Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 22: 30 Nov. 2022
Type: Proceedings Papers
Published: 2022-11-30
DOI: 10.11646/zoosymposia.22.1.79
Page range: 128
Abstract views: 107
PDF downloaded: 8

Avoidance of ant chemical traces by spider mites

Laboratory of Ecological Information, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Applied Entomology Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Saga-ippongi-cho 1, Kyoto 616-8354, Japan
Applied Entomology Laboratory, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Saga-ippongi-cho 1, Kyoto 616-8354, Japan
ant trace spider mite Tetranychus kanzawai Tetranychus urticae Pristomyrmex punctatus Formica japonica

Abstract

Because of the strong predation pressure exerted by ants, small arthropods have developed various strategies of avoiding ant predation (Way 1963; Jennings 1971; Akino et al. 1999; Otsuki & Yano 2014). Spider mites become easy prey for ants when they leave their protective webs (Otsuki & Yano 2014; Adachi & Yano 2017); therefore, the ability to avoid traces of ongoing ant activity should confer a selective advantage to mites.

References

  1. Adachi, M. & Yano, S. (2017) Ant-mediated indirect negative effects of aphids on spider mites living on the same plant. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 72(1), 15–21.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-017-0136-8

  2. Akino, T., Knapp, J.J., Thomas, J.A. & Elmes, G.W. (1999) Chemical mimicry and host specificity in the butterfly Maculinea rebeli, a social parasite of Myrmica ant colonies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 266 (1427), 1419–1426.  https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0796

  3. Grostal, P., & Dicke, M. (2000) Recognising one’s enemies: a functional approach to risk assessment by prey. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 47(4), 258-264.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650050663

  4. Haney, P.B., Luck, R.F. & Moreno, D.S. (1987) Increases in densities of the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (Acarina: Tetranychidae), in association with the argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in southern California citrus. Entomophaga. 32(1), 49–57.  https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390931

  5. Jennings, D.T. (1971) Ants preying on dislodged jack-pine budworm larvae. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 64 (2), 384–385.  https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/64.2.384

  6. Osborne, L.S., Pena, J.E. & Oi, D.H. (1995) Predation by Tapinoma melanocephalum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on twospotted spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Florida greenhouses. Florida Entomologist. 78 (4),565–570.

  7. Otsuki, H. & Yano, S. (2014) Functionally different predators break down antipredator defenses of spider mites. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 151(1), 27–33.  https://doi.org/10.1111/eea.12164

  8. Way, M.J. (1963) Mutualism between ants and honeydew-producing Homoptera. Annual Revew of Entomology, 8(1), 307–344.  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.08.010163.001515