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Changes in δ 13C stable isotopes in multiple tissues of insect predators fed isotopically distinct prey

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Abstract

Traditionally, researchers have used measurements of carbon stable isotopes to infer the composition of consumers’ diets. However, since consumer’s tissues may process carbon isotopes differently, particularly following a diet shift, it is possible to use measurements of carbon isotopes in multiple tissues to determine not only the composition of an individual’s diet, but also the temporal dynamics thereof. This study examined how stable isotopes of carbon (13C/12C, expressed as δ 13C) changed in different adult tissues of two predacious beetles, Harmonia axyridis and Coccinella septempunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). In the laboratory, we switched ladybeetles from a C3-based diet (soybean aphids, Aphis glycines) to a C4-based one (corn leaf aphids, Rhopalosiphum maidis). The δ 13C of metabolically active tissues such as the body fat and reproductive organs changed rapidly (≤5 days) following the diet shift. Tissues expected to be more metabolically inert, such as wings, changed more slowly over the same period. Although these general patterns were largely similar between males and females, females had more rapid changes in δ 13C in fat and reproductive tissues. However, females showed a significant depletion in δ 13C after 10 days, while males’ δ 13C continued to increase. Given the results of this experiment, it is now possible to distinguish between ladybeetles eating a mixed diet (beetles with multiple tissues at similar, intermediate, equilibrial δ 13C signatures) from those that have shifted diets (beetles with different tissues at distinctly different δ 13C values). Thus, this approach can be used broadly to infer not only what constitutes the diet of a consumer, but also the temporal history of dietary intake.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Molly Carlson and Genya Erling for the many hours of dissections at the microscope, and Rick Doucett (Northern Arizona University, Colorado Plateau Stable isotope lab) for stable isotope analyses. We thank Jake Vander Zanden and Scott Myers for the many insightful comments they made to earlier drafts of this manuscript. This research was supported by the University of Wisconsin Graduate School and College of Agriculture (Hatch) awards to CG. AEF was supported by NSF pre-doctoral fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, 237 Russell Labs, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Claudio Gratton

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, 237 Russell Labs, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Andrew E. Forbes

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  1. Claudio Gratton
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  2. Andrew E. Forbes
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Correspondence to Claudio Gratton.

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Communicated by David Post

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Gratton, C., Forbes, A.E. Changes in δ 13C stable isotopes in multiple tissues of insect predators fed isotopically distinct prey. Oecologia 147, 615–624 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0322-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0322-y

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