Homopteran Attendance by Wasps and Ants: The Stochastic Nature of Interactions
Associations of Hymenoptera with Homoptera have intrigued ecologists and evolutionary biologists as model systems of mutualism. The extensive body of literature, however, tends to be skewed to the interactions between ants and homopteran trophobionts in the Aphidae or Coccoidea (e.g., Kloft et al. 1...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
1987-01-01
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| Series: | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1987/12726 |
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| Summary: | Associations of Hymenoptera with Homoptera have intrigued
ecologists and evolutionary biologists as model systems of mutualism.
The extensive body of literature, however, tends to be skewed
to the interactions between ants and homopteran trophobionts in
the Aphidae or Coccoidea (e.g., Kloft et al. 1965, Nixon 1951, Way
1963, Wilson 1971). In the following account we document a web of
multispecies interactions within and between trophic levels, involving
a species of wasp, several species of ants, and two
species of Homoptera. This account is unique in the literature on
Hymenoptera-Homoptera associations because it (1) addresses
observable interference between hymenopteran attendants, (2)
reports behavioral preference by homopterans for certain hymenopreran
attendants, and (3) describes an interaction between a polistine
wasp and an aetalionid planthopper. In addition, this study has
general implications about the quality of diffuse and multiple associations
between Homoptera and their honeydew foragers. |
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| ISSN: | 0033-2615 1687-7438 |