Phenotypic Plasticity of Plant Development under the Influence of a Herbivore and an Immunomodulator using the Example of the Cucumber–Spider Mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acarina, Tetranychidae) Consortial System
摘要
Treatment with the immunomodulator Zircon significantly reduced the density of granddaughter and great-granddaughter generations of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, but not its daughter generation on both constitutively resistant and susceptible cucumber varieties in the growing experiment. The duration of development of the daughter generation probably corresponded to that of plant priming, i.e., the initial phase of resistance induction. The combined effect of Zircon and the pest during priming reduced the autonomy of plant modules in the susceptible cucumber variety. As a result, under the increasing effect of two stress factors (the pest and competition for light), the parameters of plant architectonics showed a strong negative correlation with the density of the daughter mite generation, but a strong positive correlation with the cucumber yield.