DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vq83bk408
title: Data from: Temperature alters the toxicological impacts of plant terpenoids on the polyphagous model herbivore Vanessa cardui

description: Terpenes are a major class of secondary metabolites present in all plants,
 and long hypothesized to have diversified in response to specific
 plant-herbivore interactions. Herbivory is a major biotic interaction that
 plays out across broad temporal and spatial scales that vary dramatically
 in temperature regimes, both due to climatic variation across geographic
 locations as well as the effect of seasonality. In addition, there is an
 emerging understanding that global climate change will continue to alter
 the temperature regimes of nearly every habitat on Earth over the coming
 centuries. Regardless of source, variation in temperature may influence
 herbivory, in particular via changes in the efficacy and impacts of plant
 defensive chemistry. This study aims to characterize temperature-driven
 variation in toxicological effects across several structural classes of
 terpenes in the model herbivore Vanessa cardui, the painted lady
 butterfly. We observed a general increase in monoterpene toxicity to
 larvae, pupa, and adults at higher temperatures, as well as an increase in
 development time as terpene concentration increased. Results obtained from
 this study yield insights into possible drivers of seasonal variation in
 plant terpene production as well as inform effects of rising global
 temperatures on plant-insect interactions. In the context of other known
 effects of climate change on plant-herbivore interactions like carbon
 fertilization and compensatory feeding, temperature-driven changes in
 plant chemical defense efficacy may further complicate the prediction of
 climate change impacts on the fundamental ecological process of herbivory.
description: These datasets were collected as part of laboratory experiments
 as described in the published (open-access) article. The raw data is
 presented.
description: # Temperature alters the toxicological impacts of plant terpenoids on the
 polyphagous model herbivore Vanessa cardui
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vq83bk408](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vq83bk408) The dataset contains three CSV files containing hatching, development, and adult mass data for a toxicological study assessing the effect of temperature on the efficacy of plant terpenoids against the thistle caterpillar, the larval form of the painted lady butterfly (*Vanessa cardui*). Full methods can be found in the publication of record, which is open access. ## Description of the data and file structure Dataset S1. Full data on *Vanessa cardui* hatching failure and larval, pupa, and adult mortality presented as counts and proportions. Run represents individual trial runs, and temperature is presented in Celsius. Concentration of each terpene is presented in w/w percentage as prepared at the start of each trial. Dataset S2. Full data on *Vanessa cardui* development time from hatching to pupation, and from hatching to eclosure (emergence from pupa). Run represents individual trial runs, and temperature is presented in Celsius. Concentration of each terpene is presented in w/w percentage as prepared at the start of each trial. NA=not applicable, indicating missing data as the insect did not reach the relevant developmental stage. Dataset S3. Full data on *Vanessa cardui* post-eclosure dry mass (in grams) for fully-formed adults. Run represents individual trial runs, and temperature is presented in Celsius. Concentration of each terpene is presented in w/w percentage as prepared at the start of each trial. Supplemental Figures S1-S5 are also included. ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: [https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01449-8](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-023-01449-8)