DOI: 10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0pm
title: Examining the associations between a generalist feeder and a highly toxic host

description: Understanding the often antagonistic plant-herbivore interactions and how
 host defenses can influence herbivore dietary breadth is an area of
 ongoing study in ecology and evolutionary biology. Typically, host
 plants/fungi that produce highly noxious chemical defenses are only fed on
 by specialists. We know very little about generalist species that can feed
 and develop on a noxious host. One such example of generalists feeding on
 toxic host occurs in the mushroom-feeding Drosophila found in the
 immigrans-tripunctata radiation. Although these species are classified as
 generalists, their acceptable hosts include deadly Amanita species. In
 this study, we used behavioral assays to assess associations between one
 mushroom-feeding species, Drosophila guttifera, and the deadly Amanita
 phalloides. We conducted feeding assays to confirm the presence of
 cyclopeptide toxin tolerance. We then completed host preference assays in
 female flies and larvae and did not find a preference for toxic mushrooms
 in either. Finally, we assessed the effect of competition on oviposition
 preference. We found that the presence of a competitor’s eggs on the
 preferred host was associated with the flies increasing the number of eggs
 laid on the toxic mushrooms. Our results highlights how access to a low
 competition host resource may help to maintain associations between a
 generalist species and a highly toxic host.
description: Dataset and submission scripts for "Characterizing the impact and
 maintenance of specialized toxin tolerance in a generalist species"
 GENERAL INFORMATION Dates of data collection: August 2021-December 2022
 Keywords: Plant-Insect Interactions, Host Preference, Competition,
 Drosophila guttifera, Cyclopeptides, Amanita DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
 General description: This study examines how tolerance to a highly toxic
 host compound impacts the feeding behavior of a generalist fly species and
 how competition affects host preference. Data files are named based on the
 assay that generated them. Data files: 1. Data_AdultSurvival.xlsx:
 survival of individual Drosophila guttifera larvae from two unique
 genotypes on diets without toxin, a single toxin (alpha-amanitin), and a
 mix of cyclopeptide toxins coded as binary data (0=deceased, 1=survived to
 adult), exported from JMP software 2. Data_OvipositionPreference.xlsx:
 oviposition preference data collected from two unique Drosophila guttifera
 genotypes where females were allowed to select among three media (edible
 mushroom, toxic mushroom, & tomato - negative control), exported from
 JMP software 3. Data_LarvalPreference.xlsx: larval host medium preference
 collected for the Drosophila guttifera KD genotype, includes the change in
 mass of three media types, exported from JMP software 4.
 Data_CompetitionTotal.xlsx: total number of eggs laid across all locations
 for the Drosophila guttifera KD genotype in the presence of no
 competition, intraspecific competition (D. guttifera TW), or interspecific
 competition (D. tripunctata), exported from JMP software 5.
 Data_CompetitionxMedia.xlsx: breakdown of number of eggs laid at each
 media location across all replicates for the Drosophila guttifera KD
 genotype in the presence of no competition, intraspecific competition (D.
 guttifera TW), or interspecific competition (D. tripunctata), exported
 from JMP software Scripts: Data Scripts.txt: a commented text file
 containing scripts needed to run each analysis in JMP 16.0.0 (JMP is a GUI
 based interface but can output scripts used to complete each described
 analysis. These are the scripts from that output.) Restrictions: There are
 no restrictions or licenses on these data. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION All
 methods are described in the manuscript. Data are raw binomial
 representations of individual survival (AdultSurvival), unprocessed raw
 counts of eggs present and location, and raw changes in mass over a 96
 hour time frame. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION File name:
 Data_AdultSurvival.xlsx Variable list: * Line = Unique genotype of
 Drosophila guttifera represented as either TW or KD based on the lab that
 provided the stock * Rep = Specific replicate that the data point was
 collected in * Treatment = Dietary treatment that a larvae was reared
 under (No Toxin, Alpha = alpha-amanitin, NTM = natural toxin mix) *
 Ind_Surv = binomial data coding whether an individual larvae survived (1)
 or died (0) in a given replicate x treatment File name:
 Data_OvipositionPreference.xlsx Variable list: * Line = Unique genotype of
 Drosophila guttifera represented as either Guttifera TW or Guttifera KD
 based on the lab that provided the stock * Rep = Specific replicate that
 the data point was collected in * Media = Oviposition media location;
 Edible = edible mushroom medium, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, Tomato =
 Negative Control made with tomato juice * Eggs = Number of eggs that were
 recorded on a specific media for a given line and replicate File name:
 Data_LarvalPreference.xlsx Variable list: * Rep = Specific replicate that
 the data point was collected in * EggTotal = Number of eggs that were
 recorded on the plain media block for a given replicate * Media = Media
 that was provided to the larvae and whose mass was taken; Edible = edible
 mushroom media, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, Plain = water agar where
 eggs were laid * MassCh = Change in mass in milligrams 96 hours after the
 assay was begun File name: Data_CompetitionTotal.xlsx Variable list: * Rep
 = Specific replicate that the data point was collected in * Competition =
 type of competition that was present in a treatment; No Competition = no
 eggs laid on edible mushroom medium, Tripunctata = interspecific
 competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by Drosophila
 tripunctata, Guttifera TW = intraspecific competition with eggs laid on
 edible mushroom medium by the TW Drosophila guttifera genotype * EggNum =
 The total number of eggs that were recorded for a replicate across all
 locations File name: Data_CompetitionxMedia.xlsx Variable list: * Rep =
 Specific replicate that the data point was collected in * Competition =
 type of competition that was present in a treatment; No Competition = no
 eggs laid on edible mushroom medium, Tripunctata = interspecific
 competition with eggs laid on edible mushroom medium by Drosophila
 tripunctata, Guttifera TW = intraspecific competition with eggs laid on
 edible mushroom medium by the TW Drosophila guttifera genotype * Media =
 Oviposition media location; Edible = edible mushroom medium, nr Edible =
 within 5mm of edible media disk, Toxic = toxic mushroom media, nr Toxic =
 within 5mm of toxic media disk, Tomato = Negative Control made with tomato
 juice, nr Tomato = within 5mm of tomato juice media disk, Plain = in the
 well where the female was placed at the beginning of the assay * EggNum =
 Number of eggs recorded on a specific media for a specific replicate