| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2011: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The ant subgenus Dendrolasius tending the aphid Stomaphis yanonis preys less on the aphids being attended by their nestmate ants. This observation leads to the hypothesis that ants use colony-specific cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to mark their attended aphids. We confirmed that the CHC profiles of ant-attended aphids resembled those of ant CHCs, and that glass dummies treated with ant-attended aphid CHCs were attacked less by ants than those treated with CHCs from non-attended aphids. Mature aphids that exuviated in the absence of ant attendance had almost all of the hydrocarbon components that the ants’ CHCs had, indicating that mature aphids actively produce ant-like CHCs. This is the first documentation of a chemical resemblance between aphids and ants in a specific aphid-ant association.
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