Stadler Bernhard, Kindlmann Pavel, Smilauer Petr, Fiedler Konrad
Bayreuth Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany.
Oecologia. 2003 May;135(3):422-30. doi: 10.1007/s00442-003-1193-8. Epub 2003 Mar 11.
Ants are a major environmental factor for many insect species. For example, aphids and lycaenids have evolved an array of associations with ants ranging from obligate myrmecophily to the avoidance of contact. Here we (1) analyze the predictive power of different ecological and morphological traits for explaining the strength of the association between ants and aphids/lycaenids and (2) contrast different taxonomic levels with respect to the variance explained by ant attendance. Data come from a literature survey including 112 species of aphids and 103 species of lycaenids from Europe. For aphids, feeding on woody plant parts is positively associated with ant attendance, while a high degree of mobility, feeding in isolation, and the possession of wings in the adult stage are negatively associated with ant attendance. In lycaenids, feeding on inflorescences and feeding on Fabaceae host plants is closely associated with ant attendance, while living in forests bears a smaller likelihood to establish mutualistic relationships. Body size always appeared to be a poor predictor for the degree of ant attendance. Overall, in both insect groups less than 10% of the variation in the ecological traits recorded is explained by the different modes of ant association. When decomposing the variance in traits explained by ant attendance at different taxonomic levels, aphids and lycaenids show contrasting results. In aphids, most variance in the degree of ant attendance is explained at the subfamily level and least at the species level. The opposite is true for lycaenids, where most variance is explained at the lowest taxonomic level. Possible mechanisms explaining these different patterns of associations with ants are suggested.
蚂蚁是许多昆虫物种的主要环境因素。例如，蚜虫和灰蝶科昆虫已经进化出一系列与蚂蚁的关联，从专性蚁栖性到避免接触。在此，我们（1）分析不同生态和形态特征对于解释蚂蚁与蚜虫/灰蝶科昆虫之间关联强度的预测能力，以及（2）对比不同分类水平在蚂蚁照料所解释的方差方面的差异。数据来自一项文献调查，涵盖了欧洲的112种蚜虫和103种灰蝶科昆虫。对于蚜虫而言，取食木本植物部分与蚂蚁照料呈正相关，而高度的移动性、单独取食以及成虫期有翅则与蚂蚁照料呈负相关。在灰蝶科昆虫中，取食花序和取食豆科寄主植物与蚂蚁照料密切相关，而生活在森林中建立互利关系的可能性较小。体型似乎始终不是蚂蚁照料程度的良好预测指标。总体而言，在这两个昆虫类群中，所记录的生态特征变化中不到10%可由与蚂蚁的不同关联模式来解释。当分解不同分类水平上由蚂蚁照料所解释的性状方差时，蚜虫和灰蝶科昆虫呈现出相反的结果。在蚜虫中，蚂蚁照料程度的大部分方差在亚科水平得到解释，在物种水平解释最少。灰蝶科昆虫则相反，大部分方差在最低分类水平得到解释。文中还提出了解释这些与蚂蚁不同关联模式的可能机制。
