Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)

The aim of this study is to acquire knowledge about the preferences regarding aphids of the ant Lasius niger (common garden ant), commonly found attending aphids and protecting them agains their natural enemies in apple orchards around the world. By knowing this, it is hypothesized that another pla...

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Autor principal: Danielsson, Olle
Formato: M2
Lenguaje:Inglés
sueco
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Biosystems and Technology (from 130101) 2015
Materias:
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author Danielsson, Olle
author_browse Danielsson, Olle
author_facet Danielsson, Olle
author_sort Danielsson, Olle
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description The aim of this study is to acquire knowledge about the preferences regarding aphids of the ant Lasius niger (common garden ant), commonly found attending aphids and protecting them agains their natural enemies in apple orchards around the world. By knowing this, it is hypothesized that another plant can be brought into an orchard carrying another aphid, more suitable as an ant-mutualist, to compete with the pest aphid present on site. The aphid Dysaphis plantaginea (rosy apple aphid), one of the key pests in apple orchards, was compared with Aphis fabae (black bean aphid), a common aphid that has been widely studied. This was done in an experiment involving multiple elements, including three arthropod organisms, apple trees and bean plants, in a semi-lab environment, to mimic real orchardconditions. The result of the experiment was in undisputed favour of Aphis fabae, showing a significantly higher attention-rate by ants, and also a growing attention over time in comparison with the attention of D. plantaginea that did not increase. In conclusion, it can be stated that A. fabae is a better ant-mutualist and that the addition of this aphid could very well amplify the effects of biological control of D. plantaginea by natural enemies in orchards.
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spelling RepoSLU86272015-11-23T15:07:34Z Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea) Preferenser hos svartmyra (Lasius niger) vid val av bladlusmutualist : En möjlighet att öka biologisk bekämpning av röd äppelbladlus (Dysaphis plantaginea) Danielsson, Olle Aphid ant Lasius niger mutualism biological control rosy apple aphid The aim of this study is to acquire knowledge about the preferences regarding aphids of the ant Lasius niger (common garden ant), commonly found attending aphids and protecting them agains their natural enemies in apple orchards around the world. By knowing this, it is hypothesized that another plant can be brought into an orchard carrying another aphid, more suitable as an ant-mutualist, to compete with the pest aphid present on site. The aphid Dysaphis plantaginea (rosy apple aphid), one of the key pests in apple orchards, was compared with Aphis fabae (black bean aphid), a common aphid that has been widely studied. This was done in an experiment involving multiple elements, including three arthropod organisms, apple trees and bean plants, in a semi-lab environment, to mimic real orchardconditions. The result of the experiment was in undisputed favour of Aphis fabae, showing a significantly higher attention-rate by ants, and also a growing attention over time in comparison with the attention of D. plantaginea that did not increase. In conclusion, it can be stated that A. fabae is a better ant-mutualist and that the addition of this aphid could very well amplify the effects of biological control of D. plantaginea by natural enemies in orchards. Målet med den här studien är att skaffa kunskap om myran Lasius nigers preferenser vad gäller bladlöss. Lasius niger eller svartmyran återfinns vanligtvis i odlingar över hela världen, där den lever i mutualistiska förhållanden med bladlöss och skyddar dem från sina naturliga fiender. Om man vet denna myrans preferenser är det föreslaget att en annan växt, infekterad med bladlöss som är bättre anpassade som mutualister till myran, skulle kunna introduceras i en odling. Detta för att konkurrera med redan befintliga bladlöss. Bladlusen Dysaphis plantaginea eller röd äppelbladlus, som är den största skadegöraren i äppelodlingar ställdes emot Aphis fabae (svart bönbladlus), en bladlus med en stor rad värdväxter, även den vanligt förekommande och vida studerad tidigare. Experimentet involverade tre insektsarter, äppelträd och bönplantor i en semi-labbmiljö för att på bästa sätt efterlikna förhållanden i en äppelodling. Resultatet av experimentet visade en otvivelaktig fördel för A. fabae, som uppvisade ett signifikant högre utbyte med myrorna i form av omhändertagande. Detta vårdande och omhändertagande av bladlöss från myrornas sida växte även signifikant med tiden i jämförelse med den uppmärksamhet som ägnades D. plantaginea som inte ökade. Sammanfattningsvis kan det konstateras att A. fabae är en bättre anpassad myr-mutualist och införandet av denna bladlus skulle kunna öka effekten av den biologiska kontroll av D. plantaginea i odlingar som dess naturliga fiender utgör. SLU/Dept. of Biosystems and Technology (from 130101) 2015 M2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/8627/
spellingShingle Aphid
ant
Lasius niger
mutualism
biological control
rosy apple aphid
Danielsson, Olle
Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title_full Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title_fullStr Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title_full_unstemmed Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title_short Preferences of the common garden ant (Lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : Possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
title_sort preferences of the common garden ant (lasius niger) in choice of aphid mutualist : possibilities to increase biological control of the rosy apple aphid (dysaphis plantaginea)
topic Aphid
ant
Lasius niger
mutualism
biological control
rosy apple aphid