Ant-Repelling Pollinators of the Myrmecophytic Macaranga winkleri (Euphorbiaceae)
| Autor: | Eri Yamasaki, Yoko Inui, Shoko Sakai |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Mutualism (biology) Herbivore Pollination biology Ecology media_common.quotation_subject Insect biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences ANT Myrmecophyte Pollinator Botany Macaranga Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 010606 plant biology & botany media_common |
| Zdroj: | Evolutionary Biology. 43:407-413 |
| ISSN: | 1934-2845 0071-3260 |
| Popis: | Many plants have mutualistic relationships with ants, whereby plants provide food and/or nesting sites for the symbiotic ants, and in turn the ants protect the host plants by excluding herbivores. While the ants are useful as guards, they may negatively affect host reproduction by excluding pollinators. Here we studied this potential conflict in the myrmecophytic Macaranga winkleri pollinated by the thrips Dolichothrips fialae. Behavioural responses of ant guards to pollinator thrips and their chemicals, and related chemical analyses, provide evidence that thrips deter ant-guards by secreting droplets containing ant-repelling n-decanoic acid from their anuses. This is the first report of insect pollinators repelling their host’s symbiotic guard ants to perform pollination. This is a novel strategy by which a plant host avoids interference with pollination by ant-guards in an ant–plant mutualism. The acquisition of a pollination system that is resistant to ant attacks may have facilitated the evolution of myrmecophytes in the genus Macaranga. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Full text from SpringerLink