1
|
Connors MG, Yeeles P, Lach L, Rentz DCF. Revision of the genus Calofulcinia Giglio-Tos (Mantodea: Nanomantidae: Fulciniinae) in Australia. Zootaxa 2023; 5296:333-361. [PMID: 37518440 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5296.3.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
The genus Calofulcinia comprises several species of small, cryptic mantis, three of which have been described from Australia. The genus is infrequently recorded and is thus very poorly known, and even basic questions of species delimitation and distribution have remained virtually unknown since the descriptions of these taxa. We here redescribe and figure the three known Australian species of Calofulcinia in full and provide a detailed key to Australian species. We record significant range extensions for all three species, and provide the first detailed behavioural and ecological records for the genus. In addition, we group the Australian species into a Robust Group (C. paraoxypila) and a Gracile Group (C. australis and C. oxynota), we detail the occurrence of colour polymorphism within the genus, and finally we discuss the apparent microhabitat specificity of Calofulcinia spp. (mosses and lichens) and their preference for cool, moist environments with reference to our changing climate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew G Connors
- College of Science and Engineering; James Cook University; PO Box 6811; Cairns; QLD; 4870; Australia.
| | - Peter Yeeles
- College of Science and Engineering; James Cook University; PO Box 6811; Cairns; QLD; 4870; Australia.
| | - Lori Lach
- College of Science and Engineering; James Cook University; PO Box 6811; Cairns; QLD; 4870; Australia.
| | - David C F Rentz
- Adjunct Professor; College of Science and Engineering; James Cook University; PO Box 6811; Cairns; QLD; 4870; Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Balbuena MS, Broadhead GT, Dahake A, Barnett E, Vergara M, Skogen KA, Jogesh T, Raguso RA. Mutualism has its limits: consequences of asymmetric interactions between a well-defended plant and its herbivorous pollinator. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210166. [PMID: 35491593 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Concern for pollinator health often focuses on social bees and their agricultural importance at the expense of other pollinators and their ecosystem services. When pollinating herbivores use the same plants as nectar sources and larval hosts, ecological conflicts emerge for both parties, as the pollinator's services are mitigated by herbivory and its larvae are harmed by plant defences. We tracked individual-level metrics of pollinator health-growth, survivorship, fecundity-across the life cycle of a pollinating herbivore, the common hawkmoth, Hyles lineata, interacting with a rare plant, Oenothera harringtonii, that is polymorphic for the common floral volatile (R)-(-)-linalool. Linalool had no impact on floral attraction, but its experimental addition suppressed oviposition on plants lacking linalool. Plants showed robust resistance against herbivory from leaf-disc to whole-plant scales, through poor larval growth and survivorship. Higher larval performance on other Oenothera species indicates that constitutive herbivore resistance by O. harringtonii is not a genus-wide trait. Leaf volatiles differed among populations of O. harringtonii but were not induced by larval herbivory. Similarly, elagitannins and other phenolics varied among plant tissues but were not herbivore-induced. Our findings highlight asymmetric plant-pollinator interactions and the importance of third parties, including alternative larval host plants, in maintaining pollinator health. This article is part of the theme issue 'Natural processes influencing pollinator health: from chemistry to landscapes'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Sol Balbuena
- Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), CONICET, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Argentina
| | - Geoffrey T Broadhead
- Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Ajinkya Dahake
- Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Emily Barnett
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Melissa Vergara
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
| | - Krissa A Skogen
- Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL 60035, USA
| | - Tania Jogesh
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA.,Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL 60035, USA
| | - Robert A Raguso
- Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Yu L, Xu X, Zhang Z, Painting CJ, Yang X, Li D. Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider. Curr Zool 2022; 68:325-334. [PMID: 35592341 PMCID: PMC9113284 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoab060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
In aggressive mimicry, a predator accesses prey by mimicking the appearance and/or behavior of a harmless or beneficial model in order to avoid being correctly identified by its prey. The crab spider genus Phrynarachne is often cited as a textbook example of masquerading as bird droppings (BDs) in order to avoid predation. However, Phrynarachne spiders may also aggressively mimic BDs in order to deceive potential prey. To date, there is no experimental evidence to support aggressive mimicry in masquerading crab spiders; therefore, we performed a field survey, a manipulative field experiment, and visual modeling to test this hypothesis using Phrynarachne ceylonica. We compared prey-attraction rates among BDs, spiders, and control empty leaves in the field. We found that although all prey combined and agromyzid dipterans, in particular, were attracted to BDs at a higher rate than to spiders, other dipterans and hymenopterans were attracted to BDs at a similar rate as to spiders. Both spiders and BDs attracted insects at a significantly higher rate than did control leaves. As predicted, prey was attracted to experimentally blackened or whitened spiders significantly less frequently than to unmanipulated spiders. Finally, visual modeling suggested that spiders and BDs can be detected by dipterans and hymenopterans against background leaves, but they are indistinguishable from each other. Taken together, our results suggest that insects lured by spiders may misidentify them as BDs, and bird-dropping masquerading may serve as aggressive mimicry in addition to predator avoidance in P. ceylonica.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Long Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
| | - Xin Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
- College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410006, Hunan, China
| | - Zengtao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering of China & Centre for Behavioural Ecology & Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, Hubei, China
| | | | - Xiaodong Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan 666303, China
| | - Daiqin Li
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 117543, Singapore
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Robledo-Ospina LE, Rao D. Dangerous visions: a review of visual antipredator strategies in spiders. Evol Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-022-10156-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
|
5
|
Rodríguez-Morales D, Tapia-McClung H, Robledo-Ospina LE, Rao D. Colour and motion affect a dune wasp's ability to detect its cryptic spider predators. Sci Rep 2021; 11:15442. [PMID: 34326422 PMCID: PMC8322161 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94926-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ambush predators depend on cryptic body colouration, stillness and a suitable hunting location to optimise the probability of prey capture. Detection of cryptic predators, such as crab spiders, by flower seeking wasps may also be hindered by wind induced movement of the flowers themselves. In a beach dune habitat, Microbembex nigrifrons wasps approaching flowerheads of the Palafoxia lindenii plant need to evaluate the flowers to avoid spider attack. Wasps may detect spiders through colour and movement cues. We tracked the flight trajectories of dune wasps as they approached occupied and unoccupied flowers under two movement conditions; when the flowers were still or moving. We simulated the appearance of the spider and the flower using psychophysical visual modelling techniques and related it to the decisions made by the wasp to land or avoid the flower. Wasps could discriminate spiders only at a very close range, and this was reflected in the shape of their trajectories. Wasps were more prone to making errors in threat assessment when the flowers are moving. Our results suggest that dune wasp predation risk is augmented by abiotic conditions such as wind and compromises their early detection capabilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dulce Rodríguez-Morales
- Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Horacio Tapia-McClung
- Instituto de Investigación en Inteligencia Artificial (IIIA), Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Luis E Robledo-Ospina
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Dinesh Rao
- Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Goedert D, Clement D, Calsbeek R. Evolutionary trade‐offs may interact with physiological constraints to maintain color variation. ECOL MONOGR 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Debora Goedert
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
- Ministry of Education of Brazil CAPES Foundation Brasília DF95616Brazil
| | - Dale Clement
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
| | - Ryan Calsbeek
- Department of Biological Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover03755 New Hampshire USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Benoit AD, Kalisz S. Predator Effects on Plant-Pollinator Interactions, Plant Reproduction, Mating Systems, and Evolution. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012120-094926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Plants are the foundation of the food web and therefore interact directly and indirectly with myriad organisms at higher trophic levels. They directly provide nourishment to mutualistic and antagonistic primary consumers (e.g., pollinators and herbivores), which in turn are consumed by predators. These interactions produce cascading indirect effects on plants (either trait-mediated or density-mediated). We review how predators affect plant-pollinator interactions and thus how predators indirectly affect plant reproduction, fitness, mating systems, and trait evolution. Predators can influence pollinator abundance and foraging behavior. In many cases, predators cause pollinators to visit plants less frequently and for shorter durations. This decline in visitation can lead to pollen limitation and decreased seed set. However, alternative outcomes can result due to differences in predator, pollinator, and plant functional traits as well as due to altered interaction networks with plant enemies. Furthermore, predators may indirectly affect the evolution of plant traits and mating systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda D. Benoit
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA;,
| | - Susan Kalisz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA;,
| |
Collapse
|