Lycaenid Butterflies and Ants: Selection for Enemy-Free Space

Atsatt, Peter R.

doi:10.1086/283859

Cited by 146 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…By contrast, the role of mutualistic interactions in evolutionary diversification has been less explored [5,6]. Butterflies in the families Lycaenidae and Riodinidae have been a focal point for interest in the connection between diversification and mutualistic interaction [7][8][9][10]. Approximately, one third of all butterfly species are lycaenids, and more than half of all lycaenids are myrmecophilous: they engage in interactions with ants that are either mutualistic, commensalistic or parasitic [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of mechanisms have been suggested to explain this association between the ant interaction and diet breadth [8], however, most attention has focused on two complementary possibilities: (i) the presence of ants influences oviposition decisions, such that a novel host might be used if ants are available and likely to tend, and thereby protect, offspring; and (ii) the presence of ants creates a sufficient reduction in predator pressure to facilitate survival on novel hosts [7]. The former phenomenon (ant-associated oviposition) has received the most attention [18 -21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ant association facilitates the evolution of diet breadth in a lycaenid butterfly

et al. 2010

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The role of mutualistic interactions in adaptive diversification has not been thoroughly examined. Lycaenid butterflies provide excellent systems for exploring mutualistic interactions, as more than half of this family is known to use ants as a resource in interactions that range from parasitism to mutualism. We investigate the hypothesis that protection from predators offered to caterpillars by ants might facilitate host-range evolution. Specifically, experiments with the butterfly Lycaeides melissa investigated the role of ant association in the use of a novel host, alfalfa, Medicago sativa, which is a sub-optimal host for larval development. Survival on alfalfa is increased by the presence of ants, thus supporting the hypothesis that interaction with ants might be important for host-range evolution. Using a demographic model to explore ecological conditions associated with host-range expansion in L. melissa, we conclude that the presence of ants might be an essential component for populations persisting on the novel, sub-optimal host.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant association facilitates the evolution of diet breadth in a lycaenid butterfly

et al. 2010

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“…For example, food-plant quality (Slansky, 1993), secondary plant defences (Rhoades & Cates, 1976) and natural enemies (Atsatt, 1981) and shelter from adverse conditions. Most of these factors will act simultaneously to influence host plant choice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been suggested that the influence of natural enemies may play a larger part in host plant choice (Atsatt, 1981;Bernays & Graham, 1988) to the extent that, in some cases, selection for enemy free space may be more important than food plant quality (Damman, 1987;Denno et al, 1990). Parasitoids and other aerial predatory invertebrates may use other search cues such as plant volatiles from damaged plant material (Thaler, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host-plant specialisation and habitat restriction in an endangered insect, Lycaena dispar batavus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) II. Larval survival on alternative host plants in the field

Martin¹,

Pullin²

2004

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. The Large Copper butterfly, Lycaena dispar batavus, is extinct in Britain and rapidly declining in Europe, due predominantly to loss of its wetland habitats. Northern populations have more specialised foodplant and habitat requirements than their more southerly counterparts and rely solely on Rumex hydrolapathum, the Great Water Dock, as their hostplants. Southern colonies use a greater range of Rumex. Previous work has shown that specialisation is not due to foodplant chemistry and in this paper we investigate the ability of different Rumex species to support the larval stages of L. d. batavus in a natural environment. Comparisons were also made between a captive colony at Woodwalton Fen, Cambridgeshire, UK and native larvae at De Weerribben, Netherlands. Field experiments using a captive colony revealed that other Rumex hosts can successfully support larvae throughout each of their larval stages in wet grassland and fenland habitats with no significant differences in survival rates compared with their natural hostplant R. hydrolapathum. An overwintering experiment using a native wild population of both butterfly and Rumex species in De Weerribben found 25% of larvae survived on the natural hostplant R. hydrolapathum and no survivors on alternative Rumex hosts. It is suggested that R. crispus and R. obtusifolius growing in their natural habitat may harbour significant competitors to L. d. batavus leading to its specialisation on R. hydrolapathum in fenland habitats.

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“…Since, in our model, the forces acting on the evolution of larval host plant specialization are solely determined by selection on the adult stage, there is no a priori reason to expect that plants that have potentially useful pheromone precursors would also be the ones that confer the best performance in the larval stage. Our hypothesis explaining this mismatch is not mutually exclusive with others, such as the enemy-free space model (Lawton and McNeil 1979;Atsatt 1981). Further, having Z-linked oviposition preferences means that any fitness cost associated with host plant choice need only be paid for by increased fitness in males-not females, since they do not inherit the maternal Z chromosome (Miller et al 2006)-suggesting that host plants with sexually antagonistic consequences in favor of sons are suitable substrates on which butterflies may specialize.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Host Plant Specialization Driven by Sexual Selection

Quental

Patten

Pierce

2007

The American Naturalist

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We propose a new mechanism based on sexual selection to explain the evolution of diet breadth in insects. More specifically, we show that mate choice in females for certain diet-derived male pheromones can be exploited by maternal effect genes that preferentially place offspring on a specific host plant, resulting in specialization. Our analytical model also suggests that the process is more likely to occur with species that show male-congregating mating strategies, such as lekking and hilltopping. The model offers a new explanation for the similarity between the composition of male lepidopteran pheromones and the chemistry of their host plants and also suggests a novel mechanism of host plant shift. This is the first time that sexual selection has been proposed to drive host plant specialization and the first time that a mechanism with selection acting solely on the adult stage has been shown to be capable of determining larval feeding habits.

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Lycaenid Butterflies and Ants: Selection for Enemy-Free Space

Cited by 146 publications

References 31 publications

Ant association facilitates the evolution of diet breadth in a lycaenid butterfly

Ant association facilitates the evolution of diet breadth in a lycaenid butterfly

Host-plant specialisation and habitat restriction in an endangered insect, Lycaena dispar batavus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) II. Larval survival on alternative host plants in the field

Host Plant Specialization Driven by Sexual Selection

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