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Exchange of hosts: can agaonid fig wasps reproduce successfully in the figs of non-host Ficus?

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Abstract

In the obligate mutualism between figs (Ficus) and their specific pollinators (Chalcidoidea, Agaonidae), each species of fig wasp typically reproduces in figs of a single host species. Host specificity is maintained largely because pollinators are attracted to tree-specific volatiles released from their host figs, but whether the wasps can reproduce if they enter figs of non-host species is unclear. We investigated the reproductive success of Ceratosolen emarginatus (associated with Ficus auriculata) and Ceratosolen sp. (associated with F. hainanensis) in atypical hosts by experimentally introducing foundresses into host and non-host figs. F. auriculata figs entered by Ceratosolen sp. were more likely to abort than if entered by C. emarginatus, but abortion of F. hainanensis figs was not affected by pollinator species. Single C. emarginatus foundresses produced more but smaller offspring in F. hainanensis than in their normal host. Conversely Ceratosolen sp. produced fewer but larger offspring in F. auriculata than in their normal host, probably as a result of having longer to develop. Mean style length differences, relative to the lengths of the wasps’ ovipositors, may have dictated the number of offspring produced, with oviposition made easier by the shorter styles in F. hainanensis figs. Our results imply that, in addition to morphological constraints and tree-specific volatiles, reduced reproductive success in atypical hosts can be another factor maintaining host specificity, but for other species only behavioural changes are required for host switching to occur.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Junming Guan, Bo Song, Qing Liu and Shibo Wu for helping with field experiments. We also thank Fengping Zhang, Zhenji Wang, Yuan Zhang and Jinyuan Zhang for assistance. We are grateful to Stephen Compton for advice and help with written English. We also thank Larissa Galante Elias and Rhett Harrison for good suggestions and reviewing the manuscript. This study was funded by the Chinese Natural Science Foundation (NSFC, 30970403, 31100279).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Xuefu Road, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, People’s Republic of China

    Pei Yang, Yanqiong Peng & Darong Yang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Pei Yang

  3. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Forest Disaster Warning and Control, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China

    Zongbo Li

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  1. Pei Yang
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  2. Zongbo Li
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  3. Yanqiong Peng
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  4. Darong Yang
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Correspondence to Darong Yang.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Yang, P., Li, Z., Peng, Y. et al. Exchange of hosts: can agaonid fig wasps reproduce successfully in the figs of non-host Ficus?. Naturwissenschaften 99, 199–205 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0885-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0885-5

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