Variations in abiotic defense within myrmecophytic and non‐myrmecophytic species of Macaranga in a Bornean dipterocarp forest

Abstract

We examined the interspecific variations in intensity of total abiotic (chemical and physical) defenses in five sympatric Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) species, including three myrmecophytic species. The intensity of the total abiotic defense for each Macaranga species was estimated by measuring inhibiting effects on the growth performance of the common cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) when the cutworm larvae were fed fresh leaves of each Macaranga species. Indices of the growth performance, number of dead larvae, pupal weight and length of larval period were obtained. We found that the intensities of total abiotic defense of the two non‐myrmecophytic species were significantly stronger than those of the three myrmecophytic species, and that there was a significant difference in intensity even within the three myrmecophytic species. The former result supports the hypothesis that, unlike non‐myrmecophytic species, myrmecophytic species cannot invest so many metabolic resources in abiotic defense, because they have to allocate nutrients to biotic defense (toward biotic defense agents). Moreover, the latter result suggests the possibility that the three sympatric myrmecophytes have different defense strategies, with a trade‐off between abiotic and biotic defense, and/or with a trade‐off between defense and other life‐history traits such as growth and reproduction. Abiotic defense can be roughly separated into physical and chemical mechanisms. To assess the intensity of the physical defense of Macaranga leaves, we measured the leaf toughness of each species. In addition, to assess the intensity of the plant’s general chemical defense, cutworm larvae were reared on an artificial diet containing dry leaf powder of each Macaranga species, and their growth performances were compared. The estimated orders of intensity of both leaf toughness and general chemical defense coincided with that of the total abiotic factors measured by the growth performance of cutworm on fresh leaves. This suggests the presence of both physical defenses, represented by leaf toughness, and a general chemical defense affecting the intensity of the total abiotic defense in similar ways.