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Labandeira CC, Wappler T. Arthropod and Pathogen Damage on Fossil and Modern Plants: Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Herbivory on Land. Annu Rev Entomol 2023; 68:341-361. [PMID: 36689301 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-120120-102849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The use of the functional feeding group-damage type system for analyzing arthropod and pathogen interactions with plants has transformed our understanding of herbivory in fossil plant assemblages by providing data, analyses, and interpretation of the local, regional, and global patterns of a 420-Myr history. The early fossil record can be used to answer major questions about the oldest evidence for herbivory, the early emergence of herbivore associations on land plants, and later expansion on seed plants. The subsequent effects of the Permian-Triassic ecological crisis on herbivore diversity, the resulting formation of biologically diverse herbivore communities on gymnosperms, and major shifts in herbivory ensuing from initial angiosperm diversification are additional issues that need to be addressed. Studies ofherbivory resulting from more recent transient spikes and longer-term climate trends provide important data that are applied to current global change and include herbivore community responses to latitude, altitude, and habitat. Ongoing paleoecological themes remaining to be addressed include the antiquity of modern interactions, differential herbivory between ferns and angiosperms, and origins of modern tropical forests. The expansion of databases that include a multitude of specimens; improvements in sampling strategies; development of new analytical methods; and, importantly, the ability to address conceptually stimulating ecological and evolutionary questions have provided new impetus in this rapidly advancing field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conrad C Labandeira
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA;
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Torsten Wappler
- Natural History Department, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany;
- Paleontology Section, Institute of Geosciences, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Xiao L, Labandeira CC, Ben-Dov Y, Maccracken SA, Shih C, Dilcher DL, Ren D. Early Cretaceous mealybug herbivory on a laurel highlights the deep-time history of angiosperm-scale insect associations. New Phytol 2021; 232:1414-1423. [PMID: 34379798 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Insect fluid-feeding on fossil vascular plants is an inconspicuous and underappreciated mode of herbivory that can provide novel data on the evolution of deep-time ecological associations and indicate the host-plant preferences of ancient insect herbivores. Previous fossil studies have documented piercing-and-sucking herbivory but often are unable to identify culprit insect taxa. One line of evidence are punctures and scale-insect impression marks made by piercing-and-sucking insects that occasionally provide clues to the systematic identities and relationships of particular insect herbivores. We report here the earliest occurrences of piercing and sucking on early angiosperms as evidenced by scale insect covers, impression marks, punctures and body fossils - notably a mealybug - from the Lower Cretaceous Rose Creek Flora of the Dakota Formation (c. 103 Ma), in southeastern Nebraska, USA. The mealybug, two other scale insect taxa, and several distinctive damage types on laurel leaves and seed-plant stems at Rose Creek document a diverse guild of piercing-and-sucking insects on early angiosperms. The discovery of an Early Cretaceous female mealybug indicates an early herbivorous association with a laurel host. These data provide direct evidence for co-associations and possible coevolution of scale insects and their plant hosts during early angiosperm diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lifang Xiao
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
| | - Conrad C Labandeira
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO, 80205, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20740, USA
| | - Yair Ben-Dov
- Department of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
| | - S Augusta Maccracken
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO, 80205, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20740, USA
| | - Chungkun Shih
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20013, USA
| | - David L Dilcher
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Dong Ren
- College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China
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