Heatwave ontogenetic timing impacts on potato crop-pest dynamics

Heat waves – brief periods of unusually high temperatures­­ – are damaging
to agroecosystems and are increasing in frequency and intensity due to
climate change. Despite growing appreciation for the threat that heat
waves pose pose to agricultural sustainability, we have a poor
understanding of what determines their impact on agroecological
interactions in the field. Here we report a field experiment that examined
how heat waves and their timing interact with crop pest resistance to
influence the interactions between potato (Solanum tuberosum) and its most
damaging pest, the Colorado potato beetle (CPB; Leptinotarsa
decemlineata). We used open-top chambers and ceramic heaters to generate
heat wave conditions in field plots with pest-resistant (Atlantic) and
-susceptible (King Harry) potato varieties at four CPB developmental
stages (neonate, late-larval, pupa, and adult stages). We then assessed
CPB performance at larval and adult stages, leaf herbivory, and tuber
yield.