scholarly journals Escape behaviour of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) in response to alarm pheromone and vibration.

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Clegg
1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2245-2252 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Clegg ◽  
C. A. Barlow

Pea aphids respond most effectively to the threat of a predator by walking away or dropping from their host plant. Simulating threat by using vibration and alarm pheromone, both separately and together, we found no evidence that escape responses are heritable, nor that individual aphids have characteristic escape behaviours. On the contrary, the amount of alarm pheromone influenced responses: the more pheromone, the more likely an immediate and effective escape. Vibration preceding alarm pheromone greatly increased responsiveness to pheromone, and aphids were more responsive to pheromone after vibration when feeding on stems than when feeding on the undersides of leaves.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Cesar Auguste Badji ◽  
Zoé Sol-Mochkovitch ◽  
Charlotte Fallais ◽  
Corentin Sochard ◽  
Jean-Christophe Simon ◽  
...  

Aphids use an alarm pheromone, E-β farnesene (EBF), to warn conspecifics of potential danger. The antennal sensitivity and behavioural escape responses to EBF can be influenced by different factors. In the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, different biotypes are adapted to different legume species, and within each biotype, different genotypes exist, which can carry or not Hamiltonella defensa, a bacterial symbiont that can confer protection against natural enemies. We investigate here the influence of the aphid genotype and symbiotic status on the escape behaviour using a four-way olfactometer and antennal sensitivity for EBF using electroantennograms (EAGs). Whereas the investigated three genotypes from two biotypes showed significantly different escape and locomotor behaviours in the presence of certain EBF doses, the infection with H. defensa did not significantly modify the escape behaviour and only marginally influenced the locomotor behaviour at high doses of EBF. Dose-response curves of EAG amplitudes after stimulation with EBF differed significantly between aphid genotypes in correlation with behavioural differences, whereas antennal sensitivity to EBF did not change significantly as a function of the symbiotic status. The protective symbiont H. defensa does thus not modify the olfactory sensitivity to the alarm pheromone. How EBF sensitivity is modified between genotypes or biotypes remains to be investigated.


2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezra G. Schwartzberg ◽  
Grit Kunert ◽  
Claudia Stephan ◽  
Anja David ◽  
Ursula S. R. Röse ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 2131-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward B Mondor ◽  
Bernard D Roitberg

Aphids possess unique anatomical structures called cornicles through which a defensive secretion containing alarm pheromone is often emitted when a predator attacks an aphid. The levels of alarm pheromone in cornicle droplets from the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris), vary considerably during development; however, it is not clear how the length of the cornicle changes during ontogeny. The length of the cornicle relative to the lengths of other body structures may have profound effects on aphid defense and alarm signal diffusion. Using previously published morphological measurements of pea aphids and observing interactions between pea aphids and multicolored Asian ladybird beetles, Harmonia axyridis Pallas, it was observed that pea aphid cornicles elongate proportionally more than other body parts during the first four instars, when alarm-pheromone levels have peaked, than during the fifth (adult) instar, when pheromone levels decline. Pea aphids also are more likely to emit cornicle droplets and daub them onto a predator when the cornicles are undergoing such rapid growth. We suggest that because of a high risk of predation, rapid cornicle growth in juveniles has evolved both for individual defense and for the inclusive fitness benefits of alarm signaling.


2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.A. Stacey ◽  
M.D.E. Fellowes

AbstractThe ability to resist or avoid natural enemy attack is a critically important insect life history trait, yet little is understood of how these traits may be affected by temperature. This study investigated how different genotypes of the pea aphidAcyrthosiphon pisumHarris, a pest of leguminous crops, varied in resistance to three different natural enemies (a fungal pathogen, two species of parasitoid wasp and a coccinellid beetle), and whether expression of resistance was influenced by temperature. Substantial clonal variation in resistance to the three natural enemies was found. Temperature influenced the number of aphids succumbing to the fungal pathogenErynia neoaphidisRemaudière & Hennebert, with resistance increasing at higher temperatures (18 vs. 28°C). A temperature difference of 5°C (18 vs. 23°C) did not affect the ability ofA. pisumto resist attack by the parasitoidsAphidius erviHaliday andA. eadyiStarý, González & Hall. Escape behaviour from foraging coccinellid beetles (Hippodamia convergensGuerin-Meneville) was not directly influenced by aphid clone or temperature (16 vs. 21°C). However, there were significant interactions between clone and temperature (while most clones did not respond to temperature, one was less likely to escape at 16°C), and between aphid clone and ladybird presence (some clones showed greater changes in escape behaviour in response to the presence of foraging coccinellids than others). Therefore, while larger temperature differences may alter interactions betweenAcyrthosiphon pisumand an entomopathogen, there is little evidence to suggest that smaller changes in temperature will alter pea aphid–natural enemy interactions.


Oecologia ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence M. Dill ◽  
Alex H. G. Fraser ◽  
Bernard D. Roitberg

2008 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezra G. Schwartzberg ◽  
Grit Kunert ◽  
Ursula S. R. Röse ◽  
Jonathan Gershenzon ◽  
Wolfgang W. Weisser

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (8) ◽  
pp. 1138-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua O Podjasek ◽  
Lisa M Bosnjak ◽  
Daniel J Brooker ◽  
Edward B Mondor

In response to increased predation risk, many organisms exhibit transgenerational polyphenisms whereby offspring have behavioural and (or) morphological adaptations to avoid natural enemies. The mechanisms underlying altered phenotypic expression, however, are not well understood. Aphids commonly exhibit a transgenerational wing-induction polyphenism in response to predators and parasitoids, but the stimuli inducing winged offspring production have not yet been identified. As aphids commonly emit the alarm pheromone (E)-β-farnesene (EBF) when physically attacked, this compound is a reliable signal of increased predation risk for asexual conspecifics. Here we show that maternal detection of EBF induces a transgenerational wing polyphenism in offspring of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris, 1776). In response to 50, 500, or 5000 ng of EBF vapor, aphids responded with 2.5-, 5.0-, and 6.0-fold increases in winged offspring production, respectively. Thus, alarm pheromone may alter aphid transgenerational phenotypic expression, thereby influencing aphid – natural enemy dynamics.


1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard D. Roitberg ◽  
Judith H. Myers

Adult and fourth-instar pea aphids from Vancouver, B.C., responded to alarm pheromone by either dropping, running, or backing up. Younger instars showed almost no response to pheromone but all instars responded to a pheromone–vibratory stimulus, usually by dropping. We suggest that younger instars respond conservatively to alarm pheromone because they are less agile on the ground and are more likely to die there before finding a suitable food plant. Adult and fourth-instar aphids from the hot, dry region of British Columbia do not respond to alarm pheromone by dropping. This is due to the high risk associated with any instar leaving the host plant where ground temperatures and evaporation rates are high.Clones of aphids contained both individuals which do and do not drop in response to pheromone stimulus. This mixture of behaviour types allows part of the group to exploit new resources while others remain on a known resource.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document