Warming affects hatching time and early season survival of eastern tent caterpillars

Climate change is disrupting species interactions by altering the timing of phenological events such as budburst for plants and hatching for insects. We combined field observations with laboratory manipulations to investigate the consequences of climate warming on the phenology and performance of the eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum). We evaluated the effects of warmer winter and spring regimes on caterpillar hatching patterns and starvation endurance, traits likely to be under selection in populations experiencing phenological asynchrony, using individuals from two different populations (Washington, DC, and Roswell, GA). We also quantified the proximate and extended fitness effects of early food deprivation and recorded spring phenology of local caterpillars and their host plants. In addition, we conducted laboratory assays to determine if caterpillars are using plant chemical cues to fine-tune their hatching times. Warmer winter temperatures induced earlier hatching and caterpillars from GA survived starvation for periods that were 30% longer than caterpillars from DC. Warmer spring regimes reduced the starvation endurance of caterpillars overwintering in the wild but not in the laboratory. Early starvation dramatically reduced hatchling survival; however, surviving caterpillars did not show detrimental effects on pupal mass or development time. In the field, hatching preceded budburst in both 2013 and 2014 and the period of optimal foliage quality was 2 weeks shorter in 2013. Hatching time was unaffected by exposure to plant volatiles. Overall, we found that warmer temperatures can trigger late-season asynchrony by accelerating plant phenology and caterpillars from different populations exhibit differential abilities to cope with environmental unreliability.