Aphid Feeding and Nutrition

Auclair, J. L.

doi:10.1146/annurev.en.08.010163.002255

Cited by 448 publications

(261 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

246

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…If ants can detect these quantitative and qualitative differences, they may preferentially tend those membracids on "high-quality" hosts, or be more aggressive tenders. In support of this mechanism, numerous studies have shown that host plant quality strongly influences homopteran honeydew (see Auclair 1963) Our results from three years of manipulative exper-iments reveal a complex and variable picture of a membracid-ant association. We assert that much of this variability is predictable and speculate that conditional mutualisms, such as the one discussed here, are not unusual.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Conditional Mutualism in a Membracid‐Ant Association: Temporal, Age‐Specific, and Density‐Dependent Effects

Cushman¹,

Whitham²

1989

Ecology

175

158

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We examined the impact of a tending ant, Formica altipetens, on the population dynamics of a membracid, Publilia modesta. Controlled ant-exclusion experiments revealed three ways in which the strength and occurrence of this mutualism was conditional. First, we detected yearly variation in the impact of ants on membracids. Ants had a significant positive impact on membracid abundance in 1985 and 1987, but not in 1986. Second, we found age-specific effects of ants on membracids. In 1985 and 1987 our experiments revealed that only membracid nymphs benefit directly from ant tending; we did not detect a direct positive impact of ants on the survival of membracid adults in any year. Third, we documented a density-dependent effect of ants on membracids. In 1985 and 1987, nymphs in large aggregations benefited from ant tending more than nymphs in small aggregations.Observations in 1985-1987 suggest that protection from a predatory salticid spider, Pellenes sp., may be at least one mechanism by which ants benefit membracid nymphs. In 1985 and 1987, when the association was mutualistic, spiders were significantly more abundant on membracid-infested plants without ants than on infested plants with ants, whereas this was not the case in 1986. We hypothesize that the age-specific benefits in this system may result because nymphs are especially susceptible to predation by spiders whereas the more agile and sclerotized adults are not.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Conditional Mutualism in a Membracid‐Ant Association: Temporal, Age‐Specific, and Density‐Dependent Effects

Cushman¹,

Whitham²

1989

Ecology

175

158

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1971;EVANS 1963apud TSIROPOULOS 1980. The principal sugars in those sources are: frutose, glucose and sucrose, among others, whereas maltose occurs occasionally in low concentrations (AuCLAIR 1963;HAGEN et at. 1984).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritive value of diets with different carbohydrates for adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Fontellas

Zucoloto

1999

Rev. Bras. Zool.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Adult Tephritidae, especially of the genus Al1aslrepha (Schiner, 1868), have been observed to feed on a wide variety of natural diets. The fruit on which they feed , in general, are rich in sugar content, chiefly glucose, frutose and sucrose, which are also the sugars that those insects utilise better. Neitherthe behavioural mechanisms, nor the physiological ones, that control food selection by insects, are well known. Because some of those aspects are not known for the spec ies A l1aslrepha obliqua (Macquart, 1835) either, and in order to understand their biology better, three experiments were conducted. In the first experiment, it was checked whether there was a difference in metabolic profit by those insects, when fed the carbohydrates more frequently found in nature, as resulting in a bigger egg production and higher survival rate at the end of the experiment. In the second, it was checked whether A. obliqua can regulate diet ingestion according to carbohydrate content in dry as well as wet diets. In the third experiment, measurements were made to establish the lowest carbohydrate concentration flies are able to recognise in the diet. Analysis of the data showed that ingestion of carbohydrates which are commonly found in nature, in association with a protein source, is vety well utilised by females of A. obliqua. It was also shown that _those insects are not probably able to compensate for the difference in carbohydrate content in dry diets, whereas they do so for wet diets. In relation to discrimination threshold, it seems that it is related to the higher occurrence of the carbohydrate in their normal diet, that is, they can recognise carbohydrates that are common in their natural diet better than the less frequent ones.

show abstract

“…Because honeydew and plant exudates are rich in sugar but poor in essential amino acids (33)(34)(35), these ants may require additional nitrogen from alternative sources (30,31,36). Based on the incidence of gut microbes in exudate-feeding ants, Cook and Davidson hypothesized that they rely on the metabolic activities of bacteria to make up for their dietary shortcomings (21).…”

Section: Functional Roles For Symbiotic Gut Bacteria Of Herbivorous Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants

Russell

Moreau²,

Goldman-Huertas³

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

339

463

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ants are a dominant feature of terrestrial ecosystems, yet we know little about the forces that drive their evolution. Recent findings illustrate that their diets range from herbivorous to predaceous, with ''herbivores'' feeding primarily on exudates from plants and sap-feeding insects. Persistence on these nitrogen-poor food sources raises the question of how ants obtain sufficient nutrition. To investigate the potential role of symbiotic microbes, we have surveyed 283 species from 18 of the 21 ant subfamilies using molecular techniques. Our findings uncovered a wealth of bacteria from across the ants. Notable among the surveyed hosts were herbivorous ''turtle ants'' from the related genera Cephalotes and Procryptocerus (tribe Cephalotini). These commonly harbored bacteria from ant-specific clades within the Burkholderiales, Pseudomonadales, Rhizobiales, Verrucomicrobiales, and Xanthomonadales, and studies of lab-reared Cephalotes varians characterized these microbes as symbiotic residents of ant guts. Although most of these symbionts were confined to turtle ants, bacteria from an ant-specific clade of Rhizobiales were more broadly distributed. Statistical analyses revealed a strong relationship between herbivory and the prevalence of Rhizobiales gut symbionts within ant genera. Furthermore, a consideration of the ant phylogeny identified at least five independent origins of symbioses between herbivorous ants and related Rhizobiales. Combined with previous findings and the potential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation, our results strongly support the hypothesis that bacteria have facilitated convergent evolution of herbivory across the ants, further implicating symbiosis as a major force in ant evolution. diversification ͉ Formicidae ͉ Rhizobiales ͉ symbiosis ͉ trophic level I dentifying the mechanisms underlying adaptation and diversification is a central goal of evolutionary biology. Great strides have been made toward this end through the development of fast and affordable molecular tools, and the joint application of molecular phylogenetics and comparative methods (1-3). One unanticipated theme that has emerged from this work is that bacterial symbionts have played key roles in the evolution and diversification of eukaryotes, starting with endosymbiotic origins of mitochondria and chloroplasts (4). Bacterial symbionts are also prevalent among insects that feed on inaccessible or nutritionally marginal diets such as blood, wood, xylem, and phloem (5). Given the demonstrated nutritional roles of these bacteria, their near-ubiquity in insects that specialize on nutrient-poor diets, their long histories of coevolution, and the diversity of the many groups that harbor nutritional symbionts, it is clear that bacteria have had a strong impact on the dietary evolution and diversification of their insect hosts (6).Symbiosis has played an integral role in the evolution of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Throughout the course of their 115-168 million year history (7,8), these diverse and ecologically dominant insects...

show abstract

Aphid Feeding and Nutrition

Cited by 448 publications

References 0 publications

Conditional Mutualism in a Membracid‐Ant Association: Temporal, Age‐Specific, and Density‐Dependent Effects

Conditional Mutualism in a Membracid‐Ant Association: Temporal, Age‐Specific, and Density‐Dependent Effects

Nutritive value of diets with different carbohydrates for adult Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera, Tephritidae)

Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About