DOI: 10.5061/dryad.cb6pk
title: Data from: Similarity and specialization of the larval versus adult diet of European butterflies and moths

description: Many herbivorous insects feed on plant tissues as larvae but use other
 resources as adults. Adult nectaring is an important component of the diet
 of many adult herbivores, but few studies compare adult and larval feeding
 for broad groups of insects. We compiled a dataset of larval host use and
 adult nectar sources for 995 butterfly and moth species (Lepidoptera) in
 Central Europe. Using a phylogenetic generalized least squares approach,
 we found that Lepidoptera that fed on more plant species as larvae were
 also nectar-feeding on more plant species as adults. Lepidoptera that lack
 functional mouthparts as adults on average used more plant species as
 larval hosts than Lepidoptera with adult mouthparts. We found that 54% of
 Lepidoptera include their larval host as a nectar source. By creating null
 models describing similarity between larval and adult nectar sources, we
 furthermore show that Lepidoptera nectar on their larval host more than
 would be expected if they fed at random on available nectar sources.
 Despite nutritional differences of plant tissue and nectar, we show that
 there are similarities between adult and larval feeding in Lepidoptera.
 This suggests that either behavioral or digestive constraints are retained
 throughout the lifecycle of holometabolous herbivores, affecting host
 breadth and identity.
description: Dryad_Species_dataThe dataset gives all data for the analysis on the use of plants as larval houseplants and nectarine plants by adult Lepidoptera. It includes all 927 Lepidopteran species for which information on the use of larval foodplants was available from Ebert 2005. All variables are listed and explained. "NA" is used to record missing data. The data were collected and compiled by Florian Altermatt (FA) and Ian S. Pearse (IP). Please refer to the corresponding article in "The American Naturalist" titled "Similarity and specialization of the larval versus adult diet of European butterflies and moths" by these two authors as well as all original data-sources when using these data. FA is at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Email: florian.altermatt@eawag.ch IP is at the University of California - Davis, Department of Entomology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA. Email: ispearse@ucdavis.eduDryad_Family_dataThe table gives summary values on the number of plant species used as food plants by Lepidoptera larvae and as nectaring plants by the adults (mean number of plants used by a species, sd = standard deviation, min = minimum, max = maximum number), given separately for each Lepidoptera family. NA = not applicable. The data were collected and compiled by Florian Altermatt (FA) and Ian S. Pearse (IP). Please refer to the corresponding article in "The American Naturalist" titled "Similarity and specialization of the larval versus adult diet of European butterflies and moths" by these two authors as well as all original data-sources when using these data. FA is at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Email: florian.altermatt@eawag.ch IP is at the University of California - Davis, Department of Entomology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA. Email: ispearse@ucdavis.eduDryad_Subfamily_dataThe table gives summary values on the number of plant species used as food plants by Lepidoptera larvae and as nectaring plants by the adults (mean, sd = standard deviation, min = minimum, max = maximum number), given separately for each Lepidoptera subfamily. NA = not applicable. The data were collected and compiled by Florian Altermatt (FA) and Ian S. Pearse (IP). Please refer to the corresponding article in "The American Naturalist" titled "Similarity and specialization of the larval versus adult diet of European butterflies and moths" by these two authors as well as all original data-sources when using these data. FA is at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Email: florian.altermatt@eawag.ch IP is at the University of California - Davis, Department of Entomology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA. Email: ispearse@ucdavis.eduDryad_tree_LepidopteraThe file gives the directory tree file compiled from various sources (see article by Altermatt and Pearse and corresponding appendix). This phylogenetic tree covers all species (to the subfamily level) used in the article. The file is in "Newick format" and can be opened with the statistic software R. The data were collected and compiled by Florian Altermatt (FA) and Ian S. Pearse (IP). Please refer to the corresponding article in "The American Naturalist" titled "Similarity and specialization of the larval versus adult diet of European butterflies and moths" by these two authors as well as all original data-sources when using these data. FA is at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Department of Aquatic Ecology, Überlandstrasse 133, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. Email: florian.altermatt@eawag.ch IP is at the University of California - Davis, Department of Entomology, 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA. Email: ispearse@ucdavis.edu