A plant, a pest, and predators: Toxin sequestration in spotted lanternfly and its effects on predator-prey interactions in North America

Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula (White), Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) is a polyphagous planthopper that was first found in the United States in 2014 and threatens the viticultural, ornamental, and timber industries. It coevolved in Southeast Asia with its preferred host, the invasive tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), from which it can sequester toxins for use as a defense. We used a community science approach to determine what predators were feeding on spotted lanternfly in North America, including many species of generalist arthropod and bird predators. We also found that behaviors these predators displayed when feeding on spotted lanternfly were related to the type of predator, the life stage of the lanternflies, and the known host plants of the lanternflies. We further investigated how spotted lanternfly’s access to tree of heaven affected the preferences of arthropod and bird predators. We found that arthropod predators did not show a feeding preference between lanternflies that had not fed on tree of heaven and those that had, while birds preferred to feed on lanternflies that had not fed on tree of heaven throughout the lanternfly life cycle. Finally, we used LC-MS/MS to identify what quassinoids spotted lanternfly are capable of sequestering, when during their life cycle sequestration occurs, and where in the body toxins are stored. We found that ailanthone was the most abundant of our quassinoids, the highest concentrations of quassinoids were present in the adults and early nymphal stages, and the highest concentrations of quassinoids were present in the salivary glands and gut.