scholarly journals Aphids harbouring different endosymbionts exhibit differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles that can be recognized by ant mutualists

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Hertaeg ◽  
Marion Risse ◽  
Christoph Vorburger ◽  
Consuelo M. De Moraes ◽  
Mark C. Mescher
Keyword(s):  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Aphis Fabae ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Communicative Interactions ◽  
Linear Alkanes ◽  
Hamiltonella Defensa

AbstractCuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have important communicative functions for ants, which use CHC profiles to recognize mutualistic aphid partners. Aphid endosymbionts can influence the quality of their hosts as ant mutualists, via effects on honeydew composition, and might also affect CHC profiles, suggesting that ants could potentially use CHC cues to discriminate among aphid lines harbouring different endosymbionts. We explored how several strains of Hamiltonella defensa and Regiella insecticola influence the CHC profiles of host aphids (Aphis fabae) and the ability of aphid-tending ants (Lasius niger) to distinguish the profiles of aphids hosting different endosymbionts. We found significant compositional differences between the CHCs of aphids with different infections. Some endosymbionts changed the proportions of odd-chain linear alkanes, while others changed primarily methyl-branched compounds, which may be particularly important for communication. Behavioural assays, in which we trained ants to associate CHC profiles of endosymbiont infected or uninfected aphids with food rewards, revealed that ants readily learned to distinguish differences in aphid CHC profiles associated with variation in endosymbiont strains. While previous work has documented endosymbiont effects on aphid interactions with antagonists, the current findings support the hypothesis that endosymbionts also alter traits that influence communicative interactions with ant mutualists.

Effects of the Ant, Lasius niger (L.), on the Behaviour and Reproduction of the Black Bean Aphid, Aphis fabae Scop

1958 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Banks
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Aphis Fabae ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Average Difference ◽  
Young Plant ◽  
Black Bean ◽  
Bean Plants ◽  
Aphid Populations

SummaryCage experiments confirmed that, in the absence of natural enemies, populations of Aphis fabae Scop., attended on bean plants (Vicia faba) by the ant, Lasius niger (L.), multiply more rapidly than otherwise similar but ant-free populations. The average difference in numbers recorded, was about one-third, the maximum being 70 per cent. No doubling or trebling of aphid numbers as claimed by an earlier worker was ever recorded.When the Aphids are attended by ants, their excretion behaviour alters and the normal dispersal of the apterae from the young apical growth of bean plants is considerably delayed.No significant differences were found between the numbers of nymphs produced by individual Aphids from ant-visited and ant-free plants, respectively, living on leaves of the same age; but the numbers were significantly affected by the age of the leaf or part of the plant on which the Aphids had developed or were then feeding.It is suggested that ant-attended aphid populations multiply more rapidly because most of the Aphids feed for a much longer time on young plant tissue where, presumably, their food supply is more nutritious.

scholarly journals Cuticular hydrocarbons discriminate cryptic Macrolophus species (Hemiptera: Miridae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Gemeno ◽  
N. Laserna ◽  
M. Riba ◽  
J. Valls ◽  
C. Castañé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Cross Validation ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Hydrocarbon Composition ◽  
Dark Spot ◽  
Prediction Errors ◽  
Control Activity ◽  
Genetic Studies

AbstractMacrolophus pygmaeus is commercially employed in the biological control of greenhouse and field vegetable pests. It is morphologically undistinguishable from the cryptic species M. melanotoma, and this interferes with the evaluation of the biological control activity of M. pygmaeus. We analysed the potential of cuticular hydrocarbon composition as a method to discriminate the two Macrolophus species. A third species, M. costalis, which is different from the other two species by having a dark spot at the tip of the scutellum, served as a control. Sex, diet and species, all had significant effects in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, but the variability associated to sex or diet was smaller than among species. Discriminant quadratic analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons confirmed the results of previous molecular genetic studies and showed, using cross-validation methods, that M. pygmaeus can be discriminated from M. costalis and M. melanotoma with prediction errors of 6.75% and 0%, respectively. Therefore, cuticular hydrocarbons can be used to separate M. pygmaeus from M. melanotoma reliably.

Effects of the Ant, Lasius Niger L., on the Feeding and Excretion of the Bean Aphid, Aphis Fabae Scop

1958 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. BANKS ◽  
H. L. NIXON
Keyword(s):  
Vicia Faba ◽  
Aphis Fabae ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Water Culture ◽  
Bean Plants ◽  
Normal Feeding ◽  
Plant Sap

1. To test the idea of Herzig (1937) that the excretion and feeding rates of aphids are stimulated by attendant ants, bean plants (Vicia faba), on which groups of nymphs of Aphis fabae were feeding, were made radioactive with 32P in water culture, so that the aphids took up the isotope and excreted it in their honeydew. The radioactivity of the honeydew taken from them by attendant Lasius niger was then compared with that of the honeydew excreted concurrently by unattended control aphids on separate plants. 2. By increasing their uptake of plant sap the ant-attended aphids produced twice as much radioactivity in their excreta as did the ant-free aphids. 3. The aphids directly control their rates of excretion and feeding, which are not determined solely by forces within the plant. 4. The aphid apparently controls its feeding by the ‘sucking pump’ in its head. It is suggested that the pump is normally closed but that periodically it opens to admit sap into its lumen and then closes ventrally to force the ingested sap into the stomach. During normal feeding the pump probably opens and closes at regular intervals; but when the aphid is ant-attended it could operated more frequently so as to force sap into the stomach more often. The uptake of sap by normally feeding aphids is apparently not continuous.

scholarly journals Identification of an ant queen pheromone regulating worker sterility

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1701) ◽  
pp. 3793-3800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Holman ◽  
Charlotte G. Jørgensen ◽  
John Nielsen ◽  
Patrizia d'Ettorre
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Queen Pheromone ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
Selective Forces ◽  
The Right ◽  
Worker Sterility ◽  
Reproductive Division

The selective forces that shape and maintain eusocial societies are an enduring puzzle in evolutionary biology. Ordinarily sterile workers can usually reproduce given the right conditions, so the factors regulating reproductive division of labour may provide insight into why eusociality has persisted over evolutionary time. Queen-produced pheromones that affect worker reproduction have been implicated in diverse taxa, including ants, termites, wasps and possibly mole rats, but to date have only been definitively identified in the honeybee. Using the black garden ant Lasius niger , we isolate the first sterility-regulating ant queen pheromone. The pheromone is a cuticular hydrocarbon that comprises the majority of the chemical profile of queens and their eggs, and also affects worker behaviour, by reducing aggression towards objects bearing the pheromone. We further show that the pheromone elicits a strong response in worker antennae and that its production by queens is selectively reduced following an immune challenge. These results suggest that the pheromone has a central role in colony organization and support the hypothesis that worker sterility represents altruistic self-restraint in response to an honest quality signal.

scholarly journals How do cuticular hydrocarbons evolve? Physiological constraints and climatic and biotic selection pressures act on a complex functional trait

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1850) ◽  
pp. 20161727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Menzel ◽  
Bonnie B. Blaimer ◽  
Thomas Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Biotic Factors ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Physiological Constraints ◽  
Communication Signal ◽  
Linear Alkanes ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
Associated Species ◽  
Cuticular Layer

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) cover the cuticles of virtually all insects, serving as a waterproofing agent and as a communication signal. The causes for the high CHC variation between species, and the factors influencing CHC profiles, are scarcely understood. Here, we compare CHC profiles of ant species from seven biogeographic regions, searching for physiological constraints and for climatic and biotic selection pressures. Molecule length constrained CHC composition: long-chain profiles contained fewer linear alkanes, but more hydrocarbons with disruptive features in the molecule. This is probably owing to selection on the physiology to build a semi-fluid cuticular layer, which is necessary for waterproofing and communication. CHC composition also depended on the precipitation in the ants' habitats. Species from wet climates had more alkenes and fewer dimethyl alkanes than those from drier habitats, which can be explained by different waterproofing capacities of these compounds. By contrast, temperature did not affect CHC composition. Mutualistically associated (parabiotic) species possessed profiles highly distinct from non-associated species. Our study is, to our knowledge, the first to show systematic impacts of physiological, climatic and biotic factors on quantitative CHC composition across a global, multi-species dataset. We demonstrate how they jointly shape CHC profiles, and advance our understanding of the evolution of this complex functional trait in insects.

Rapid up- and down-regulation of pheromone signalling due to trail crowding in the ant Lasius niger

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (5) ◽  
pp. 669-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomer J. Czaczkes ◽  
Christoph Grüter ◽  
Francis L.W. Ratnieks
Keyword(s):  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Glass Beads ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Baseline Levels ◽  
Line Level ◽  
Pheromone Signalling ◽  
Repeat Visits ◽  
Pheromone Trail

Social insects often respond to signals and cues from nest-mates, and these responses may include changes in the information they, in turn, transmit. During foraging, Lasius niger deposits a pheromone trail to recruit nestmates, and ants that experience trail crowding deposit pheromone less often. Less studied, however, is the time taken for signalling to revert to baseline levels after conditions have returned to baseline levels. In this paper we study the behaviour of L. niger foragers on a trail in which crowding is simulated by using dummy ants — black glass beads coated in nestmate cuticular hydrocarbons. Ants were allowed to make four repeat visits to a feeder with dummy ants, and thus crowding, being present on the trail on all visits (CCCC), none (UUUU) or only the first two (CCUU). If dummy ants were always present (CCCC), pheromone deposition probability was low in the first two visits (54% of ants deposited pheromone) and remained low in visits 3 and 4 (51%). If dummy ants were never present (UUUU) pheromone deposition probability was high in the first two visits (93%) and remained high in visits 3 and 4 (83%). If dummy ants were present on the first two visits but removed on the second two visits (CCUU) pheromone deposition probability was low in the first two visits (61%) but rose in the second two visits (69%). This demonstrates that even after pheromone deposition has been down-regulated due to crowding in the first two visits, it is rapidly up-regulated when crowding is reduced, although it does not immediately return to the base line level.

scholarly journals Time flies: time of day and social environment affect cuticular hydrocarbon sexual displays in Drosophila serrata

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1792) ◽  
pp. 20140821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan N. Gershman ◽  
Ethan Toumishey ◽  
Howard D. Rundle
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Temporal Changes ◽  
Temporal Patterning ◽  
Drosophila Serrata

Recent work on Drosophila cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) challenges a historical assumption that CHCs in flies are largely invariant. Here, we examine the effect of time of day and social environment on a suite of sexually selected CHCs in Drosophila serrata . We demonstrate that males become more attractive to females during the time of day that flies are most active and when most matings occur, but females become less attractive to males during the same time of day. These opposing temporal changes may reflect differences in selection among the sexes. To evaluate the effect of social environment on male CHC attractiveness, we manipulated male opportunity for mating: male flies were housed either alone, with five females, with five males or with five males and five females. We found that males had the most attractive CHCs when with females, and less attractive CHCs when with competitor males. Social environment mediated how male CHC attractiveness cycled: males housed with females and/or other males showed temporal changes in CHC attractiveness, whereas males housed alone did not. In total, our results demonstrate temporal patterning of male CHCs that is dependent on social environment, and suggest that such changes may be beneficial to males.

The control of migratory urge in aphis fabae scopoli (hemiptera: aphididae)

1986 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. C. Kidd ◽  
A. M. Cleaver
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Aphis Fabae ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Free Flight ◽  
Settling Behaviour ◽  
Nutritive Quality ◽  
Tethered Flight ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Sedentary Activities

AbstractSome flightworthy alate exules of Aphis fabae Scopoli reproduce before taking off while others do not. This difference in behaviour is influenced by crowding and has previously been taken as an indication of the urge to migrate, although it has never been conclusively demonstrated. In this study, the flight performance of those aphids depositing some nymphs before take-off (‘flyers’) was compared with those which did not (‘migrants’). In fact, no significant difference was found between migrants and flyers in any of the aspects of post-take-off flight or settling behaviour tested. In tethered flight, large alatae flew for longer than small ones, irrespective of their pre-flight reproductive behaviour. In free flight, however, large alatae flew for a shorter period before actively landing on a plant. Large alatae were also subsequently more reluctant to leave the plant than small alatae, spending more time in sedentary activities such as probing and less time preparing to take off. It is concluded, therefore, that migratory urge is related more to aphid size, a product of plant nutritive quality, than to take-off urge, as measured by pre-flight reproductive behaviour. However, as high population densities tend to occur when the nutritional quality of the host is declining, take-off urge and migratory urge are likely to be synchronized in the field.

Effets d'un élevage en isolement sur le développement gonadotrope, la production d'hydrocarbures cuticulaires et le comportement sexuel de Calliphora vomitoria (Diptères, Calliphoridae)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taoufiq Benziane ◽  
Mireille Campan
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Comportement Sexuel ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Physiological Variables ◽  
Rate Of Growth ◽  
Lack Of Exercise ◽  
Lower Frequencies

Isolated rearing (during the first gonadotropic cycle) was found to modify physiological variables (gonadotropic development, cuticular hydrocarbon production) as well as behavioral modalities of the courtship of male and female Calliphora vomitoria. In males, slower development and a decrease in the volume of the testes and the annex glands were noticed; in females, there was only a reduction in the volume of the terminal follicle without modification of the rate of growth. In contrast, cuticular hydrocarbon production was more disturbed in the female than in the male. Isolated rearing of males did not change either the number or the relative proportions and concentrations of cuticular hydrocarbons. In females, isolation was accompanied by a slight increase in both the relative proportions of cuticular hydrocarbons, namely monomethyalkanes, dimethylalkanes, and alkenes, and the concentrations of all hydrocarbons. Finally, isolated rearing was found to modify the sexual behavior of both partners. Isolated males showed later and scarcer sexual behavior than grouped males. They courted females later and more briefly, with lower frequencies and shorter durations of each stage of courtship; therefore, courtship was reduced with many interruptions. Isolated females appeared more permissive, with lower frequencies and durations of the stages of courtship, and shorter courtship. These differences were emphasized when both partners were reared in isolation. The lack of exchanges during imaginal development led, owing to lack of exercise and (or) nervous maturation, to sex-specific alterations: decreased gonadotropic development in males, modified cuticular hydrocarbon production in females, and reduced sexual behavior in both sexes.

Preschoolers' communication during scripted interactions

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE J. SHORT-MEYERSON ◽  
LEONARD J. ABBEDUTO
Keyword(s):  
Pretend Play ◽  
The Other ◽  
Good Communication ◽  
Mutual Knowledge ◽  
Communicative Interactions ◽  
Mismatched Condition ◽  
Communicative Effectiveness

The communicative interactions of 15 dyads of four- to five-year-olds during pretend play involving routine, or scripted, events were investigated as a function of the children's knowledge of the scripts. Measures of the quantity and quality of interaction and the strategies that the children used to establish mutual knowledge (i.e. assess and adapt to their discourse partner's level of expertise), which is essential to good communication, were examined. Each dyad participated in a MATCHED condition (both members had extensive knowledge of the script) and a MISMATCHED condition (one member had extensive script knowledge and the other did not). Shared script knowledge facilitated communicative interactions, as indicated by more topic maintenance and fewer requests for clarification in the matched condition than in the mismatched condition. The children attempted to establish mutual knowledge more frequently in the mismatched condition than in the matched condition and, moreover, mutual knowledge establishment was related to the children's communicative effectiveness.

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