Projects per year
Abstract
Many herbivores employ reward-based mutualisms with ants to gain protection from natural enemies. We examine the evolutionary dynamics of a tetra-trophic interaction in which gallwasp herbivores induce their host oaks to produce nectar-secreting galls, which attract ants that provide protection from parasitoids. We show that, consistent with other gall defensive traits, nectar secretion has evolved repeatedly across the oak gallwasp tribe and also within a single genus (Disholcaspis) that includes many nectar-inducing species. Once evolved, nectar secretion is never lost in Disholcaspis, consistent with high defensive value of this trait. We also show that evolution of nectar secretion is correlated with a transition from solitary to aggregated oviposition, resulting in clustered nectar-secreting galls, which produce a resource that ants can more easily monopolize. Such clustering is commonly seen in ant guard mutualisms. We suggest that correlated evolution between maternal oviposition and larval nectar-induction traits has enhanced the effectiveness of this gall defense strategy.
Original language | English |
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Journal | The American Naturalist |
Early online date | 2 Nov 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 2 Nov 2016 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- trophic interactions
- nectar secretion
- Cynipini
- Disholcaspis
- co-evolution
- defensive trait
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Sweet tetra-trophic interactions: multiple evolutions of nectar secretion, a defensive extended phenotype in cynipid gallwasps'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Using multispecies evolutionary history to test hypotheses of community assembly
14/12/07 → 13/06/11
Project: Research
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Host-associated population substructure in generalist parasitoids: cyniipid oak gall communities as a model system.
14/12/04 → 13/12/07
Project: Research
Profiles
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Graham Stone
- School of Biological Sciences - Personal Chair in Ecology
Person: Academic: Research Active