Success of aphid parasitoids and their hosts varies with ant attendance: A field study

Abstract

Aphid–ant associations are often described as mutually beneficial interactions in which honeydew is traded for protection from predators and parasitoids. The aim of the present study was to determine parasitization avoidance in ant‐tended aphid colonies. Field experiments were carried out on two host plants: hoary cress Lepidium draba (Brassicaceae) and Canadian teasel Cirsium arvense (Asteraceae). Lepidium was host to Acyrthosiphon gossypii (Aphididae) tended by the ant Lasius turcicus (Formicidae) and attacked by two parasitoids, Trioxys asiaticus (Braconidae) and Lysiphlebus fabarum (Braconidae). Cirsium was host to Brachycaudus cardui tended by Crematogaster sordidula and attacked by L. fabarum and Aphidius colemani (Braconidae). The per capita population growth rate of A. gossypii was significantly higher in the presence of ants, while B. cardui was negatively affected, albeit non‐significantly. The parasitism rate of A. gossypii decreased significantly when tended by Lasius turcicus, but the presence of Crematogaster sordidula in colonies of B. cardui significantly increased parasitism. Our results indicate that the effects of ant attendance vary between different aphid–ant interactions. Moreover, parasitoids can benefit from the presence of ants under some conditions.

Effects of genotype and host environment on the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of Lysiphlebus parasitoids and aggression by aphid-tending ants

“…We did still observe some evidence for variation in ant responses to different L. fabarum lines (electronic supplementary material, figure S3 c ), and L. fabarum line 3 again elicited the lowest levels of aggression (electronic supplementary material, figure S3 and table S3). However, the failure to observe consistent differences in ant aggression toward L. fabarum lines versus the positive control ( A. colemani ) warrants significant caution in drawing conclusions about these results—because differential ant responses to these species are confirmed not only by other trials in the current study, but also by previous findings [56,57]. It seems likely that the high overall levels of ant aggression observed in this experiment are an artefact of our experimental conditions, and this interpretation is further supported by the divergent results observed for one wasp–aphid combination ( L. fabarum line 1 in A. gossypii ) that was tested in both this experiment and experiment 1: while this line elicited high levels of ant aggression (and no significant differences versus A. colemani ) in the current experiment, it elicited low levels of aggression (and strong differences from A. colemani ) across 52 replicates in experiment 1, as well as in preliminary experiments (not presented).…”

Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) ‐ aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) interactions in different habitats from Turkey with new mutualistic associations

“…plantaginea on apple trees was high in the presence of ants and natural enemies activity was low compared to other apple trees without aphids. According to Sadeghi‐Namaghi & Amiri‐Jami (2018), ant attendance positively affected the population growth rate of the aphid species, Aphis ( Aphis ) gossypii , while other aphis species, Brachycaudus ( Prunaphis ) cardui was negatively affected by the presence of ants. The parasitism rate of A .…”

Cryptic Diversity in the Aphid-Parasitizing Wasp Protaphidius nawaii (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Discovery of Two Attendant-Ant-Specific mtDNA Lineages

“…In particular, the host preference or specificity of parasitoids on aphids is determined by the attending ants of the host aphids. Sadeghi-Namaghi and Amiri-Jami (2018) found that the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum successfully attacks the aphids Acyrthosiphon gossypii and Brachycaudus cardui attended by particular ant species. In another case, the parasitoid wasps Paralipsis eikoae and Aclitus sappaphis, respec-tively, attack the host aphid Sappaphis piri attended by the ants Pheidole fervida and Lasius niger (Takada and Shiga, 1974;Takada and Hashimoto, 1985;Akino and Yamaoka, 1998).…”