Dataset Information

Behavioural and physiological responses to prey-related cues reflect higher competitiveness of invasive vs. native ladybirds.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the traits that might be linked with biological invasions represents a great challenge for preventing non-target effects on local biodiversity. In predatory insects, the ability to exploit habitats for oviposition and the physiological response to prey availability differs between species. Those species that respond more readily to environmental changes may confer to their offspring a competitive advantage over other species. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the invasive Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) makes better use of information from a plant-prey (Vicia faba - Aphis fabae) system compared to the native Oenopia conglobata. Y-tube olfactometer bioassays revealed that both species used olfactory cues from the system, but H. axyridis exhibited a more complete response. This species was also attracted by plants previously infested by aphids, indicating the capacity to exploit volatile synomones induced in plants by aphid attack. Oocyte resorption was investigated when different olfactory stimuli were provided under prey shortage and the readiness of new oogenesis was measured when prey was available again. H. axyridis exhibited higher plasticity in oogenesis related to the presence/absence of plant-aphid volatiles. Our results support the hypothesis that H. axyridis is more reactive than O. conglobata to olfactory cues from the plant-prey system.

SUBMITTER: Rondoni G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5473873 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Behavioural and physiological responses to prey-related cues reflect higher competitiveness of invasive vs. native ladybirds.

Rondoni Gabriele G Ielo Fulvio F Ricci Carlo C Conti Eric E

Scientific reports 20170616 1

Understanding the traits that might be linked with biological invasions represents a great challenge for preventing non-target effects on local biodiversity. In predatory insects, the ability to exploit habitats for oviposition and the physiological response to prey availability differs between species. Those species that respond more readily to environmental changes may confer to their offspring a competitive advantage over other species. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the invasive Harmoni ...[more]

PMID: 28623270

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Project description:Invasive predators have caused rapid declines in many native prey species across the globe. Predator invasion success may be attributed to prey naïveté, or the absence of anti-predator behavior between native and non-native species. An understanding of the effects of naïveté at different timescales since introduction and across multiple trophic levels is lacking, however, particularly in marine systems. Given the central role of trophic interactions in invasion dynamics, this knowledge gap limits the ability to predict high impact predator invasions. Naïveté was examined across three trophic levels of marine invertebrates: a native basal prey (hard clam), two non-native intermediate predators (the recently-introduced Asian shore crab and the long-established European green crab), a native intermediate predator (juvenile blue crabs), and a native top predator (adult blue crab). We hypothesized that naïveté would be more pronounced in trophic interactions involving the recently-introduced non-native predator in comparison to the long-established non-native and native intermediate predators. We further hypothesized that the recently-introduced intermediate predator would both benefit from naïveté of the native basal prey and be hindered by higher mortality through its own naïveté to the native top predator. To test these hypotheses, three laboratory experiments and a field experiment were used. Consistent with our hypotheses, basal prey naïveté was most pronounced with the recently-introduced intermediate predator, and this increased the predator's foraging success. This recently-introduced intermediate predator, however, exhibited an ineffective anti-predator response to the native top predator, and was also preyed upon more in the field than its long-established and native counterparts. Therefore, despite direct benefits from basal prey naïveté, the recently-introduced intermediate predator's naïveté to its own predators may limit its invasion success. These results highlight the importance of a multi-trophic perspective on predator-prey dynamics to more fully understand the consequences of naïveté in invasion biology.

Dataset Information

Behavioural and physiological responses to prey-related cues reflect higher competitiveness of invasive vs. native ladybirds.

Publications

Behavioural and physiological responses to prey-related cues reflect higher competitiveness of invasive vs. native ladybirds.

Similar Datasets

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