Lev-Yadun Simcha
a Department of Biology & Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences , University of Haifa - Oranim , Israel.
Plant Signal Behav. 2016 Aug 2;11(8):e1207035. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2016.1207035.
Auditory signaling including aposematism characterizes many terrestrial animals. Auditory aposematism by which certain animals use auditory aposematic signals to fend off enemies is well known for instance in rattlesnakes. Auditory signaling by plants toward animals and other plants is an emerging area of plant biology that still suffers from limited amount of solid data. Here I propose that auditory aposematism operates in the African whistling thorn acacia (Acacia drepanolobium = Vachellia drepanolobium). In this tree, the large and hollow thorn bases whistle when wind blows. This type of aposematism compliments the well-known conspicuous thorn and mutualistic ant based aposematism during day and may operate during night when the conspicuous thorns are invisible.
包括警戒色在内的听觉信号是许多陆生动物的特征。某些动物利用听觉警戒信号抵御敌人的听觉警戒色，例如在响尾蛇中就广为人知。植物向动物和其他植物发出的听觉信号是植物生物学中一个新兴领域，目前仍缺乏大量可靠数据。在此我提出，非洲哨刺金合欢（Acacia drepanolobium = Vachellia drepanolobium）存在听觉警戒色。在这种树中，大而中空的刺基部在风吹过时会发出啸声。这种警戒色补充了白天众所周知的显眼刺和基于互利共生蚂蚁的警戒色，并且可能在夜间显眼的刺不可见时发挥作用。
