Date: September 7, 2016
Source: Hokkaido University
Aphids are tiny bugs that live in
large colonies and suck sap from plants, producing a sugar-rich substance
called honeydew, which is then eaten by ants. Ants, in turn, protect aphids --
in a mutually beneficial relationship -- from the predators that eat them.
Researchers at Hokkaido
University in Japan and colleagues investigated whether this symbiotic
relationship played a role in the genetic selection of the red and green aphids
that feed on the mugwort plant -- known as Macrosiphoniella yomgicola. The
presence of two or more clearly different forms in a species is known as
"polymorphism." Previous research had shown that aphid colonies that
were more polymorphic tended to survive longer. This could be due to the number
of ants attending to these colonies.
The team first experimented by
removing ants from aphid colonies and found that most colonies whose attending
ants were removed did not survive. This demonstrated that ants were necessary
for the survival of the mogwort aphids.
They then experimented with
colonies that had varying proportions of red and green aphids and found that
the number of attending ants was highest when green aphids comprised 65% of the
colony.
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