DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zpc866tnc
title: Increasing temperatures and heatwave durations negatively affect the performance of a dietary generalist

description: Climate variability has increased in recent decades, and this trend is
 predicted to continue. Globally, there is a rise in extreme temperatures,
 such as heatwaves, which are strengthening in both intensity and
 frequency. As ectotherms, insects are especially affected by temperature
 variation. Insects are the most speciose group of animals and important
 members of most terrestrial ecosystems, providing critical ecosystem
 services. Most studies of global change have investigated only a
 single stressor, yet insects rarely experience one stressor at a time. Two
 stressors that co-occur are heatwaves and warming temperature regimes;
 thus, it is important that we study their interaction and whether diet may
 help mitigate negative effects from these stressors. We used a dietary
 generalist herbivore, the moth fall webworm Hyphantria
 cunea (Lepidoptera; hereafter, FW), and conducted a factorial
 experiment to test the separate and interactive effects of temperature
 warming, heatwave duration, and host plant on FW fitness. We found
 significant interactions between temperature regime, heatwave duration,
 and host plant. We also found that FW follow the temperature-size rule,
 but only when reared on one of the host plants, thereby supporting
 previous research that diet alters insect response to changes in
 temperature regime. Our results show that FW suffer reduced
 fitness when exposed to high temperatures and heatwaves, with more extreme
 temperatures and longer heatwaves resulting in increased negative effects
 on fitness. However, some of these negative effects may be attenuated by
 host plant identity, which could play an important role in how generalist
 herbivores respond to increasing extreme weather events as predicted by
 global change.
description: # Increasing temperatures and heatwave durations negatively affect the
 performance of a dietary generalist Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.zpc866tnc](10.5061/dryad.zpc866tnc) ## Description of the
 data and file structure File: CleanDataFromSummer2021V14(2).xlsx All of
 our information/metadata for each column is located in the second tab
 labeled "metadata" in the file CleanDataFromSummer2021V14.xlsx.
 Column Descriptions: * Ind_ID: Individual identification number assigned
 number to each larva * Host: Host plant on which each larva fed throughout
 development; Cherry is choke cherry, and willow is black willow *
 Matriline: Maternal line identification number * Hatch_date: Date that
 sibling cluster hatched. * Sex: Sex of each pupa is determined by
 examining the location of the genital split * Pupa_Mass: Pupal mass taken
 using a microbalance 30 days after pupation in mg * Pupa_Date: Date that
 the larva pupated * Death_Date: Date that the larva died *
 Survival_binomial: 0= died before pupation; 1=survived to pupation *
 HW_trt: Whether larvae were in a control or heatwave treatment;
 **None**=remained in original temperature treatment; **Short**=Exposed for
 5 days and returned to original temperature treatment to complete
 development; **Long**=Exposed for 7 days and returned to original
 temperature treatment to complete development * Tmax_trt: Temperature
 treatment in which each caterpillar was housed from 14 days old throughout
 development (excepting HW trt if applicable). Temperatures in degrees C *
 DevTim: Development time from hatch to pupation in days * Fitness_Score:
 Combined fitness proxies of survival (1/0), pupal mass, and development
 time into a single metric; Fitness score=(Pupal mass*survival)/development
 time