INVESTIGADORES
FARJI-BRENER Alejandro Gustavo
artículos
Título:
Defence variation within a guild of aphid‐tending ants explains aphid population growth
Autor/es:
DEVEGILI, ANDRÉS M.; LESCANO, MARÍA N.; GIANOLI, ERNESTO; FARJI?BRENER, ALEJANDRO G.
Revista:
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY
Editorial:
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Referencias:
Año: 2020
ISSN:
0307-6946
Resumen:
1. Mutualism studies often focus on the service provided by single species,while variation in benefits provided by multiple partners is less understood. Ant-aphidfood-for-protection mutualisms are suitable to study the implications of intra-guildservice variation because they often involve several ant species with varying levels ofaggressiveness.2. We studied an aphid species and its associated ant guild to address whetherintra-guild defence variation against aphid natural enemies explains aphid performanceon plants (thistles). We surveyed plants with natural abundances of aphids associatedwith different ant species and estimated aphid population growth. We conductedconfrontation experiments between ant species and aphid natural enemies (ladybugs andhoverfly larvae). In plants patrolled by the most aggressive ant species, we determinedthe ant?s probability of expelling aphid natural enemies and tested whether ant exclusionaffects the abundance of aphids and their natural enemies.3. The ant Dorymyrmex tener was the most abundant and frequent species on plantsand themost aggressive against aphid natural enemies. Aphid populations grew faster onplants patrolled by D. tener compared to plants patrolled by Camponotus distinguendusor D. richteri. Field experiments confirmed that D. tener effectively expels aphid naturalenemies from plants. When D. tener was excluded, the density of aphids decreased,while the abundance of aphid natural enemies increased.4. The disruption of aphid predation by aggressive and numerically dominant antspecies is a determinant of aphid population dynamics. This study illustrates the importanceof considering intra-guild service variation to better understand multi-partnermutualisms.