The demand for information in a systematic way about ecology of target insect species of transgenic plants has increased in recent decades due to the growing interest in this new technology in pest management. Larval mobility in agricultural ecosystems when on occurrence of contamination of Bt crops, intentionally or unintentionally - has been subject of study by several researchers, however information about larval mobility in tropical conditions are still scarce. This scenario created opportunity for hypothesis testing on behavioural aspects of Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in landscapes with spatial-temporal co-occurence of Bt and non-Bt cotton plants. The main objective of the current research was to study the larval dispersal of the pest in field and laboratory conditions in order to insert computational modelling components to describe the evolution of resistance to Bt cotton. In the first chapter of this thesis, it is presented a general introduction. In the second one, we studied the feeding behaviour associated with larval dispersal of S. frugiperda genotypes and possible effects on spatial distribution of the resistant individuals in Bt and non-Bt cotton fields. We analyzed in the third chapter the consequences to resistance progress of the dispersal pattern of susceptible, Cry1F-resistant and heterozygous genotypes of S. frugiperda in pure and contaminated artificial landscapes. In the fourth chapter we assessed the impact of the dispersal by ballooning combined with walking dispersal on resistance evolution in conditions of plant mixture with non-Bt and Bt cotton plants in events with high and non-high dose. In the last chapter, we compared the movement dynamics of S. frugiperda genotypes between 28oC and 32oC, and with an individual-based model we analyzed the possibility if one of the genotypes could persist and would lead the other to the exclusion on refuge areas with non-Bt cotton plants. In a general way, faced on the larval dispersal of S. frugiperda genotypes, the results found here highlight the importance of implementation of strategies to avoid contamination through inadequate agronomic practices such as destruction of cotton plants after harvest, volunteer plant control, and seed saving after harvest. All information generated in this thesis could contribute in the optimization of regional resistance management within a concept of insect population control in wide areas. / A demanda por informações de forma sistematizada sobre ecologia de insetos-praga alvos de plantas transgênicas tem crescido nas últimas décadas devido ao proeminente interesse nesta tecnologia no manejo de pragas. A mobilidade larval em ecossistemas agrícolas quando na ocorrência de contaminação de plantas Bt, de forma intencional ou não intencional, tem sido assunto de estudo por diversos Pesquisadores, entretanto informações sobre a mobilidade larval em condições tropicais são ainda escassas. Este cenário criou oportunidades para testes de hipóteses em aspectos comportamentais de Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) em paisagens com co-ocorrência espaço-temporal de plantas de algodão Bt e não Bt. O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar a dispersão larval da praga em condições de campo e de laboratório em ordem para inserir componentes de modelagem computacional para descrever a evolução da resistência ao algodão Bt. No primeiro capítulo desta tese, é apresentada uma introdução geral. No segundo capítulo, foi estudado o comportamento alimentar associado com a dispersão larval de genótipos de S. frugiperda e possíveis efeitos na distribuição espacial de indivíduos resistentes em campos de algodão Bt e não Bt. Foram analisadas no terceiro capítulo as consequências para o progresso da resistência do padrão de dispersão de genótipos suscetíveis, resistentes a Cry1F e heterozigotos de S. frugiperda em paisagens artificiais com pureza e com contaminação. No quarto capítulo, avaliou-se o impacto da dispersão por balonismo combinado dispersão por caminhamento na evolução da resistência em condições de mistura de plantas de algodão não Bt e algodão Bt em eventos com alta e baixa dose. No último capítulo, foi comparada a dinâmica de movimentação de genótipos de S. frugiperda entre as temperaturas de 28°C e 32°C, e com um modelo baseado no indivíduo analisou-se a possibilidade se um dos genótipos poderia persistir e levar o outro a exclusão em áreas de refúgio com plantas de algodão não Bt. Baseado na dispersão larval de genótipos de S. frugiperda, os resultados encontrados ressaltam a necessidade de implementação de estratégias para evitar contaminação por meio de práticas agronômicas inadequadas tais como destruição de plantas após a colheita, controle de plantas voluntárias, e o ato de se salvar as sementes após a colheita. Todas informações geradas nesta tese poderão contribuir para otimização de manejo da resistência regional dentro de um conceito de controle de insetos em grandes áreas.

Orientador: Edson Luiz Baldin / Resumo: Embora o Brasil seja o segundo maior produtor de soja [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] do mundo, a produtividade desse grão é afetada diretamente pela incidência de insetos-praga. Dentre as pragas, os lepidópteros Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) e Spodoptera eridania (Stoll) (Noctuidae) têm causado danos expressivos nos últimos anos. As práticas de controle mais empregadas no manejo dessas pragas envolvem a aplicação de inseticidas sintéticos e o uso da tecnologia Bt. No entanto, a movimentação larval dessas espécies pode comprometer essas estratégias, com impactos relevantes sobre o Manejo Integrado de Pragas (MIP) e o Manejo de Resistência de Insetos (MRI). Para a espécie S. eridania, existe um agravante, visto que a mesma apresenta baixa suscetibilidade à toxina Cry1Ac. Nesse sentido, esse estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a movimentação de diferentes ínstares larvais dessas duas espécies e o possível impacto que esse comportamento tem sobre o MIP e MRI. Assim, foram realizados estudos de movimentação larval na planta e entre plantas em cultivares de soja Bt (TMG 7062 IPRO) e não Bt (TMG 7262 e 92Y83 “Pioneer”) em período reprodutivo sob condições de laboratório, casa de vegetação e campo. Nos estudos de movimentação na planta. Foram avaliadas a distribuição larval em três posições (superior, mediano e basal) das plantas e em diferentes períodos, além da permanência dos insetos sobre as plantas. Os estudos de movimentação larval entre plantas tiveram como objetivo caracteri... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor

This project predominantly investigated the implications of spatial heterogeneity in the ecological processes of competition and infection. Empirical analysis of spatial heterogeneity was carried out using the lepidopteran species Plodia interpunctella. Using differently viscous food media, it was possible to alter the movement rate of larvae. Soft Foods allow the movement rate of larvae to be high, so that individuals can disperse through the environment and avoid physical encounters with conspecifics. Harder foods lower the movement rate of larvae, restricting the ability of individuals to disperse away from birth sites and avoid conspecifics encounters. Increasing food viscosity and lowering movement rate therefore has the effect of making uniform distributed larval populations more aggregated and patchy. Different spatial structures changed the nature of intraspecific competition, with patchy populations characterised by individuals experiencing lower growth rates and greater mortality because of the reduced food and space available within densely packed aggregations. At the population scale, the increased competition for food individuals experience in aggregations emerges as longer generational cycles and reduced population densities. Aggregating individuals also altered the outcome of interspecific competition between Plodia and Ephestia cautella. In food media that allowed high movement rates, Plodia had a greater survival rate than Ephestia because the larger movement rate of Plodia allowed it to more effectively avoid intraspecific competition. Also the faster growth rate, and so larger size, of Plodia allowed it to dominate interspecific encounters by either predating or interfering with the feeding of Ephestia. In food that restricts movement, the resulting aggregations cause Plodia to experience more intraspecific encounters relative to interspecific, reducing its competitive advantage and levelling the survival of the two species. Spatial structure also affected the dynamics of a Plodia-granulosis virus interaction and the evolution of virus infectivity. Larval aggregation forced transmission to become limited to within host patches, making the overall prevalence of the virus low. However potentially high rates of cannibalism and multiple infections within overcrowded host aggregations caused virus-induced mortality to be high, as indicated by the low host population density when virus is presented. Also aggregated host populations cause the evolution of lower virus infectivity, where less infective virus strains maintain more susceptible hosts within the aggregation and so possess a greater transmission rate. The pattern of variation in resistance of Plodia interpunctella towards its granulosis virus was found using two forms of graphical analysis. There was a bimodal pattern of variation, with most individuals exhibiting either low or high levels of resistance. This pattern was related to a resistance mechanism that is decreasingly costly to host fitness.

Frugivorous insects, specialised herbivores that consume fruit and seeds, are considered detrimental to host plant fitness. Their direct link to genetic fitness via consumption of plant reproductive tissue, and their negative socioeconomic association with agriculture exacerbates their harmful status. However, empirical testing of insect frugivore effects on host plants, and ecological research on the contribution of insect frugivores to multitrophic frugivory systems, is lacking. In the current study, direct effects of a non-mutualistic, insect frugivore/host plant system were tested and results showed variable effects. Beneficial, detrimental, but predominantly neutral effects on germination and seed production were observed between the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) and tomato and capsicum plants. Significant effects on seed production were unexpected because infestation occurs after seed set. It was also found that eggplant, although a recorded host of B. tryoni, is inconsistent in its ability to sustain B. tryoni larvae through to its final instar. These results confirmed a simplification and presumption associated with insect frugivore (specifically fruit fly)/host plant interactions. Larval movement, infestation-induced fruit decay, pulp removal and germination were then investigated. For all hosts (tomato, apple and paw paw), treatments infested by B. tryoni decayed significantly quicker and to a greater extent than uninfested treatments, with obvious but variable changes to the texture and appearance. The movement of B. tryoni larvae, pattern of infestation-induced decay and pulp removal was unique and host dependent for all hosts. Only seeds from infested tomato were shown to germinate during the experiment. This indicated that host fruit characteristics are responsible, in part, for variable direct effects on host plant fitness by insect frugivores. Variable direct effects between insect frugivores and host plants, combined with the more rapid decay of infested fruits is likely to have implications for seed dispersal and seed predation by a third trophic level. The characteristics of fruit that are changed by infestation by an insect frugivore were then tested for their effect on a vertebrate frugivore, to illustrate the importance of recognising multitrophic interactions and indirect effects in frugivory. Specifically, seed predating rodents were incorporated into the study and their response to infested and uninfested fruits were recorded, as well as their reaction to the changes in fruit caused by insect frugivores (i.e. texture, smell, larvae presence and sound). Apple and pear infested with B. tryoni larvae were found to attract rodents, while infested tomato and paw paw had a neutral effect on the native rats. This differed from the predominant finding in the literature, which was a deterrent effect on avian seed dispersers. Vertebrate response to fruit infested with insect frugivores therefore, is variable. Assessing the indirect effect of insect frugivores on host plant fitness by attracting or deterring another trophic level requires knowledge of the direct effect between the introduced trophic level and the host plant. For example, the attraction of a seed predator may be as detrimental to host plant fitness as the deterrence of a seed disperser. This illustrates the complexity associated with assessing insect frugivore effects on host plant fitness. Results also indicated that differences in pulp texture, caused by infestation, have a significant effect on rodent preference for infested or uninfested treatments. Pulp texture is likely to effect rodent foraging efficiency, whereas the presence of B. tryoni larvae was observed to be inconsequential to rodent response to fruits. For rodents, and indeed any trophic level motivated by foraging efficiency, this finding raises the issue that for long lived fruiting plants, outside factors such as food abundance and competition for food, may cause a variable response to fruits infested by insect frugivores. From these investigations it has become apparent that insect frugivores are not consistently harmful to host plant fitness, as suggested by their negative stigma, but are likely to contribute variable effects, directly and indirectly, on multiple components of plant fitness and multitrophic frugivory systems.