The response of an aphid tending ant to artificial extra-floral nectaries on different host plants |
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Authors: | Jean-Jacques Itzhak Martinez Meirav Cohen Nyembezi Mgocheki |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Tel Hai Academic College, Tel Hai, Israel;(2) Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa;(3) Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Tel Hai Academic College, Upper Galilee, 12210, Israel |
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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. |
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