Towards more intimacy: moderate elevation of temperature drives increases in foraging and mutualistic interactions between Lasius niger and Aphis fabae

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solène Blanchard ◽  
Julie Van Offelen ◽  
François Verheggen ◽  
Claire Detrain
1958 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-714 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Banks

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.


1958 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. BANKS ◽  
H. L. NIXON

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Hertaeg ◽  
Marion Risse ◽  
Christoph Vorburger ◽  
Consuelo M. De Moraes ◽  
Mark C. Mescher

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.


Author(s):  
Тамара Алексеевна Шелабина ◽  
Марина Николаевна Берим

Существенным элементом в комплексе специальных и агротехнических приемов, направленных на ограничение распространения вирусной инфекции, является мониторинг численности, динамики и видового состава тлей, мигрирующих в посадках оригинального картофеля. Двухлетний мониторинг (2016 – 2017 гг.) на опытных полях Гатчинского района Ленинградской области проведен с использованием желтых водных ловушек Мёрике. Изучены количество тлей, сроки их миграции на посадки картофеля, сроки наступления пика численности. Наибольшее влияние на насекомых оказывала среднесуточная температура воздуха. За сезон наблюдений отловлено: в 2016 г. — 481 крылатая особь 31 вида, в 2017 г. — 131 особь 30 видов. Доля возможных переносчиков вирусов картофеля от общего числа зарегистрированных крылатых тлей составила в 2016 г. 14,8 %, в 2017 г. — 32,8 %. Оценка скрытой зараженности вирусной инфекцией (MBK, YBK вирусы) методом ИФА в 2015 – 2017 гг. показала, что на растениях картофеля сорта Ломоносовский скрытая зараженность составила 2,6 – 7,3 %, сорта Чародей — 1,9 – 13,3 %, сорта Невский — 0,8 – 10,5 %, сорта Романо — 4,1 – 9 %. Из известных переносчиков вирусов картофеля в оба года в энтомологических сборах с сосудов отмечены Aphis nasturtii — 6 – 12,2 %, Aphis fabae — 7,2 – 4,6 % от общего числа отловленных; Myzus persicae (13 %) в составе мигрирующей генерации тлей отмечены только в дождливом и прохладном 2017 г. В прогностических целях желательно пользоваться в регионе также данными со всасывающей ловушки, поскольку появление в ней насекомых отмечено на 10 – 12 дней раньше, чем на полях.


Chemoecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Bucher ◽  
Laura M. Japke ◽  
Ayse Gül Ünlü ◽  
Florian Menzel

AbstractThe predator-predator naïveté hypothesis suggests that non-native predators benefit from being unknown to native predators, resulting in reduced intraguild interference with native predators. This novelty advantage should depend on the ability of native predators to recognize cues of non-native predators. Here, we compared ant aggression and lady beetle reaction in four native and the invasive lady beetle species Harmonia axyridis. In addition, we tested whether lady beetle cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are involved in species recognition, which might explain naïveté if the invasive species has a specific CHC profile. To this end, we conducted behavioral assays confronting two native ant species with both living lady beetles and lady beetle elytra bearing or lacking CHCs of different lady beetle species. Finally, we characterized CHC profiles of the lady beetles using GC–MS. In general, the aggression of Lasius niger was more frequent than that of Myrmica rubra and L. niger aggression was more frequent towards most native lady beetle species compared to H. axyridis. The removal of CHCs from lady beetle elytra reduced aggression of both ant species. If CHCs of respective lady beetle species were added on cue-free elytra, natural strength of L. niger aggression could be restored. CHC analyses revealed a distinct cue composition for each lady beetle species. Our experiments demonstrate that the presence of chemical cues on the surface of lady beetles contribute to the strength of ant aggression against lady beetles. Reduced aggression of L. niger towards H. axyridis and reduced avoidance behavior in H. axyridis compared to the equally voracious C. septempunctata might improve the invasive lady beetle’s access to ant-tended aphids.


Ecosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyatt J. Parker ◽  
Carmela M. Buono ◽  
Kirsten M. Prior

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