Abstract
Summary1. Aphids show a range of associations with ants from nonattendance to obligate myrmecophily.Aphis fabae cirsiiacanthoidesis facultatively associated with ants, whileSymydobius oblongusis an obligate myrmecophile. The selection pressures that have shaped these associations are unknown.2. The consequences for these aphids of their different degrees of associations with ants were determined, in terms of costs and benefits to individuals and colonies in laboratory and field experiments. In the laboratory, individuals ofA. f. cirsiiacanthoidesperformed worse and those ofSymydobius oblongusperformed better when attended by the antLasius nigerthan when unattended. For example, when ant‐attended,A. f. cirsiiacanthoidesdeveloped more slowly, were smaller, and invested less in gonads, whereasS. oblongusdeveloped more quickly, were larger, and invested more in gonads. In addition, the ant regulated the population size ofS. oblongusto an average of 50–70 individuals per birch sapling by removing aphids, but did not regulate the population size ofA. f. cirsiiacanthoides.3. Under field conditions, ant‐attended colonies of bothA. f. cirsiiacanthoides and S. oblongusachieved higher peak numbers and lasted longer, and ant‐attended colonies ofA. f. cirsiiacanthoidesproduced more alate dispersers than unattended colonies.4. The implications of divergent selection pressures for the development of myrmecophily in aphids are discussed.
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