Chemical cues mediate species recognition in field crickets

Interactions of ants with native and invasive lady beetles and the role of chemical cues in intraguild interference

Chemoecology ◽

10.1007/s00049-021-00354-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Roman Bucher ◽

Laura M. Japke ◽

Ayse Gül Ünlü ◽

Florian Menzel

Keyword(s):

Chemical Cues ◽

Harmonia Axyridis ◽

Species Recognition ◽

Lady Beetle ◽

Lasius Niger ◽

Beetle Species ◽

Beetle Elytra ◽

Lady Beetles ◽

Ant Aggression

AbstractThe predator-predator naïveté hypothesis suggests that non-native predators benefit from being unknown to native predators, resulting in reduced intraguild interference with native predators. This novelty advantage should depend on the ability of native predators to recognize cues of non-native predators. Here, we compared ant aggression and lady beetle reaction in four native and the invasive lady beetle species Harmonia axyridis. In addition, we tested whether lady beetle cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are involved in species recognition, which might explain naïveté if the invasive species has a specific CHC profile. To this end, we conducted behavioral assays confronting two native ant species with both living lady beetles and lady beetle elytra bearing or lacking CHCs of different lady beetle species. Finally, we characterized CHC profiles of the lady beetles using GC–MS. In general, the aggression of Lasius niger was more frequent than that of Myrmica rubra and L. niger aggression was more frequent towards most native lady beetle species compared to H. axyridis. The removal of CHCs from lady beetle elytra reduced aggression of both ant species. If CHCs of respective lady beetle species were added on cue-free elytra, natural strength of L. niger aggression could be restored. CHC analyses revealed a distinct cue composition for each lady beetle species. Our experiments demonstrate that the presence of chemical cues on the surface of lady beetles contribute to the strength of ant aggression against lady beetles. Reduced aggression of L. niger towards H. axyridis and reduced avoidance behavior in H. axyridis compared to the equally voracious C. septempunctata might improve the invasive lady beetle’s access to ant-tended aphids.

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Species Recognition by Chemical Cues in Neotropical Snakes

Copeia ◽

10.1643/ce-11-150 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 (3) ◽

pp. 472-477

Author(s):

Marianne Gabirot ◽

Pablo Picerno ◽

Jorge Valencia ◽

Pilar Lopez ◽

José Martin

Keyword(s):

Chemical Cues ◽

Species Recognition

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Predator-naïve fall field crickets respond to the chemical cues of wolf spiders

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z08-114 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 86 (11) ◽

pp. 1259-1263 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jonathan J. Storm ◽

Steven L. Lima

Keyword(s):

Filter Paper ◽

Chemical Cues ◽

Acheta Domesticus ◽

Wolf Spiders ◽

Gryllus Pennsylvanicus ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Hogna Helluo ◽

Terrestrial Insects ◽

Rabidosa Rabida ◽

Blank Filter

Few studies have addressed whether terrestrial insects assess predation risk via chemical cues. We exposed predator-naïve fall field crickets ( Gryllus pennsylvanicus Burmeister, 1838) to filter paper containing the chemical cues of three wolf spiders ( Hogna helluo (Walckenaer, 1837), Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer, 1837), Rabidosa punctulata (Hentz, 1844)), the house cricket ( Acheta domesticus L., 1758,) and blank filter paper. Crickets exhibited greater immobility and reduced speed of movement when exposed to chemical cues of all three spider species. Crickets exhibited reduced speed with increasing mass of R. punctulata, suggesting that larger spiders may pose a greater risk. Cricket response did not differ between cues of H. helluo fed conspecific crickets versus H. helluo fed house crickets, suggesting that crickets cannot distinguish between cues from H. helluo fed phylogenetically similar crickets. Our work nevertheless demonstrates that naïve field crickets respond to chemical cues of several species of wolf spiders.

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Nestmate recognition of early brood in ants

10.1101/2021.03.17.435807 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Arthur de Fouchier ◽

Chloe Leroy ◽

Abderrahman Khila ◽

Patrizia d'Ettorre

Keyword(s):

Brood Parasitism ◽

Nestmate Recognition ◽

Social Insect ◽

Chemical Cues ◽

Species Recognition ◽

Species Level ◽

Social Parasites ◽

Chemical Basis ◽

Chemical Signature ◽

Colony Fitness

Brood is critically important in social insect colonies. It carries the colony fitness through delivering future reproductive adults as well as workers that will increase the colony's workforce. Adoption of non-nestmate brood can be a mean to increase colony's workforce but entails the risk of rearing unrelated sexuals or social parasites. For early brood (eggs and L1 larvae), this balance is less positive as young brood need a substantial amount of resource before becoming workers. Thus, it appears beneficial for ant workers to discriminate between nestmate and alien brood using the chemical cues displayed at the brood's surface. However, the chemical signature of ant early brood stages and its use by workers remains understudied. To fill this gap, we investigated the chemical basis of early brood nestmate and cross-species recognition in six Formicoid ants. We also tested the discrimination behaviour of workers in brood retrieval trials. We observed clear species-level cues and discrimination against heterospecific brood. We also found that eggs and most young larvae display a colony signature but that only some species discriminate against non-nestmate eggs and L1 larvae. Interestingly, these species appear to also be those belonging to genera subject to brood parasitism.

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Chemosensory species recognition may reduce the frequency of hybridization between native and introduced lizards

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z09-120 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 88 (1) ◽

pp. 73-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

M. Gabirot ◽

A. M. Castilla ◽

P. López ◽

J. Martín

Keyword(s):

Chemical Cues ◽

Species Recognition ◽

Small Populations ◽

Reproductive Decisions ◽

Chemical Recognition ◽

Island Endemics ◽

Podarcis Hispanica ◽

Interspecific Recognition ◽

The Common ◽

Tongue Flicks

The introduction of alien species to islands by human activity can cause catastrophic consequences for small populations of island endemics. Hybridization between the endangered and endemic insular lizard Podarcis atrata (Boscá, 1916) from the Columbretes Islands (Mediterranean, Spain) and the common mainland lizard Podarcis hispanica (Steindachner, 1870) could potentially occur because mainland haplotypes have already been detected in the islands, the two species are closely genetically related, and the frequency of visitors to these islands is increasing. However, reproductive decisions of lizards are often mediated by species recognition mechanisms based on chemical cues. On the basis of this observation, even if some mainland P. hispanica lizards were introduced to the islands, interspecific recognition might make rare an eventual hybridization with the insular P. atrata. We examined interspecific chemical recognition between the insular P. atrata and the mainland P. hispanica. Our results showed that lizards of both sexes responded more strongly (i.e., directed a significantly higher number of tongue flicks) to scents of conspecific individuals than to scents of heterospecifics. Chemical recognition of conspecifics by endemic island P. atrata lizards may reduce the occurrence of hybridization with introduced mainland P. hispanica lizards and protect the insular gene pool.

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Species recognition by male swordtails via chemical cues

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/ari058 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 818-822 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Bob B.M. Wong ◽

Heidi S. Fisher ◽

Gil G. Rosenthal

Keyword(s):

Chemical Cues ◽

Species Recognition

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Assessing the potential for egg chemoattractants to mediate sexual selection in a broadcast spawning marine invertebrate

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2012.0181 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 279 (1739) ◽

pp. 2855-2861 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Jonathan P. Evans ◽

Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez ◽

Maria Almbro ◽

Oscar Robinson ◽

John L. Fitzpatrick

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Choice Experiment ◽

Chemical Cues ◽

Marine Invertebrate ◽

Species Recognition ◽

Critical Role ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Broadcast Spawning ◽

Fertilization Rates ◽

Sperm Chemotaxis

In numerous species, egg chemoattractants play a critical role in guiding sperm towards unfertilized eggs (sperm chemotaxis). Until now, the known functions of sperm chemotaxis include increasing the effective target size of eggs, thereby promoting sperm–egg encounters, and facilitating species recognition. Here, we report that in the broadcast spawning mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis , egg chemoattractants may play an unforeseen role in sexual selection by enabling sperm to effectively ‘choose’ between the eggs of different conspecific females. In an initial experiment, we confirmed that sperm chemotaxis occurs in M. galloprovincialis by showing that sperm are attracted towards unfertilized eggs when given the choice of eggs or no eggs in a dichotomous chamber. We then conducted two cross-classified mating experiments, each comprising the same individual males and females crossed in identical male × female combinations, but under experimental conditions that offered sperm ‘no-choice’ (each fertilization trial took place in a Petri dish and involved a single male and female) or a ‘choice’ of a female's eggs (sperm were placed in the centre of a dichotomous choice chamber and allowed to choose eggs from different females). We show that male-by-female interactions characterized fertilization rates in both experiments, and that there was remarkable consistency between patterns of sperm migration in the egg-choice experiment and fertilization rates in the no-choice experiment. Thus, sperm appear to exploit chemical cues to preferentially swim towards eggs with which they are most compatible during direct sperm-to-egg encounters. These results reveal that sperm differentially select eggs on the basis of chemical cues, thus exposing the potential for egg chemoattractants to mediate mate choice for genetically compatible partners. Given the prevalence of sperm chemotaxis across diverse taxa, our findings may have broad implications for sexual selection in other mating systems.

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