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Ant-Repelling Pollinators of the Myrmecophytic Macaranga winkleri (Euphorbiaceae)

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Abstract

Many plants have mutualistic relationships with ants, whereby plants provide food and/or nesting sites for the symbiotic ants, and in turn the ants protect the host plants by excluding herbivores. While the ants are useful as guards, they may negatively affect host reproduction by excluding pollinators. Here we studied this potential conflict in the myrmecophytic Macaranga winkleri pollinated by the thrips Dolichothrips fialae. Behavioural responses of ant guards to pollinator thrips and their chemicals, and related chemical analyses, provide evidence that thrips deter ant-guards by secreting droplets containing ant-repelling n-decanoic acid from their anuses. This is the first report of insect pollinators repelling their host’s symbiotic guard ants to perform pollination. This is a novel strategy by which a plant host avoids interference with pollination by ant-guards in an ant–plant mutualism. The acquisition of a pollination system that is resistant to ant attacks may have facilitated the evolution of myrmecophytes in the genus Macaranga.

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Acknowledgments

We thank H. A. B. Yusop (Forest Department of Sarawak), L. Chong (Sarawak Forestry Corporation), T. Nakashizuka, and T. Itioka for research permission (Permit No. NCCD.907.4.4(Jld.8)-24). We also thank H. Kojima for weevil identification, T. Suzuki and J. Takabayashi for advice on chemical analyses, and D. Hembry for English-language editing. This study was financially supported by the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (Project D-04), Grants-in-Aid Nos. 21570028 and 23770022 from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to S.S. and Y.I., respectively, and a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 24-1464 to E.Y.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Eri Yamasaki

  2. Department of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Education, Osaka Kyoiku University, Kashiwara, Osaka, 582-8582, Japan

    Yoko Inui

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan

    Shoko Sakai

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  1. Eri Yamasaki
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Correspondence to Eri Yamasaki.

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Yamasaki, E., Inui, Y. & Sakai, S. Ant-Repelling Pollinators of the Myrmecophytic Macaranga winkleri (Euphorbiaceae). Evol Biol 43, 407–413 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-015-9365-0

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