The influence of ant-attendance on aphid behaviour investigated with the electrical penetration graph technique |
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Authors: | Gisep Rauch Jean-Christophe Simon Bernard Chaubet Lucie Haack Thomas Flatt and Wolfgang W Weisser |
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Institution: | (1) Present address: Zoology Institute, University of Basel, Rheinsprung 9, 4051 Basel, Switzerland;(2) INRA/ENSAR UMR `Biologie des Organismes et des Populations appliquée à la Protection des Plantes' (BiO3P), INRA B.P. 29, 35653 Le Rheu Cedex, France |
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Abstract: | For the mutualistic interaction between the aphid Metopeurum fuscoviride Stroyan (Homoptera: Aphididae) and the ant Lasius niger L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) it has been shown that ant-tended aphids develop faster, reproduce at a higher rate, and live longer than aphids not tended by ants. We used electrical penetration graphs (EPG) to investigate if behavioural patterns differ between ant-tended and untended M. fuscoviride during 8 h experiments. Measurements were made on adult aphids from four different ant-tended colonies that continued to be tended by L. niger during the experiments, and from four different colonies where ant workers were excluded several days before the start of the experiment and that were also not tended by ants during the experiments. Ants readily tended wired aphids and ant tending did not interfere with the EPG measurements. There were no significant differences in the duration of sieve element penetration or in any other analysed feeding-related EPG parameters between ant-tended and untended individuals. However, the quality of the EPG recordings did not allow the distinction between the EPG-waveform E1 (salivation only) and E2 (salivation and ingestion). These results suggest that the changes in life-history traits of ant-tended aphids do not result from changes in time of sieve element penetration waveforms. Alternative mechanisms may involve an increase in the rate of sap uptake or a higher effectiveness in nutrient uptake in the presence of ants. Our study demonstrates that the EPG technique is a useful tool to investigate the feeding behaviour of aphids during interactions with ants. |
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Keywords: | EPG ants aphids mutualism behaviour Metopeurum fuscoviride Lasius niger |
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