Myrmecophilous aphids produce cuticular hydrocarbons that resemble those of their tending ants
Myrmecophilous aphids produce cuticular hydrocarbons that resemble those of their tending ants
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DOI：
10.1007/s10144-012-0355-0
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Itino, Takao
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Endo, Shintaro;Itino, Takao
照料蚜虫的蚂蚁保护蚜虫免受天敌的侵害，并收集蚜虫分泌的蜜露。然而，蚂蚁也经常捕食它们所关注的蚜虫。因此，像蚂蚁的群居寄生虫一样，蚜虫很可能进化出化学模仿来作为一种反捕食策略。在这项研究中，我们旨在确定蚜虫是否积极产生类似于抚育蚂蚁Lasius fuji的角质层碳氢化合物（CHCs）。在野外，蚂蚁把它们的chc放在它们照看的蚜虫上，所以在这项研究中，我们分析了“无蚂蚁”的蚜虫。在没有蚂蚁参与的情况下，成熟的蚜虫几乎具有蚂蚁CHCs所具有的所有碳氢化合物成分。此外，人工涂抹在蚜虫体表的碳氢化合物也会因渗出而流失。综上所述，这些发现表明成熟的蚜虫积极产生类似蚂蚁的CHCs，它们构成了在特定的蚜虫-蚂蚁关联中蚜虫和蚂蚁之间化学相似性的第一个文件。
Aphid-tending ants protect aphids from natural enemies and collect honeydew secreted by the aphids. However, ants also often prey on the aphids they attend. Aphids, therefore, like social parasites of ants, may well have evolved chemical mimicry as an anti-predation strategy. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the aphid Stomaphis yanonis actively produces cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) that resemble those of the tending ant Lasius fuji. In the wild, ants put their CHCs on the aphids that they are tending, so in this study we analyzed "ant-free" aphids. Mature aphids that exuviated in the absence of ant attendance had almost all of the hydrocarbon components that the ants' CHCs had. Moreover, hydrocarbons artificially applied to the aphids' body surface were lost by exuviation. Taken together, these findings indicate that mature aphids actively produced ant-like CHCs, and they constitute the first documentation of a chemical resemblance between aphids and ants in a specific aphid-ant association.