Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : The aim of this study is to assess the impact of drought on insect-tree relationships. Survival and feeding performances of leaf-beetles, Chrysomela populi put in cages with leaves of host-plants submitted to different levels of water stress were compared. Ninety 1-year-old poplar (Populus × euramericana) cuttings were grown in a greenhouse, and distributed into 3 groups submitted to different water treatments during six weeks. Adult C. populi were then encaged for four days with these cuttings, together with the five terminal leaves of a twig. Beetle survival and consumed leaf areas were then determined. Predawn leaf water potential values indicated that the drought treatments induced different levels of plant water stress. Plant height growth and total leaf numbers were reduced by plant stress. Beetle survival and leaf areas eaten were also reduced proportionally to plant water deficit. In conclusion, this experiment suggests that drought has a negative impact on C. populi survival and feeding. © INRA, EDP Sciences, 2010.