| Title: | "An ant-coccid mutualism affects the behavior of the parasitoid Aenasius bambawalei, but not that of the ghost ant Tetramorium bicarinatum" |
| Author(s): | Huang J; Zhang PJ; Zhang J; Tang YY; |
| Address: | "Flower Research and Development Centre, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 311202, China. junhuang1981@aliyun.com. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Biometrology and Inspection & Quarantine, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China. Flower Research and Development Centre, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 311202, China" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-017-05442-6 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Mutualisms between honeydew-producing insects and ants change the emission of volatiles from plants, but whether such changes alter the behaviors of ants that tend honeydew-producing insects or wasps that parasitize honeydew-producing insects remain unknown. This study compared the behavioral responses of the ant Tetramorium bicarinatum and the parasitoid wasp Aenasius bambawalei to odors from cotton plants infested with the mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis or infested with the mealybug and the ant, which tends the mealybug. The ant could not distinguish between the volatiles from plants infested with the mealybug alone and those from plants infested with the mealybug and the ant. Likewise, naive wasps failed to distinguish between volatiles from the two treatments. In contrast, experienced wasps preferred volatiles from plants infested with the mealybug and the ant. Volatile analysis showed that the amounts of MeSA were increased and those of methyl nicotinate were decreased when plants were infested by the mealybug and the ant rather than when plants were uninfested or were infested by the mealybug alone. Thus, the mutualism between the mealybug and ant changed the volatiles emitted by cotton plants such that the attraction of A. bambawalei (but not that of the ant) to the plants was increased" |
| Keywords: | Animals Ants/*physiology Ectoparasitic Infestations Feeding Behavior Host-Parasite Interactions Plants/metabolism/parasitology *Symbiosis Volatile Organic Compounds Wasps/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHuang, Jun Zhang, Peng-Jun Zhang, Juan Tang, Ya-Yuan eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2017/07/14 Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 12; 7(1):5175. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-05442-6" |
