DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f598t2b
title: Data from: Mismatches between the resources for adult herbivores and their offspring suggest invasive Spartina alterniflora is an ecological trap

description: 1. Plant invasions can alter the behavior and performance of native
 herbivorous insects because the insects are evolutionarily naïve to the
 novel plants. An ecological trap results when native insects prefer
 invasive plants over their native hosts but suffer reduced fitness on the
 invaders. Although such traps are predicted to occur frequently given the
 prevalence of invasive plants, empirical support for ecological traps and
 their underlying mechanisms remains sparse. 2. We examined the potential
 for the invasive plant Spartina alterniflora to act as an ecological trap
 for the native moth Laelia coenosa, which previously fed mainly on the
 indigenous plant Phragmites australis in a Chinese saltmarsh. We surveyed
 Laelia egg densities on Spartina and Phragmites in the field, and
 determined adult oviposition preference and offspring development on the
 two plant species. To investigate the causes of adult preference and
 offspring performance patterns, we compared resource abundance in the
 field, plant-odor attractiveness, and leaf nutritional and defensive
 traits between Spartina and Phragmites. 3. We found that Laelia egg
 density and female preference for ovipositing were higher on Spartina than
 Phragmites. However, performance of offspring was poorer on Spartina than
 Phragmites. Spartina dominated a larger area and had greater leaf biomass
 than Phragmites in the field, and volatile odors released by Spartina were
 more attractive to Laelia females than those released by Phragmites.
 Although leaf C, C:P ratio, and terpenoid content did not differ
 significantly between the two plant species, Spartina leaves were tougher
 and more waxy, had lower N, and had higher concentrations of alkaloids and
 phenolics than Phragmites leaves. 4. Synthesis: Our data suggest that
 invasive Spartina can create an ecological trap for the native insect
 Laelia. This trap appears to result from environmental cues (resource
 availability and leaf odors) that attract the herbivore to the plant, but
 do not reliably predict the dietary qualities (nutrition and defenses)
 that negatively affect herbivore offspring performance. These findings
 reveal an important negative effect of plant invasions on resident
 herbivores and highlight the roles of resource availability and plant
 traits at different life stages of the insect.
description: Data of field
 investigation and experimentsThis data is associated
 with the Journal of Ecology publication detailing the invasive plant
 Spartina alterniflora can act as an ecological trap for the native insect
 Laelia coenosa which historically feed on the indigenous plant Phragmites
 australis in a Chinese saltmarsh. Results include: Laelia egg densities on
 Spartina and Phragmites in the field (sheet 1); adult oviposition
 preference (sheet 2) and offspring performance (sheets 3–6 for laboratory
 experiment, and sheets 7–10 for the common garden experiment) of Laelia
 reared on the two plant species; live leaf biomass (sheet 11) and litter
 biomass (sheet 12) of Spartina and Phragmites in the field; preference of
 Laelia females to excised leaves (sheet 13) and volatile organic compounds
 (sheet 14) between the two plant species; and leaf traits related to
 nutrition and defenses (sheet 15) of Spartina and
 Phragmites.Sun et al._JoE_Raw
 data.xlsx