Because plant phenotypes can change in response to attacks by herbivores in highly variable ways, the distribution of herbivores depends on the occurrence of other herbivore species on the same plant. We carried out a field study to evaluate the co-occurrence of three coconut pests, the mites Aceria guerreronis (Acari: Eriophyidae), Steneotarsonemus concavuscutum (Acari: Tarsonemidae) and the moth Atheloca bondari (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). The eriophyid mite Ac. guerreronis is the most important coconut pest around the world, whereas S. concavuscutum and At. bondari are economically important only in some areas along the Brazilian coast. A previous study suggested that the necrosis caused by Ac. guerreronis facilitates the infestation of At. bondari larvae. Because all three species infest the area under the perianths on coconuts and S. concavuscutum also causes necrosis that could facilitate At. bondari, we evaluated the co-occurrence of all three species. We found that the occurrence of At. bondari was positively associated with Ac. guerreronis, but negatively associated with S. concavuscutum. In addition, the two mite species showed negative co-occurrence. Atheloca bondari was found on nuts of all ages, but more on nuts that had fallen than on those on the trees, suggesting that nuts infested by At. bondari tend to fall more frequently. We discuss the status of At. bondari as a pest and discuss experiments to test the causes of these co-occurrence patterns.

中文翻译：

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害虫的田间分布模式受到其他食草动物存在的不对称影响

由于植物表型可以以高度可变的方式响应食草动物的攻击而发生变化，因此食草动物的分布取决于同一植物上其他食草动物物种的出现。我们进行了一项实地研究，以评估三种椰子害虫（螨虫）的共存情况醋栗（螨类：Eriophyidae），凹面窄尾蝽(Acari: Tarsonemidae) 和飞蛾Atheloca 邦达里（鳞翅目：Pyralidae）。粉螨交流。格雷罗尼斯是世界上最重要的椰子害虫，而S. concavuscutum和在。邦达里仅在巴西海岸的某些地区具有经济重要性。先前的一项研究表明，由交流。格雷罗尼斯有利于感染在。邦达里幼虫。因为这三个物种都侵染了椰子和花被下的区域S. concavuscutum也会导致坏死，从而促进在。邦达里，我们评估了所有三个物种的共存。我们发现发生在。邦达里呈正相关交流。格雷罗尼斯, 但与S. concavuscutum. 此外，这两种螨种表现出负共生。Atheloca 邦达里在所有年龄的坚果上都发现了，但在掉落的坚果上比在树上的坚果多，这表明坚果感染了在。邦达里倾向于更频繁地跌倒。我们讨论的状态在。邦达里作为害虫并讨论实验以测试这些共现模式的原因。