2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Mechanisms governing selective predation of ants on aphids
| Project/Area Number |
22570015
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Ecology/Environment
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| Research Institution | Shinshu University |
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Principal Investigator |
ITINO Takao 信州大学, 理学部, 教授 (20176291)
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| Research Collaborator |
ENDO Shintaro 信州大学, 総合工学系研究科, 大学院生
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| Project Period (FY) |
2010 – 2012
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| Keywords | 共進化 / 共生 / 種特異性 / 選択的捕食 / 化学擬態 / 体表面炭化水素 |
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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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