Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune
While some studies have shown that ants that visit extrafloral nectaries may defend their host plants against potential herbivores, recent researches have shown that such ant-plant mutualism may be broken in some cases. For example, the presence of ants on plants could also drive away pollinators an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Sociobiology |
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| Online Access: | http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/3466 |
| _version_ | 1811191381379514368 |
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| author | Armando Aguirre Wesley Dáttilo Dulce Rodríguez-Morales Sara Canchola-Orozco Eliezer Cocoletzi-Vasquez Rosamond Coates Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez |
| author_facet | Armando Aguirre Wesley Dáttilo Dulce Rodríguez-Morales Sara Canchola-Orozco Eliezer Cocoletzi-Vasquez Rosamond Coates Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez |
| author_sort | Armando Aguirre |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While some studies have shown that ants that visit extrafloral nectaries may defend their host plants against potential herbivores, recent researches have shown that such ant-plant mutualism may be broken in some cases. For example, the presence of ants on plants could also drive away pollinators and seed dispersers. However, it is not yet known what mechanisms could favor that ant presence on plants does not affect other mutualistic interactions involving plants. In this work, we performed a series of field experiments to test the hypothesis that the presence of ants on EFNs located at the base of the inflorescences of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) may have a negative effect on floral visitors but not on potential pollinators in a Mexican coastal sand dune. In general, we found that the presence of ants on the plants decreased the rate of flower visitation. However, we observed that the time of visitation of the effective pollinators the bee (Pseudocentron) sp. on the flowers was less compared to that of other floral visitors. This strategy may allow that ants cannot aggressively scare away the effective pollinators. In summary, we show that the effective pollinators of V. luteola present strategies that allow them to visit the flowers without being aggressively attacked by the ants that visit the extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). Therefore, the presence of ants on plants could have a dual function: protecting plants against potential herbivores as well as, filtering flowers against nectar thieves. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:05:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e8be8810f4b54804ae903cfa073848f6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0361-6525 2447-8067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:05:36Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sociobiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e8be8810f4b54804ae903cfa073848f62022-12-22T04:16:50ZengUniversidade Estadual de Feira de SantanaSociobiology0361-65252447-80672018-10-0165410.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3466Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand duneArmando Aguirre0Wesley Dáttilo1Dulce Rodríguez-Morales2Sara Canchola-Orozco3Eliezer Cocoletzi-Vasquez4Rosamond Coates5Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez6Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Interacciones MultitróficasInstituto de Ecología A.C., Red de EcoetologíaInstituto de Neuroetología, Universidad VeracruzanaCentro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de GuadalajaraCentro de EcoAlfabetización y Diálogo de Saberes, Universidad VeracruzanaEstación de Biología Tropical “Los Tuxtlas”, Instituto de Biología-UNAMInstituto de Ecología, A.C, Red de Ecología FuncionalWhile some studies have shown that ants that visit extrafloral nectaries may defend their host plants against potential herbivores, recent researches have shown that such ant-plant mutualism may be broken in some cases. For example, the presence of ants on plants could also drive away pollinators and seed dispersers. However, it is not yet known what mechanisms could favor that ant presence on plants does not affect other mutualistic interactions involving plants. In this work, we performed a series of field experiments to test the hypothesis that the presence of ants on EFNs located at the base of the inflorescences of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) may have a negative effect on floral visitors but not on potential pollinators in a Mexican coastal sand dune. In general, we found that the presence of ants on the plants decreased the rate of flower visitation. However, we observed that the time of visitation of the effective pollinators the bee (Pseudocentron) sp. on the flowers was less compared to that of other floral visitors. This strategy may allow that ants cannot aggressively scare away the effective pollinators. In summary, we show that the effective pollinators of V. luteola present strategies that allow them to visit the flowers without being aggressively attacked by the ants that visit the extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). Therefore, the presence of ants on plants could have a dual function: protecting plants against potential herbivores as well as, filtering flowers against nectar thieves.http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/3466ant-plant relationshipexperimental manipulationmultitrophic interactionsmutualismsLos Tuxtlas |
| spellingShingle | Armando Aguirre Wesley Dáttilo Dulce Rodríguez-Morales Sara Canchola-Orozco Eliezer Cocoletzi-Vasquez Rosamond Coates Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune Sociobiology ant-plant relationship experimental manipulation multitrophic interactions mutualisms Los Tuxtlas |
| title | Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune |
| title_full | Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune |
| title_fullStr | Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune |
| title_full_unstemmed | Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune |
| title_short | Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune |
| title_sort | foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of vigna luteola fabaceae in a mexican coastal sand dune |
| topic | ant-plant relationship experimental manipulation multitrophic interactions mutualisms Los Tuxtlas |
| url | http://periodicos.uefs.br/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/3466 |
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