Climatic changes, even transient events such as heatwaves, can markedly affect crop-insect interactions. Some insects might be favored or hampered in their development, but less clearcut interactions owing to changes in their needs or in agroecosystem resource availability, including in uncultivated surrounding areas, may mediate insect-crop interactions. In Tanzania, sudden and transient devastation of vegetable fields by crickets — which are usually considered as minor pests — raised this question. In this study, we sought to gain insight into whether sudden increased temperature and alternative food availability could affect the pest status of Gryllidae spp. Feeding damage on cabbage plants was measured under three temperatures in mesocosoms in climatic chambers. Tomato fruits were provided as an alternative food source. We demonstrated that Gryllidae spp. were able to feed on young cabbage, and that the damage level increased with temperature when no alternative food was available. Unexpectedly, the presence of alternative food increases feeding on the young cabbages. This case study highlighted how increased temperature could drive increased pest damage, raising concerns about climatic events that may substantially affect plant production in Africa through the interacting effects with insect herbivory.

中文翻译：

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热量和资源可用性会影响非洲蟋蟀的害虫状况吗？

气候变化，即使是热浪等短暂事件，也会显着影响作物与昆虫的相互作用。一些昆虫在其发育过程中可能会受到青睐或受到阻碍，但由于其需求或农业生态系统资源可用性的变化，包括未开垦的周边地区，不那么明确的相互作用可能会介导昆虫与作物的相互作用。在坦桑尼亚，蟋蟀（通常被认为是次要害虫）对菜地造成的突然和短暂的破坏引发了这个问题。在这项研究中，我们试图深入了解突然升高的温度和替代食物的可用性是否会影响 Gryllidae spp 的害虫状况。在气候室的中间体中，在三种温度下测量了对卷心菜植物的摄食损害。提供番茄果实作为替代食物来源。我们证明了 Gryllidae spp。能够以年轻的卷心菜为食，并且当没有替代食物可用时，损害程度会随着温度而增加。出乎意料的是，替代食物的存在增加了对年轻卷心菜的喂养。该案例研究强调了温度升高如何导致害虫危害增加，引发了人们对气候事件的担忧，这些事件可能通过与昆虫食草动物的相互作用而显着影响非洲的植物生产。