Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism. / Elgar, Mark A.; Nash, David Richard; Pierce, Naomi E.

In: Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 103, 84, 2016.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Elgar, MA, Nash, DR & Pierce, NE 2016, 'Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism', Naturwissenschaften, vol. 103, 84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5

APA

Elgar, M. A., Nash, D. R., & Pierce, N. E. (2016). Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism. Naturwissenschaften, 103, [84]. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5

Vancouver

Elgar MA, Nash DR, Pierce NE. Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism. Naturwissenschaften. 2016;103. 84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5

Author

Elgar, Mark A. ; Nash, David Richard ; Pierce, Naomi E. / Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism. In: Naturwissenschaften. 2016 ; Vol. 103.

Bibtex

@article{13aae1e923c54225bfc27f1b81b90c77,
title = "Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism",
abstract = "Signalling is necessary for the maintenance of inter-specific mutualisms but is vulnerable to exploitation by eavesdropping. While eavesdropping of intra-specific signals has been studied extensively, such exploitation of inter-specific signals has not been widely documented. The juvenile stages of the Australian lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras, form an obligate association with several species of attendant ants, including Iridomyrmex mayri. Ants protect the caterpillars and pupae, and in return are rewarded with nutritious secretions. Female and male adult butterflies use ants as signals for oviposition and mate searching respectively. Our experiments reveal that two natural enemies of J. evagoras, araneid spiders and braconid parasitoid wasps, exploit ant signals as cues for increasing their foraging and oviposition success respectively. Intriguingly, selection through eavesdropping is unlikely to modify the ant signal. ",
keywords = "Jalmenus evagoras, Iridomyrmex, Araneidae, Exploitation, Chemical signals, Foraging, Mating costs, Kairomone",
author = "Elgar, {Mark A.} and Nash, {David Richard} and Pierce, {Naomi E.}",
year = "2016",
doi = "10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5",
language = "English",
volume = "103",
journal = "Naturwissenschaften",
issn = "0028-1042",
publisher = "Springer",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Eavesdropping on cooperative communication within an ant-butterfly mutualism

AU - Elgar, Mark A.

AU - Nash, David Richard

AU - Pierce, Naomi E.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Signalling is necessary for the maintenance of inter-specific mutualisms but is vulnerable to exploitation by eavesdropping. While eavesdropping of intra-specific signals has been studied extensively, such exploitation of inter-specific signals has not been widely documented. The juvenile stages of the Australian lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras, form an obligate association with several species of attendant ants, including Iridomyrmex mayri. Ants protect the caterpillars and pupae, and in return are rewarded with nutritious secretions. Female and male adult butterflies use ants as signals for oviposition and mate searching respectively. Our experiments reveal that two natural enemies of J. evagoras, araneid spiders and braconid parasitoid wasps, exploit ant signals as cues for increasing their foraging and oviposition success respectively. Intriguingly, selection through eavesdropping is unlikely to modify the ant signal.

AB - Signalling is necessary for the maintenance of inter-specific mutualisms but is vulnerable to exploitation by eavesdropping. While eavesdropping of intra-specific signals has been studied extensively, such exploitation of inter-specific signals has not been widely documented. The juvenile stages of the Australian lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras, form an obligate association with several species of attendant ants, including Iridomyrmex mayri. Ants protect the caterpillars and pupae, and in return are rewarded with nutritious secretions. Female and male adult butterflies use ants as signals for oviposition and mate searching respectively. Our experiments reveal that two natural enemies of J. evagoras, araneid spiders and braconid parasitoid wasps, exploit ant signals as cues for increasing their foraging and oviposition success respectively. Intriguingly, selection through eavesdropping is unlikely to modify the ant signal.

KW - Jalmenus evagoras

KW - Iridomyrmex

KW - Araneidae

KW - Exploitation

KW - Chemical signals

KW - Foraging

KW - Mating costs

KW - Kairomone

U2 - 10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5

DO - 10.1007/s00114-016-1409-5

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27679457

VL - 103

JO - Naturwissenschaften

JF - Naturwissenschaften

SN - 0028-1042

M1 - 84

ER -

ID: 169435198