization on flight activity and egg maturation rate were assessed in the closely related butterflies

Abstract Floral phenotypes may be as much the result of selection for avoidance of some animal visitors as selection for improving the interaction with better pollinators. When specializing on hummingbird-pollination, Penstemon flowers may have evolved to improve the morphological fit between bird a

Lepidoptera feed at mud puddles, dung, and carrion in a behavior known as puddling. Sodium and sometimes protein are feeding cues, are actively collected, and play a potentially important role in lepidopteran nutritional and mating ecology. We showed that montane butterfly species have feeding prefe