Data from: Variable effects of temperature on insect herbivory

Rising temperatures can influence the top-down control of plant biomass by
increasing herbivore metabolic demands. Unfortunately, we know relatively
little about the effects of temperature on herbivory rates for most insect
herbivores in a given community. Evolutionary history, adaptation to local
environments, and dietary factors may lead to variable thermal response
curves across different species. Here we characterized the effect of
temperature on herbivory rates for 21 herbivore-plant pairs, encompassing
14 herbivore and 12 plant species. We show that overall consumption rates
increase with temperature between 20 and 30 C but do not increase further
with increasing temperature. However, there is substantial variation in
thermal responses among individual herbivore-plant pairs at the highest
temperatures. Over one third of the herbivore-plant pairs showed declining
consumption rates at high temperatures, while an approximately equal
number showed increasing consumption rates. Such variation existed even
within herbivore species, as some species exhibited idiosyncratic thermal
response curves on different host plants. Thus, rising temperatures,
particularly with respect to climate change, may have highly variable
effects on plant-herbivore interactions and, ultimately, top-down control
of plant biomass.