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opennotspecifiedAug 2019View details →

Figure 4 in Extrafloral nectaries mediate the arboreal beetle community (Coleoptera) in a Neotropical rainforest

Figure 4. Number of beetles (Coleoptera) (N = 35) sampled per date during the leaf flush on a single tree crown of Licania hebantha (Chrysobalanaceae), Venezuela, July 1998.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Geographic mosaic of plant evolution: extrafloral nectary variation mediated by ant and herbivore assemblages

Herbivory is an ecological process that is known to generate different patterns of selection on defensive plant traits across populations. Studies on this topic could greatly benefit from the general framework of the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution (GMT). Here, we hypothesize that herbivory represents a strong pressure for extrafloral nectary (EFN) bearing plants, with differences in herbivore and ant visitor assemblages leading to different evolutionary pressures among localities and ultimately to differences in EFN abundance and function. In this study, we investigate this hypothesis by analyzing 10 populations of Anemopaegma album (30 individuals per population) distributed through ca. 600 km of Neotropical savanna and covering most of the geographic range of this plant species. A common garden experiment revealed a phenotypic differentiation in EFN abundance, in which field and experimental plants showed a similar pattern of EFN variation among populations. We also did not find significant correlations between EFN traits and ant abundance, herbivory and plant performance across localities. Instead, a more complex pattern of ant–EFN variation, a geographic mosaic, emerged throughout the geographical range of A. album. We modeled the functional relationship between EFNs and ant traits across ant species and extended this phenotypic interface to characterize local situations of phenotypic matching and mismatching at the population level. Two distinct types of phenotypic matching emerged throughout populations: (1) a population with smaller ants (Crematogaster crinosa) matched with low abundance of EFNs; and (2) seven populations with bigger ants (Camponotus species) matched with higher EFN abundances. Three matched populations showed the highest plant performance and narrower variance of EFN abundance, representing potential plant evolutionary hotspots. Cases of mismatched and matched populations with the lowest performance were associated with abundant and highly detrimental herbivores. Our findings provide insights on the ecology and evolution of plant–ant guarding systems, and suggest new directions to research on facultative mutualistic interactions at wide geographic scales.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Testing the Distraction Hypothesis: do extrafloral nectaries reduce ant‐pollinator conflict?

1. Ant guards protect plants from herbivores, but can also hinder pollination by damaging reproductive structures and/or repelling pollinators. Natural selection should favour the evolution of plant traits that deter ants from visiting flowers during anthesis, without waiving their defensive services. The Distraction Hypothesis posits that rewarding ants with extrafloral nectar could reduce their visitation of flowers, reducing ant-pollinator conflict while retaining protection of other structures. 2. We characterised the proportion of flowers occupied by ants and the number of ants per flower in a Mexican ant-plant, Turnera velutina. We clogged extrafloral nectaries on field plants and observed the effects on patrolling ants, pollinators and ants inside flowers, and quantified the effects on plant fitness. Based on the Distraction Hypothesis we predicted that preventing extrafloral nectar secretion should result in fewer ants active at extrafloral nectaries, more ants inside flowers and a higher proportion of flowers occupied by ants, leading to ant-pollinator conflict, with reduced pollinator visitation and reduced plant fitness. 3. Overall ant activity inside flowers was low. Preventing extrafloral nectar secretion through clogging reduced the number of ants patrolling extrafloral nectaries, significantly increased the proportion of flowers occupied by ants from 6.1% to 9.7%, and reduced plant reproductive output through a 12% increase in the probability of fruit abortion. No change in the numbers of ants or pollinators inside flowers was observed. This is the first support for the Distraction Hypothesis obtained under field conditions, showing ecological and plant fitness benefits of the distracting function of extrafloral nectar during anthesis. 4. Synthesis: Our study provides the first field experimental support for the Distraction Hypothesis, suggesting that extrafloral nectaries located close to flowers may bribe ants away from reproductive structures during the crucial pollination period, reducing the probability of ant-occupation of flowers, reducing ant-pollinator conflict, and increasing plant reproductive success.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Feeding the enemy: loss of nectar and nectaries to herbivores reduces tepal damage and increases pollinator attraction in Iris bulleyana

Floral nectar usually functions as a pollinator reward, yet it may also attract herbivores. However, the effects of herbivore consumption of nectar or nectaries on pollination have rarely been tested. We investigated Iris bulleyana, an alpine plant that has showy tepals and abundant nectar, in the Hengduan Mountains of SW China. In this region, flowers are visited mainly by pollen-collecting pollinators and nectarivorous herbivores. We tested the hypothesis that, in I. bulleyana, sacrificing nectar and nectaries to herbivores protects tepals and thus enhances pollinator attraction. We compared rates of pollination and herbivory on different floral tissues in plants with flowers protected from nectar and nectary consumption with rates in unprotected control plants. We found that nectar and nectaries suffered more herbivore damage than did tepals in natural conditions. However, the amount of tepal damage was significantly greater in the flowers with protected nectaries than in the controls; this resulted in significant differences in pollinator visitation rates. These results provide the first evidence that floral nectar and nectaries may be 'sacrificed' to herbivores, leading to reduced damage to other floral tissues that are more important for reproduction.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Data from: Individual and interactive effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance and rainfall on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic composition and diversity of extrafloral nectary-bearing plants in Brazilian Caatinga

Chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) and climate change represent two of the major threats to biodiversity globally, but their combined effects are not well understood. Here we investigate the individual and interactive effects of increasing CAD and decreasing rainfall on the composition and taxonomic (TD), functional (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) of plants possessing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) in semi-arid Brazilian Caatinga. EFNs attract ants that protect plants against insect herbivore attack and are extremely prevalent in the Caatinga flora. EFN-bearing plants were censused along gradients of disturbance and rainfall in Catimbau National Park in north-eastern Brazil. We recorded a total of 2,243 individuals belonging to 21 species. Taxonomic and functional composition varied along the rainfall gradient, but not along the disturbance gradient. There was a significant interaction between increasing disturbance and decreasing rainfall, with CAD leading to decreased TD, FD and PD in the most arid areas, and to increased TD, FD and PD in the wettest areas. We found a strong phylogenetic signal in the EFN traits we analysed, which explains the strong matching between patterns of FD and PD along the environmental gradients. The interactive effects of disturbance and rainfall revealed by our study indicate that the decreased rainfall forecast for Caatinga under climate change will increase the sensitivity of EFN-bearing plants to anthropogenic disturbance. This has important implications for the availability of a key food resource, which would likely have cascading effects on higher trophic levels.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

The dataset for the Icarus paper "Crustal origin for olivine in the lunar Shioli crater ejecta boulders: Insights from the geological setting of Theophilus crater and Nectaris basin" [dataset]

The dataset is for the Icarus paper “Crustal origin for olivine in the lunar Shioli crater ejecta boulders: Insights from the geological setting of Theophilus crater and Nectaris basin” [dataset]

FIGURES 125–135 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 125–135. Immature stages of Semomesia croesus lacrimosa. 125, egg day 1; 126, egg day 4; 127, first instar premoult; 128, second instar; 129, third instar; 130, dorsal view of abdominal setae in the fourth instar; 131, fifth (last) instar; 132, prepupa in dorsal view; 133, prepupa in ventral view; 134, pupa in dorsal view; 135, pupa in lateral view.

FIGURES 116–124 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 116–124. Immature stages of Leucochimona icare matatha. 116–117, host plant Manettia luteo-rubra (Rubiaceae), detail of climbing part with flowers (116) and vegetative part (117) near to the ground, showing the typical larval feeding damage (arrows); 118, recently oviposited egg; 119, first instar in dorsal view; 120, third instar in lateral; 121, fourth (last) instar in lateral view; 122, fourth (last) instar in dorsal view; 123, pupa in dorsal view; 124, pupa in lateral view. Photos (121– 124) by LL Mota.

FIGURES 105–115 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 105–115. Immature stages of Leucochimona icare icare. 105, recently oviposited egg; 106, first instar; 107, second instar; 108, third instar; 109, fourth instar; 110–111, fifth (last) instar in dorsal (110) and ventral (111) views; 112–113, prepupa in dorsal (112) and lateral (113) views; 114, pupa in dorsal view; 115, pupa in lateral (left) and ventral (right) view.

FIGURES 93–104 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 93–104. Immature stages of Leucochimona lagora. 93, recently oviposited egg; 94, larva emerging from egg; 95, first instar; 96, second instar channeling leaf underside (arrows); 97, fourth instar in lateral view; 98, fifth (last) instar in dorsal view; 99, prepupa; 100, detail of segment A8 in dorsal view in the last instar, arrow indicating tentacle nectary organs (TNO); 101, pupa, individual with light wing case; 102, pupa, with dark wing case; 103, pupa in dorsal view; 104, pupa in ventral view.

FIGURES 72–82 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 72–82. Immature stages of Mesosemia thymetus thymetina. 72, recently laid egg; 73, egg at day 7; 74, hatched egg shell; 75, first instar; 76, second instar, note channel cut in the leaf (arrows); 77, second instar, showing everted TNO in response to a Monomorium floricola ant approach; 78, third instar in premoult; 79, fourth instar; 80, fifth (last instar); 81, prepupa; 82, pupa in lateral, dorsal and ventral views, from the top to bottom, respectively.

FIGURES 83–92 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 83–92. Immature stages of Mesosemia walteri. 83, egg; 84, first instar; 85 first (above) and second instar (below); 86, third instar in dorsal view; 87, fourth instar in dorsal view; 88, last instar in lateral view; 89, detail of abdominal tegument in dorsal view showing dorsal setae on verrucae; 90, last instar dorsal view, note the TNOs everted (arrow); 91, prepupa in lateral view; 92 pupa in dorsal (left) and lateral (right) views.

FIGURES 63–71 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 63–71. Scanning electron micrographs of the fifth (last) instar (63–68) and pupa (69–71) of Mesosemia cippus. 63, head capsule and prothorax in latero-frontal view; 64, drop-like setae on frontoclypeus, arrow indicating perforated cupola organs (PCOs); 65, detail of long dorsal setae on A5; 66, cluster of PCOs (arrows) on A2; 67, segment A8 in lateral view, showing everted tentacle organ, dorsal setae and spiracle; 68, proleg in lateral view; 69, mesothoracic spiracle; 70, segments A1–A2 in lateral view, note the silk girdle (arrow); 71, cluster of PCOs on A1.

FIGURES 53–62 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 53–62. Scanning electron micrographs of the first instar of Mesosemia cippus. 53, lateral view; 54, head in laterodorsal view; 55, prothoracic plate in dorsal view, note that tactile SD1 arises from a pinaculum; 56, setae and perforated cupola organs (PCOs) on segments A1–A4 in lateral view; 57, dorsal setae (D1 and D2) and PCOs (DL1 and DL2) on the metathorax; 58, spiracle on A7 segment; 59, segment A8 in dorsal view, showing the opening (arrow) of tentacle nectary organ (TNO), dorsal setae (D1 and D2), PCOs (DL1 and DL2) and spiracle; 60, TNOs everted; 61, detail of TNO secretion (arrow); 62, proleg in ventral view.

FIGURE 52 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURE 52. Diagram of the larval body chaetotaxy of the first instar of Mesosemia cippus in lateral view, showing position of setae (black circles) and perforated cupola organs (grey circles).

FIGURES 49–51 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 49–51. Scanning electron micrographs of Mesosemia cippus eggs. 49, lateral view; 50, hexagonal cells of the exochorion; 51, micropylar area (Mp).

FIGURES 41–48. Interactions between Mesosemia cippus immatures and their natural enemies. 41–42 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 41–48. Interactions between Mesosemia cippus immatures and their natural enemies. 41–42, Telenomus sp. (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) microparasitoid wasps parasitizing (41) and emerging from eggs (42); 43–44, parasitoid cocoon of Hyposoter sp. (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) under fourth instar host remains (43) and adult of Hyposoter sp. (44); 45, adult of Brachymeria sp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae); 46, third instar being attacked by a ceratopogonid biting midge (arrow); 47, nymph of a chrysopid (Neuroptera) preying on third instar (arrow); 48, simulated encounter between larva and Camponotus punctulatus ants in the laboratory, note the TNOs everted (arrow).

FIGURES 1–24 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 1–24. Adults of six Mesosemiina species included in this work, in dorsal and ventral views, respectively. 1–4, Mesosemia cippus, male (1–2) and female (3–4) from Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia; 5–8, M. thymetus thymetina, male (5–6) and female (7–8) from Villavicencio; 9–12, M. walteri, male (9–10) and female (11–12) from Villavicencio; 13–16, Leucochimona lagora, male (13–14) and female (15–16) from Villavicencio; 17–20, L. icare matatha, male (17–18) and female (19–20) from Jundiai, São Paulo, Brazil; 21–24, Semomesia croesus lacrimosa, male (21–22) and female (23–24) from Villavicencio.

FIGURES 25–27 in Immature stages of the Rubiaceae-feeding metalmark butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae), and a new function for the tentacle nectary organs

FIGURES 25–27. Greenhouse built for rearing work (25); detail of host plants set out to attract female Mesosemiina (26); female of Mesosemia cippus ovipositing (arrow) on a cultivated host plant (27).