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Can ecological interactions drive evolutionary outcomes? Evidence from insect host shifts between parasitic and non-parasitic plants
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DOI：10.1098/rspb.2026.0100.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Phytophagous insects have specialized on virtually every plant lineage. Parasitic plants, however, are uncommon hosts. Among insects, only a single lineage of weevils, the Smicronychini, has successfully radiated on both parasitic and non-parasitic plants in a large panel of distantly related Asterid families. This unusual pattern suggests that major host plant shifts have occurred over the course of their diversification. Through the analysis of a phylogenomic dataset, we reconstruct for the first time their evolutionary history and ancestral host-plant repertoire. Our results show that independent host plant shifts occurred both from parasitic to non-parasitic hosts and between distinct parasitic lineages. These results suggest that host shift mechanisms can be driven by ecological opportunities provided by plant-plant interactions. This first evidence of extreme insect host plant shifts, apparently mediated by parasitic plant-plant interactions, emphasizes the core importance of ecological interactions as driving forces behind insect host plant shifts.
Keywords:
Cuscuta
Curculionidae
host plant shift
parasitic plants
phylogenomics
phytophagous insects
plant-insect interactions
plant-plant interactions
target capture
coevolution
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