All: The "thread" on specialist juveniles, generalist adults is a fascinating subject itself, and I don't want to throw it off track. But I would like to learn more about the roots of the phenomenon.
For starters, can someone illuminate the issue of just how specialization, at any level, is more adaptive than generalization? However, I'm thinking more of species-specific relationships (for the sake of simplicity, shall we confine the initial discussion to adults?) in principle rather than as (an apparent) developmental phenomenon alone. The central question is, though, how all of these observed phenomena are related and not related. Thanks to you all for your continuing assistance in my education, and again to Dr. Inouye for maintaining this list. Best wishes for the new year (decade, century, millennia--if they come). WT At 12:18 PM 12/22/2006, Buffington, Matt wrote: >Don, >I'm certainly not an expert on this either but I believe some freshwater >mussels fit your scenario. Many have a specific fish host as glochidia >then become more generic filter feeders. > >Matt Buffington, Statewide Environmental Biologist >Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources >Division of Fish and Wildlife >402 W. Washington St., Room W273 >Indianapolis, IN 46204 > >Phone: 317-234-0586 >Cell: 317-430-4350 >Fax: 317-232-8150 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dan Herms >Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 8:17 AM >To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU >Subject: Re: specialist juveniles, generalist adults > >Don > >Another example is Japanese beetle. Larvae feed only on roots of some >grasses. Adults, which feed on foliage, are highly polyphagous. Many >parasitic hymenoptera are similar to butterflies in that they have a >very specific larval host but are generalist nectar feeders as adults. > >Dan > >At 07:06 PM 12/21/2006, Liane Cochran-Stafira wrote: > >Don, > >The parasite that causes schistosomyosis Schistosoma manzoni has > >several different hosts before it finally enters the human liver. This > > >isn't quite the same as host specific juveniles and generalist adults, > >but it does show change in hosts during development. > > > >Butterflies provide many examples of of host specific juveniles growing > > >into generalist adults. The monarch caterpillar is pretty much limited > > >to milkweed (although I have seen them on parsly in my garden), while > >the adult butterflies use a wide variety of plants. For the Karner > >Blue butterfly, there is only one host for the caterpillars, the wild > >lupine. Again, the adults use many plants. > > > >Liane > > > > > >At 12:23 PM 12/21/2006, Don Schoolmaster wrote: > > >Ecolog-L community, > > > > > >I am looking for information on parasites or herbivores whose host > > >range changes through ontogeny. Specifically, is the phenomenon of > > >host specific juveniles growing into generalist adults common? Does > > >anyone know of any specific examples? This topic is a bit out of my > > >field and I fear I am searching under the wrong terms. > > > > > >Thanks > > >Don S. > > > >*************************** > >Liane Cochran-Stafira, Ph.D. > >Associate Professor > >Department of Biology > >Saint Xavier University > >3700 West 103rd Street > >Chicago, Illinois 60655 > > > >phone: 773-298-3514 > >fax: 773-298-3536 > >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >http://faculty.sxu.edu/~cochran/ > >*************************************************** >Daniel A. Herms >Associate Professor >Department of Entomology >The Ohio State University >Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center 1680 Madison Ave. >Wooster, OH 44691 >office: 330-202-3506 >cell: 330-749-5453 >fax: 330-263-3686 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
