Impacts on Insect and Mite Pests - Climate Resilient Agriculture for Ensuring Food Security - page 133

Table 7.8 Published reports on empirical studies on crop-insect pest interactions in the context of climate change

Climatic factor(s)
studied Insect pest Order/family Host plant(s) Impact on host plant Impact on insect pest References

Many foliage feeding
Lepidopterans

Lepidoptera:
Lymantriidae,
Noctuidae,
Pyralidae

Economically
important
agricultural and
forest species

Increased CO 2 Reduced nitrogen content of

the plant tissue due to
widening of C/N ratio

Enhanced feeding by insects in
order to obtain suffi cient
nitrogen for their metabolism

Coviella and
Trumble
( 1999 )

Decrease in nitrogen-based
plant defenses like alkaloids

Slower development

Increase in carbon-based
defenses such as tannins

Increased length of life stages
More foliage feeding than
normal

Less stomatal opening Extension of plant life spans Reitz et al.

( 1997 )

Increased water use effi ciency Ease in nutrient assimilation

and digestion especially the
nitrogen

Reduced water loss through
stomata

Longer periods of habitat
suitability for insects

Gypsy moth, Lymantria
dispar

Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae

Red maple, ( Acer
rubrum ) , sugar
maple, ( Acer
saccharum )

Temperature x CO 2
combination
(ambient and
elevated)

Reduced leaf water content Reduced larval weight gain Williams et al.

( 2000 )

Increased concentration of
soluble sugars

Increased larval feeding

Declined nutritional quality
of foliage

Prolonged development

Midge ( Stenodiplosis
sorghicola ) and spotted
stem borer ( Chilo
partellus )

Diptera:
Cecidomyiidae

Jowar, Sorghum
bicolor

High temperature,
drought/water
stress

Breakdown of resistance
against target insect pests

- Sharma et al.

( 2005 , 2010 )

Lepidoptera:
Pyralidae

Heavy loss in yield due to
increased pest damage

Bollworms, Heliothis
virescens, Helicoverpa
armigera , and H.
punctigera

Lepidoptera:
Noctuidae

Cotton High temperature,

drought/water
stress, photoperiod

Negative impacts on transgene
expression in Bt cotton

- Kaiser (1996) ,

Hilder and
Boulter ( 1999 )

Reduced production of
Bt toxins
Enhanced susceptibility
of crops to insect pests