Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?

Mutualism between ants and hemipterans that produce honeydew has important implications for biological control because hemipterans defended against predators can reach economic injury levels. We tested the hypothesis that ant-aphid mutualism can mediate competition and promote the coexistence of aph...

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Autores principales:	Evandro do Nascimento Silva, Ivette Perfecto
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2013
Materias:	arboreal ants biological control ant-natural enemies interactions spatial association Toxoptera aurantii Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cbbb80c6555d4b94ba3513ba7a5daf60
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cbbb80c6555d4b94ba3513ba7a5daf602021-12-02T15:58:57ZCoexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?0361-652510.13102/sociobiology.v60i3.259-265https://doaj.org/article/cbbb80c6555d4b94ba3513ba7a5daf602013-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://periodicos.uefs.br/ojs/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/196https://doaj.org/toc/0361-6525Mutualism between ants and hemipterans that produce honeydew has important implications for biological control because hemipterans defended against predators can reach economic injury levels. We tested the hypothesis that ant-aphid mutualism can mediate competition and promote the coexistence of aphid natural enemies. A quadrate in the field measuring 30 x 30 meters (10 plants in 10 rows = 100 plants) was established in a cacao plantation and a whole quadrate survey was carried out in vegetative shoot flushings from the trunk. The number of ants and predators, the identity of ant and natural enemy species and colony occupancy by ants were recorded. Spatial association indexes were used to evaluate the degree of overlap in ant-ant and ant-predator spatial distributions. The ant <em>Crematogaster victima</em> F. Smith was selected for a test on differences in its attack behavior against larvae of the syrphid <em>Ocyptamus antiphates</em> (Walker) and a species of ladybird beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinelidae). Five species of ants were found tending aphids more frequently and their level of spatial association was slightly negative with remarkable mutual exclusion from aphid colonies. Two of them, <em>Cr. victima</em> and <em>Cr. erecta</em> Mayr, were potential defendants of aphids and were selected to study their spatial association with the distribution of natural enemies. It was found that spatial association between ants and aphid predators is slightly positive. The results suggest that the occurrence of attack behavior of <em>Cr. victima</em> against syrphids, but not against coccinellids, can increase coexistence of predators by generating independent spatial distribution.Evandro do Nascimento SilvaIvette PerfectoUniversidade Estadual de Feira de Santanaarticlearboreal antsbiological controlant-natural enemies interactionsspatial associationToxoptera aurantiiZoologyQL1-991EcologyQH540-549.5Natural history (General)QH1-278.5ENSociobiology, Vol 60, Iss 3, Pp 259-265 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	arboreal ants biological control ant-natural enemies interactions spatial association Toxoptera aurantii Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
spellingShingle	arboreal ants biological control ant-natural enemies interactions spatial association Toxoptera aurantii Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5 Evandro do Nascimento Silva Ivette Perfecto Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
description	Mutualism between ants and hemipterans that produce honeydew has important implications for biological control because hemipterans defended against predators can reach economic injury levels. We tested the hypothesis that ant-aphid mutualism can mediate competition and promote the coexistence of aphid natural enemies. A quadrate in the field measuring 30 x 30 meters (10 plants in 10 rows = 100 plants) was established in a cacao plantation and a whole quadrate survey was carried out in vegetative shoot flushings from the trunk. The number of ants and predators, the identity of ant and natural enemy species and colony occupancy by ants were recorded. Spatial association indexes were used to evaluate the degree of overlap in ant-ant and ant-predator spatial distributions. The ant <em>Crematogaster victima</em> F. Smith was selected for a test on differences in its attack behavior against larvae of the syrphid <em>Ocyptamus antiphates</em> (Walker) and a species of ladybird beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinelidae). Five species of ants were found tending aphids more frequently and their level of spatial association was slightly negative with remarkable mutual exclusion from aphid colonies. Two of them, <em>Cr. victima</em> and <em>Cr. erecta</em> Mayr, were potential defendants of aphids and were selected to study their spatial association with the distribution of natural enemies. It was found that spatial association between ants and aphid predators is slightly positive. The results suggest that the occurrence of attack behavior of <em>Cr. victima</em> against syrphids, but not against coccinellids, can increase coexistence of predators by generating independent spatial distribution.
format	article
author	Evandro do Nascimento Silva Ivette Perfecto
author_facet	Evandro do Nascimento Silva Ivette Perfecto
author_sort	Evandro do Nascimento Silva
title	Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
title_short	Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
title_full	Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
title_fullStr	Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
title_full_unstemmed	Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?
title_sort	coexistence of aphid predators in cacao plants: does ant-aphid mutualism play a role?
publisher	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/cbbb80c6555d4b94ba3513ba7a5daf60
work_keys_str_mv	AT evandrodonascimentosilva coexistenceofaphidpredatorsincacaoplantsdoesantaphidmutualismplayarole AT ivetteperfecto coexistenceofaphidpredatorsincacaoplantsdoesantaphidmutualismplayarole
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Coexistence of Aphid Predators in Cacao Plants: Does Ant-aphid Mutualism Play a Role?

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