Data from: Temperature alters the toxicological impacts of plant terpenoids on the polyphagous model herbivore Vanessa cardui

Terpenes are a major class of secondary metabolites present in all plants,
and long hypothesized to have diversified in response to specific
plant-herbivore interactions. Herbivory is a major biotic interaction that
plays out across broad temporal and spatial scales that vary dramatically
in temperature regimes, both due to climatic variation across geographic
locations as well as the effect of seasonality. In addition, there is an
emerging understanding that global climate change will continue to alter
the temperature regimes of nearly every habitat on Earth over the coming
centuries. Regardless of source, variation in temperature may influence
herbivory, in particular via changes in the efficacy and impacts of plant
defensive chemistry. This study aims to characterize temperature-driven
variation in toxicological effects across several structural classes of
terpenes in the model herbivore Vanessa cardui, the painted lady
butterfly. We observed a general increase in monoterpene toxicity to
larvae, pupa, and adults at higher temperatures, as well as an increase in
development time as terpene concentration increased. Results obtained from
this study yield insights into possible drivers of seasonal variation in
plant terpene production as well as inform effects of rising global
temperatures on plant-insect interactions. In the context of other known
effects of climate change on plant-herbivore interactions like carbon
fertilization and compensatory feeding, temperature-driven changes in
plant chemical defense efficacy may further complicate the prediction of
climate change impacts on the fundamental ecological process of herbivory.

萜类（terpenes）是广泛存在于所有植物中的一类主要次生代谢产物，长期以来被推测其多样性演化是为了响应特定的植物-植食性昆虫互作。
植食作用是一类重要的生物互作过程，其发生的时间与空间跨度极广，温度环境差异显著——这种差异既源于不同地理区域的气候变异，也受季节周期性的影响。
此外，学界逐渐形成共识：未来数个世纪内，全球气候变化将持续改变地球上几乎所有生境的温度环境。
无论温度变异的来源为何，其均可能通过改变植物防御化学物质的效力与影响，进而对植食作用产生调控作用。
本研究以模式植食性昆虫小红蛱蝶（Vanessa cardui）为对象，旨在解析温度驱动下，数种结构类群萜类的毒理学效应变化。
我们观测到：随着温度升高，单萜（monoterpene）对幼虫、蛹及成虫的毒性普遍增强；同时，萜类浓度升高会导致昆虫发育时长增加。
本研究结果既为植物萜类合成的季节变异潜在驱动因素提供了新见解，也可为全球升温对植物-昆虫互作的影响提供理论参考。
结合气候变化对植物-植食性昆虫互作的其他已知效应（如碳肥化与补偿取食），温度驱动的植物化学防御效力变化，可能会进一步增加预测气候变化对植食作用这一核心生态过程影响的难度。