Parasitoid learning during interactions with ants: how to deal with an aggressive antagonist |
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Authors: | Wolfgang Völkl |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, P.O. Box 10 12 51, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany e-mail: wolfgang.voelkl@uni-bayreuth.de, DE |
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Abstract: | Pauesia picta, P. pinicollis and P. silvestris (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) are common parasitoids of the conifer aphid Cinara pinea, which is regularly attended by red wood ants (Formica spp.). In this study, I tested whether females of these parasitoid species learned during interactions with honeydew-collecting Formica polyctena workers that caution is not necessary if searching behaviour is adapted, and whether parasitoids benefit from being able
to learn. When searching on Scots pines, naive females of P. picta and P. pinicollis generally retreated to a pine needle when making contact with a honeydew-collecting ant, did not approach ants from the side
or from the front and kept a ”safe distance” from ants when sitting on needles. After some non- aggressive ant encounters,
experienced female parasitoids changed their behaviour: they reduced their searching speed, approached ants from the side
and even from the front, retreated less often in response to an approaching ant and reduced the ”safe distance”. These experienced
females had a significantly higher rate of oviposition than naive females or females foraging for an unattended host. Thus,
the ability of the parasitoid to learn during interactions with an antagonist led to a prolonged retention time and a higher
oviposition rate. By contrast, there was no evidence of learning in P. silvestris. Females of this species showed no behavioural change in response to ant encounters, and there was no difference in the foraging
success of naive and experienced female parasitoids.
Received: 7 December 1999 / Revised: 23 September 2000 / Accepted: 10 March 2000 |
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Keywords: | Cinara pinea Pauesia spp Formica polyctena Ant-parasitoid interactions Learning Oviposition success |
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