Abstract
Honeydew production by Hemiptera is an ecologically important process that facilitates mutualisms and increases nutrient cycling. Accurate estimates of the amount of honeydew available in a system are essential for quantifying food web dynamics, energy flow, and the potential growth of sooty mould that inhibits plant growth. Despite the importance of honeydew, there is no standardized method to estimate its production when intensive laboratory testing is not feasible. We developed two new models to predict honeydew production, one based on insect body mass and taxonomic family, and one based on body mass and life stage. We tested the accuracy of both models’ predictions for a diverse range of honeydew-producing hemipteran families (Aphididae, Pseudococcidae, Coccidae, Psyllidae, Aleyrodidae, Delphacidae, Cicadellidae). The method based on body mass and family provided more accurate estimates of honeydew production, due to large variation in honeydew production among families. We apply our methodology to a case study, the recalculation of honeydew available to invasive red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) in the United States. We find that the amount of honeydew may be an order of magnitude lower than that previously estimated (2.16 versus 21.6 grams of honeydew per day) and discuss possible reasons for the difference. We anticipate that being able to estimate honeydew production based on minimal biological information will have applications to agriculture, invasion biology, forestry, and carbon farming.
Highlights
Honeydew production by Hemiptera is an important ecological function in numerous systems globally
We developed two new methods of honeydew quantification, one based on taxonomic family identity and size of the hemipteran, and the second on life stage and size, and tested the ability of these methods to predict honeydew production for independent data through cross-validation
We have developed a method whereby knowing the body mass and family of a honeydew producer, a reasonably accurate estimate of honeydew production can be calculated
Summary
Honeydew production by Hemiptera is an important ecological function in numerous systems globally. Many animals rely on honeydew as a food source, including birds [1], geckos [2], ants [3,4], bees [5], wasps [1,6], fruit flies [6], snails, cockroaches, moths [7], and hoverflies [8]. As an example of its importance as a food source, honeydew accounts for the majority of carbon brought into nests by wood ants, the nutrient cycling keystone species in boreal.
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