Chemical cues and genetic divergence in insects on plants: conceptual cross pollination between mutualistic and antagonistic systems

Abstract

Cascading or reciprocal genetic diversification of herbivores, parasitoids, and pollinators can track chemotypic variation in host resources, and can lead to non-overlapping communities. Because plants simultaneously interact with both pollinators and herbivores, models investigating the genetic divergence of antagonistic herbivores and mutualistic pollinators should be merged in order to study how both processes interact using a common conceptual and methodological approach. We expect insects to mediate divergence in many systems, with outcomes depending on the level of pollinator or herbivore specialisation, and the relative selective pressures they impose. Applying approaches widely used to study insect pollinators, for example genomic tools and integration of behavioural, genetic and chemical data, to both pollinators and herbivores in the same system will facilitate our understanding of patterns of genetic divergence across multiple interacting species.