A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Does ant predation favour leaf beetle specialization on toxic host plants?
Tekijät: Zvereva EL, Kozlov MV, Rank NE
Kustantaja: WILEY-BLACKWELL
Julkaisuvuosi: 2016
Journal: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimi: BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
Lehden akronyymi: BIOL J LINN SOC
Vuosikerta: 119
Numero: 1
Aloitussivu: 201
Lopetussivu: 212
Sivujen määrä: 12
ISSN: 0024-4066
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12801
Tiivistelmä
Generalist predators are frequently seen as evolutionary forces that narrow the host range in herbivorous insects. Predators may favour specialization of herbivores on host plants containing toxic chemicals (which can be used by herbivores for their own defence) if host plant-derived defences provide better protection from enemies than do autogenously produced defences. We compared the effectiveness of these two defensive strategies in the larvae of six species of leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae) against wood ants (Formica rufa group) in field experiments. Ants were more strongly repelled by larvae with host plant-derived, salicylaldehyde-containing secretions than by larvae with various autogenous secretions, but collectively foraging ants ultimately overcame any type of chemical defence by social interactions, chemical signalling, and olfactory learning. As a result, ants killed all larvae of Chrysomela lapponica defended by salicylaldehyde-containing secretions within 2 days of their introduction to willows within 15 m of ant nests. We conclude that in the field neither type of chemical defence provides complete protection against wood ants in the vicinity of their nests, and that evolutionary shifts from autogenous production of secretion to sequestration of plant allelochemicals in leaf beetles may be favoured mostly at low ant densities on the periphery of ant foraging areas. (C) 2016 The Linnean Society of London
Generalist predators are frequently seen as evolutionary forces that narrow the host range in herbivorous insects. Predators may favour specialization of herbivores on host plants containing toxic chemicals (which can be used by herbivores for their own defence) if host plant-derived defences provide better protection from enemies than do autogenously produced defences. We compared the effectiveness of these two defensive strategies in the larvae of six species of leaf beetle (Chrysomelidae) against wood ants (Formica rufa group) in field experiments. Ants were more strongly repelled by larvae with host plant-derived, salicylaldehyde-containing secretions than by larvae with various autogenous secretions, but collectively foraging ants ultimately overcame any type of chemical defence by social interactions, chemical signalling, and olfactory learning. As a result, ants killed all larvae of Chrysomela lapponica defended by salicylaldehyde-containing secretions within 2 days of their introduction to willows within 15 m of ant nests. We conclude that in the field neither type of chemical defence provides complete protection against wood ants in the vicinity of their nests, and that evolutionary shifts from autogenous production of secretion to sequestration of plant allelochemicals in leaf beetles may be favoured mostly at low ant densities on the periphery of ant foraging areas. (C) 2016 The Linnean Society of London
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