Data from: Symbiont infection and psyllid haplotype influence phenotypic plasticity during host switching events

<p>Many herbivorous insect species exhibit phenotypic plasticity when using multiple hosts, which facilitates survival in heterogeneous host environments. Physiological host acclimation is an important part of it, yet the effects of host acclimation on insect feeding behavior are not well studied, particularly for insect vectors of plant pathogens. We studied the combined effects of host acclimation and infection with a plant pathogenic symbiont on feeding behavior of <em>Bactericera cockerelli</em>,<em> </em>an oligophagous psyllid widespread in both crop and natural habitats that feeds primarily on Solanaceae and transmits an economically important plant pathogen, <em>Candidatus</em> Liberibacter solanacearum (<em>C</em>Lso). We used a factorial design and the electrical penetration graphing technique to disentangle the effects of host acclimation, <em>C</em>Lso infection, and psyllid haplotype on the within-plant feeding behavior of <em>B. cockerelli</em> during conspecific and heterospecific host switches. This approach allows to connect phenotypic plasticity with the role of <em>B. cockerelli </em>as a vector by quantifying the frequency and duration of behaviors involved in <em>C</em>Lso transmission. We found significant reductions in multiple metrics of <em>B. cockerelli</em> feeding efficiency, exacerbated by infection with <em>C</em>Lso, which could lead to reduced transmission of this pathogen. Psyllid genotype was also important; the Central haplotype exhibited less dramatic changes in feeding efficiency than the Western haplotype during heterospecific host switches. Our study shows that host acclimation and heterospecific host switching directly alter feeding behaviors underlying pathogen transmission, and that the magnitude of feeding efficiency reductions depends on both host genotype and infection status.</p>