The response of an aphid tending ant to artificial extra-floral nectaries on different host plants

Abstract

Sap-feeding homopterans, which reduce the fitness of their host plants, are often tended by ants that feed on their honeydew. The composition of the honeydew varies with both the aphid and the host plant. Extra-floral nectaries (EFNs) are believed to have evolved to attract attending ants, protecting the hosts, but it is unknown if EFNs on different plants have the same impact on the relations between an aphid species feeding on those plants and its tending ant. Experimental research was conducted to examine the attraction of Tapinoma erraticum scout ants to honeydew from the aphid Aphis gossypii feeding on two different plants, Prunus amygdalus and Mentha piperita, negligence of tending the aphids, and survival of the aphids in the presence of artificial EFNs. The scout ants were significantly more attracted to artificial nectar dispensed on P. amygdalus leaves than on M. piperita, or aphids on both plants and water. They neglected aphids in the presence of artificial EFNs on M. piperita but not on P. amygdalus. The aphid population on M. piperita did not statistically change in the presence of artificial EFNs during the 8 days of the third experiment. On P. amygdalus, the aphids succeeded in developing fully to winged form. In conclusion, the responses of the ants tending aphids to the presence of artificial EFNs were influenced by the host plant.

Do additional sugar sources affect the degree of attendance of Dysmicoccus brevipes by the fire ant Solenopsis geminata?

“…Carbohydrate feeding habits of ants such as S. geminata are determined by distance, quality, and quantity of the food resource (Stadler & Dixon, ). Hence, the presence of other carbohydrate sources that are more accessible or of superior quality possibly compromise the level of protection provided to hemipterans (Cushman, ; Rico‐Gray & Morais, ; Martinez et al., ).…”

Non-additive benefit or cost? Disentangling the indirect effects that occur when plants bearing extrafloral nectaries and honeydew-producing insects share exotic ant mutualists

“…These dynamics suggest that A. gracilipes workers may be attracted to plants with HPI and then distracted from HPI as nectar levels increase, and that EFN-bearing plants can benefit from these shifts in ant behaviours (Becerra and Venable, 1989). In a similar study, Itzhak Martinez et al (2011) assessed the effects of plant nectar on Tapinoma erraticum tending behaviours towards HPI (aphids) for two different EFN-bearing plants. In a shortterm experiment (8 d), they detected similar nectar distraction of T. erraticum from HPI on one of the host plants, although the consequences for plant growth and HPI abundances were not assessed.…”