Consequences of climate change-driven shifts in the relative timing of spring activities of interacting species are insufficiently understood, especially for insects. We use a controlled experiment which simulates a trophic mismatch scenario in which lepidopteran larvae predominately feed on older leaves due to foliage developing faster than larvae growth rates. As a case study our experiment uses Orthosia cerasi, which is a widespread but declining woodland moth whose UK declines appear to be driven by warming temperatures. In the control experiment larvae are fed young oak Quercus robur leaves (bud burst stages six and seven), whilst in the treatment newly emerged larvae are fed young leaves but then gradually transition to feed on older leaves (post bud burst stage seven). We assess impacts on duration of the larval stage, pupal size and overwintering duration and survival. Larvae in the phenological mismatch treatment had a longer larval period, and smaller and lighter pupae. Larval diet did not carry over to influence emergence dates as earlier pupation of control larvae was balanced by an equivalent increase in the duration of the pupal stage. Increased time spent as larvae could increase predation rates from avian predators, whilst slowing the seasonal decline in food availability for those bird species. Reduced pupal size and weight are indicators of lower fecundity in emerging adults. Notably, we find that adults emerging from the mismatch treatment exhibited greater rates of abnormal vestigial wing development, which is likely to further reduce fitness. Trophic mismatches in which caterpillars have reduced availability of young leaves may thus contribute to the population declines observed in many woodland moth species due to increased mortality at larval stages, and adverse effects of early life conditions that reduce the reproductive success of emerging adults.

中文翻译：

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气候变化引起的橡树不匹配和幼虫发育速率的实验模拟影响林地飞蛾的健康指标

气候变化驱动的相互作用物种春季活动的相对时间变化的后果尚不清楚，尤其是对昆虫而言。我们使用受控实验模拟营养错配场景，其中由于叶子发育速度快于幼虫生长速度，鳞翅目幼虫主要以较老的叶子为食。作为一个案例研究，我们的实验使用Orthosia cerasi，这是一种分布广泛但数量不断减少的林地蛾，其英国数量的下降似乎是由气温升高引起的。在对照实验中，幼虫被喂食年轻的橡树Quercus robur叶（芽破阶段 6 和 7），而在处理中，新出现的幼虫以嫩叶为食，然后逐渐过渡到以老叶为食（芽后阶段 7）。我们评估对幼虫阶段持续时间、蛹大小和越冬持续时间和存活的影响。物候错配处理的幼虫幼虫期更长，蛹更小更轻。幼虫饮食不会影响出现日期，因为对照幼虫的早期化蛹与蛹期持续时间的等量增加相平衡。增加幼虫的时间可能会增加鸟类捕食者的捕食率，同时减缓这些鸟类食物供应量的季节性下降。蛹的大小和重量减少是新兴成虫生育力较低的指标。尤其，我们发现从错配治疗中出现的成年人表现出更高的异常退化翅膀发育率，这可能会进一步降低健康。由于幼虫阶段死亡率增加以及早期生活条件的不利影响，毛毛虫幼叶的可用性减少，因此在许多林地蛾类中观察到的种群数量下降可能导致毛毛虫幼叶数量减少的营养不匹配。