The native ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, improves the survival of an invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, by defending it from parasitoids
| dc.citation | Feng, D. D., Michaud, J. P., Li, P., Zhou, Z. S., & Xu, Z. F. (2015). The native ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, improves the survival of an invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, by defending it from parasitoids. Scientific Reports, 5, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15691 | |
| dc.citation.doi | 10.1038/srep15691 | |
| dc.citation.issn | 2045-2322 | |
| dc.citation.jtitle | Scientific Reports | |
| dc.citation.volume | 5 | |
| dc.contributor.author | Feng, D. D. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Michaud, John Paul | |
| dc.contributor.author | Li, P. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Zhou, Z. S. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Xu, Z. F. | |
| dc.contributor.authoreid | jpmi | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-04-04T22:45:57Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-04-04T22:45:57Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-10-25 | |
| dc.date.published | 2015 | |
| dc.description | Citation: Feng, D. D., Michaud, J. P., Li, P., Zhou, Z. S., & Xu, Z. F. (2015). The native ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, improves the survival of an invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, by defending it from parasitoids. Scientific Reports, 5, 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15691 | |
| dc.description | Mutualistic ants can protect their partners from natural enemies in nature. Aenasius bambawalei is an important parasitoid of the the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis. We hypothesized that mutualism between native ants and mealybugs would favor survival of mealybugs. To test this, we examined effects of tending by the native mutualistic ant Tapinoma melanocephalum on growth of P. solenopsis colonies on Chinese hibiscus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, in a field setting. Ant workers with access to honeydew of mealybugs lived much longer than those provisioned only with water in the laboratory, and number of ant workers foraging increased significantly with growth of mealybug colonies in the field. In later observations, there were significant differences in densities of mealybugs between ant-tended and -excluded treatments. Survival rate of mealybugs experiencing parasitoid attack was significantly higher on ant-tended plants than on ant-excluded plants. When the parasitoid was excluded, there was no difference in survival rate of mealybugs between ant-tended and -excluded plants. In most cases, ants directly attacked the parasitoid, causing the parasitoid to take evasive action. We conclude that native ants such as T. melanocephalum have the potential to facilitate invasion and spread of P. solenopsis in China by providing them with protection from parasitoids. | |
| dc.description.version | Article: Version of Record | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2097/32299 | |
| dc.relation.uri | https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15691 | |
| dc.rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Tinsley Hemiptera Pseudococcidae | |
| dc.subject | Aenasius-Bambawalei Hayat | |
| dc.subject | Lasius-Niger L. | |
| dc.subject | Hymenoptera Encyrtidae | |
| dc.subject | Cotton Mealybug | |
| dc.subject | Aphid | |
| dc.title | The native ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, improves the survival of an invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, by defending it from parasitoids | |
| dc.type | Text |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1
