Data for: Intraspecific variation for host immune activation by the spider mite Tetranychus evansi

<p>Many parasites can interfere with their host's defences to maximize their fitness. Here, we investigated if there is heritable variation in the spider mite <em>Tetranychus</em> <em>evansi</em> for traits associated with how they interact with their host plant. We also determined if this variation correlates with mite fecundity. <em>Tetranychus</em> <em>evansi</em> can interfere with jasmonate (JA) defences which are the main determinant of anti-herbivore immunity in plants. We investigated (i) variation in fecundity in the presence and absence of JA defences, making use of a wild-type tomato cultivar and a JA-deficient mutant (<em>defenseless</em>-<em>1</em>), and (ii) variation in the induction of JA defences, in four <em>T. evansi</em> field populations and 59 inbred lines created from an outbred population originating from controlled crosses of the four field populations. We observed a strong positive genetic correlation between fecundity in the presence (on wild-type) and the absence of JA defences (on <em>defenseless</em>-<em>1</em>). However, fecundity did not correlate with the magnitude of induced JA defences in wild-type plants. Our results suggest that the performance of the specialist <em>T. evansi</em> is not related to their ability to manipulate plant defences, either because all lines can adequately reduce levels of defences, or because they are resistant to them.</p>