ArticleEcology and evolution2014
Plant-derived differences in the composition of aphid honeydew and their effects on colonies of aphid-tending ants.
Article in Ecology and evolution, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Honeydew microbial ecology: a neglected frontier in multitrophic networks.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Review
- Article
- Review
- Uncovering the key miRNA-target network of tea plants in resistance to sooty mold disease.BMC plant biology · 2025Article
- Contrasting Effects of Mutualistic Ants (Insects · 2025Article
- Combined Elevation of Temperature and COJournal of chemical ecology · 2022Article
- Chemical Cues From Honeydew and Cuticular Extracts of Trialeurodes Vaporariorum Serve as Kairomones for The Parasitoid Encarsia Formosa.Journal of chemical ecology · 2022Article
- Volatiles from male honeydew excretions attract conspecific male spotted lanternflies,Frontiers in insect science · 2022Article
- All sugars ain't sweet: selection of particular mono-, di- and trisaccharides by western carpenter ants and European fire ants.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Phytochemistry-mediated disruption of ant-aphid interactions by root-feeding nematodes.Oecologia · 2020Article
- Analysis of sugars and amino acids in aphid honeydew by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography - Mass spectrometry.MethodsX · 2020Article
- Tree diversity increases robustness of multi-trophic interactions.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Attraction of FemaleInsects · 2019Article
- The role of ants in north temperate grasslands: a review.Oecologia · 2018Review
- Article
- Community analysis of microbial sharing and specialization in a Costa Rican ant-plant-hemipteran symbiosis.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In plant-ant-hemipteran interactions, ants visit plants to consume the honeydew produced by phloem-feeding hemipterans. If genetically based differences in plant phloem chemistry change the chemical composition of hemipteran honeydew, then the plant's genetic constitution could have indirect effects on ants via the hemipterans. If such effects change ant behavior, they could feed back to affect the plant itself. We compared the chemical composition of honeydews produced by Aphis nerii aphid clones on two milkweed congeners, Asclepias curassavica and Asclepias incarnata, and we measured the responses of experimental Linepithema humile ant colonies to these honeydews. The compositions of secondary metabolites, sugars, and amino acids differed significantly in the honeydews from the two plant species. Ant colonies feeding on honeydew derived from A. incarnata recruited in higher numbers to artificial diet, maintained higher queen and worker dry weight, and sustained marginally more workers than ants feeding on honeydew derived from A. curassavica. Ants feeding on honeydew from A. incarnata were also more exploratory in behavioral assays than ants feeding from A. curassavica. Despite performing better when feeding on the A. incarnata honeydew, ant workers marginally preferred honeydew from A. curassavica to honeydew from A. incarnata when given a choice. Our results demonstrate that plant congeners can exert strong indirect effects on ant colonies by means of plant-species-specific differences in aphid honeydew chemistry. Moreover, these effects changed ant behavior and thus could feed back to affect plant performance in the field.
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