Question 1

How is the caterpillar data collected?

Accepted Answer

We use a method called 'branch beating' to dislodge all caterpillars from a number of marked branches at each site. Any caterpillars that are dislodged are preserved in ethanol, and then a sample is taken for DNA sequencing

More information about the branch beating technique can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1086/705241

Question 2

What caterpillar species are included in the analysis?

Accepted Answer

The top 20 most abundant species that are included in the analysis are (in order of decreasing number of samples):

Operophtera brumata    
Agriopis aurantiaria   
Operophtera fagata     
Ypsolopha ustella      
Erannis defoliaria
Orthosia cerasi        
Cosmia trapezina       
Epirrita christyi      
Conistra vaccinii      
Agriopis marginaria    
Phigalia pilosaria     
Pandemis cerasana      
Orthosia incerta       
Ypsolopha parenthesella
Eupsilia transversa    
Orthosia gothica       
Epirrita autumnata     
Agriopis leucophaearia
Hydriomena furcata     
Campaea margaritaria

Question 3

References (1/3)

Accepted Answer

(1)	Thackeray SJ, Henrys PA, Hemming D, et al. Phenological sensitivity to climate across taxa and trophic levels. Nature. 2016;535(7611):241-245. doi:10.1038/nature18608

(2) Roslin T, Antão L, Hällfors M, et al. Phenological shifts of abiotic events, producers and consumers across a continent. Nat Clim Change. 2021;11(3):241-248. doi:10.1038/s41558-020-00967-7

(3) Burgess MD, Smith KW, Evans KL, et al. Tritrophic phenological match–mismatch in space and time. Nat Ecol Evol. 2018;2(6):970-975. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0543-1

Question 4

References (2/3)

Accepted Answer

(4)	van Asch M, Visser ME. Phenology of forest caterpillars and their host trees: the importance of synchrony. Annu Rev Entomol. 2007;52:37-55. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091418

(5) Charmantier A, McCleery RH, Cole LR, Perrins C, Kruuk LEB, Sheldon BC. Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity in Response to Climate Change in a Wild Bird Population. Science. 2008;320(5877):800-803. doi:10.1126/science.1157174

(6) Macphie KH, Samplonius JM, Pick JL, Hadfield JD, Phillimore AB. Modelling thermal sensitivity in the full phenological distribution: A new approach applied to the spring arboreal caterpillar peak. Funct Ecol. 2023;37(12):3015-3026. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14436

Question 5

References (3/3)

Accepted Answer

(7) Shutt JD, Burgess MD, Phillimore AB. A Spatial Perspective on the Phenological Distribution of the Spring Woodland Caterpillar Peak. Am Nat. 2019;194(5):E109-E121. doi:10.1086/705241

(8) Visser ME, Holleman LJM. Warmer springs disrupt the synchrony of oak and winter moth phenology. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2001;268(1464):289-294. doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1363

(9) Weir JC, Phillimore AB. Buffering and phenological mismatch: A change of perspective. Glob Change Biol. 2024;30(5):e17294. doi:10.1111/gcb.17294

Megan A. Stamp

PhD student in the Phenolab at the University of Edinburgh.

BES 2025

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