Foraging ants on the extrafloral nectaries repel nectar thieves but not the effective pollinator of Vigna luteola (Fabaceae) in a Mexican coastal sand dune

Armando Aguirre,Rosamond Coates,Sara Canchola-Orozco,Eliezer Cocoletzi-Vasquez,Wesley Dáttilo,Dulce Rodríguez-Morales,Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3466

Armando Aguirre, Rosamond Coates + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i4.3466

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Abstract

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.

Highlights

Among the studies on ant-plant interactions, we can find those in which clearly there is a benefit for both interacting organisms through a mutual relationship (Koptur, 1984; Oliveira et al, 1999; Rico-Gray & Oliveira, 2007; Byk & Del-Claro, 2011)
In Pasheolus lunatus (Fabaceae) under different conditions of Jasmonic acid, the Jasmonic acid increases the ant abundance but does not have any effect on the number of flowers visitors found, there were effects when the ants were excluded on the number of flowers and seeds, this could have consequences on reproductive success in this plant, mediated by the ant-plant interactions (Hernández-Cumplido et al, 2016). Based on this background knowledge, we proposed to test if the presence of ants on extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) located at the base of the inflorescences, could have a negative effect on the identity of floral visitors and the amount of time the visitors may expend foraging on the flowers of a species found in a Mexican coastal sand dune
We recorded the visitation frequency while for extrafloral nectaries we considered the abundance of insects

Summary

Introduction

Among the studies on ant-plant interactions, we can find those in which clearly there is a benefit for both interacting organisms through a mutual relationship (Koptur, 1984; Oliveira et al, 1999; Rico-Gray & Oliveira, 2007; Byk & Del-Claro, 2011). In exchange for food and nesting resources, ants offer plants protection against herbivores, seed dispersion, and in some cases may serve as potential pollinators (Rico-Gray & Oliveira, 2007; De Vega et al, 2009; Dáttilo et al, 2015; Luna et al, 2018). These interactions between ants and plants are mediated by cost-benefit relationships in which plant resources are exchanged for services offered by animals, in this case by ants (Del Claro et al, 2016).

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