Floral volatiles controlling ant behaviour
(2009) In Functional Ecology 23(5). p.888-900- Abstract
- P>1. Ants show complex interactions with plants, both facultative and mutualistic, ranging from grazers through seed predators and dispersers to herders of some herbivores and guards against others. But ants are rarely pollinators, and their visits to flowers may be detrimental to plant fitness. 2. Plants therefore have various strategies to control ant distributions, and restrict them to foliage rather than flowers. These 'filters' may involve physical barriers on or around flowers, or 'decoys and bribes' sited on the foliage (usually extrafloral nectaries - EFNs). Alternatively, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used as signals to control ant behaviour, attracting ants to leaves and/or deterring them from functional flowers. Some... (More)
- P>1. Ants show complex interactions with plants, both facultative and mutualistic, ranging from grazers through seed predators and dispersers to herders of some herbivores and guards against others. But ants are rarely pollinators, and their visits to flowers may be detrimental to plant fitness. 2. Plants therefore have various strategies to control ant distributions, and restrict them to foliage rather than flowers. These 'filters' may involve physical barriers on or around flowers, or 'decoys and bribes' sited on the foliage (usually extrafloral nectaries - EFNs). Alternatively, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used as signals to control ant behaviour, attracting ants to leaves and/or deterring them from functional flowers. Some of the past evidence that flowers repel ants by VOCs has been equivocal and we describe the shortcomings of some experimental approaches, which involve behavioural tests in artificial conditions. 3. We review our previous study of myrmecophytic acacias, which used in situ experiments to show that volatiles derived from pollen can specifically and transiently deter ants during dehiscence, the effects being stronger in ant-guarded species and more effective on resident ants, both in African and Neotropical species. In these plants, repellence involves at least some volatiles that are known components of ant alarm pheromones, but are not repellent to beneficial bee visitors. 4. We also present new evidence of ant repellence by VOCs in temperate flowers, which is usually pollen-based and active on common European ants. We use these data to indicate that across a wide range of plants there is an apparent trade-off in ant-controlling filter strategies between the use of defensive floral volatiles and the alternatives of decoying EFNs or physical barriers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1490719
- author
- Willmer, Pat G. ; Nuttman, Clive V. ; Raine, Nigel E. ; Stone, Graham N. ; Pattrick, Jonathan G. ; Henson, Kate ; Stillman, Philip ; McIlroy, Lynn ; Potts, Simon G. and Knudsen, Jette LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2009
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- volatiles, E, ant guards, E-alpha-farnesene, evolutionary filters, extrafloral, floral repellence, nectar, pollen, morphological floral barriers
- in
- Functional Ecology
- volume
- 23
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 888 - 900
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000269976800006
- scopus:70349342709
- ISSN
- 1365-2435
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2009.01632.x
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a4e49e29-fd4a-4ed7-9ac7-cd1c18d82f13 (old id 1490719)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 12:33:55
- date last changed
- 2022-04-13 20:44:25
@article{a4e49e29-fd4a-4ed7-9ac7-cd1c18d82f13,
abstract = {{P>1. Ants show complex interactions with plants, both facultative and mutualistic, ranging from grazers through seed predators and dispersers to herders of some herbivores and guards against others. But ants are rarely pollinators, and their visits to flowers may be detrimental to plant fitness. 2. Plants therefore have various strategies to control ant distributions, and restrict them to foliage rather than flowers. These 'filters' may involve physical barriers on or around flowers, or 'decoys and bribes' sited on the foliage (usually extrafloral nectaries - EFNs). Alternatively, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used as signals to control ant behaviour, attracting ants to leaves and/or deterring them from functional flowers. Some of the past evidence that flowers repel ants by VOCs has been equivocal and we describe the shortcomings of some experimental approaches, which involve behavioural tests in artificial conditions. 3. We review our previous study of myrmecophytic acacias, which used in situ experiments to show that volatiles derived from pollen can specifically and transiently deter ants during dehiscence, the effects being stronger in ant-guarded species and more effective on resident ants, both in African and Neotropical species. In these plants, repellence involves at least some volatiles that are known components of ant alarm pheromones, but are not repellent to beneficial bee visitors. 4. We also present new evidence of ant repellence by VOCs in temperate flowers, which is usually pollen-based and active on common European ants. We use these data to indicate that across a wide range of plants there is an apparent trade-off in ant-controlling filter strategies between the use of defensive floral volatiles and the alternatives of decoying EFNs or physical barriers.}},
author = {{Willmer, Pat G. and Nuttman, Clive V. and Raine, Nigel E. and Stone, Graham N. and Pattrick, Jonathan G. and Henson, Kate and Stillman, Philip and McIlroy, Lynn and Potts, Simon G. and Knudsen, Jette}},
issn = {{1365-2435}},
keywords = {{volatiles; E; ant guards; E-alpha-farnesene; evolutionary filters; extrafloral; floral repellence; nectar; pollen; morphological floral barriers}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{888--900}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Functional Ecology}},
title = {{Floral volatiles controlling ant behaviour}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2009.01632.x}},
doi = {{10.1111/j.1365-2435.2009.01632.x}},
volume = {{23}},
year = {{2009}},
}