Variation in host plant sex mediates ant-aphid interactions

Abstract

Sex-biased herbivory towards male plants has been shown to be common in many dioecious species. Valeriana edulis is a perennial, dioecious dicot that is the plant host to an ant-aphid mutualism. We investigated the interaction between ants and aphids to determine if it differs based on the sex of a plant. In order to address the question of whether variation in host plant sex mediates this mutualistic relationship, experiments, on host plant quality, ant recruitment, and the effects of predators on aphids, were conducted, in addition to collecting observational data. Results showed no difference in the host plant quality of V. edulis for aphid population growth. However, ant recruitment data suggested that ants tend aphids significantly more often on female V. edulis than on male plants (p = 0.0513). Predators reduced aphid abundance, but the strength of these effects was the same on male and female plants. In addition, our study of the natural distribution of aphid populations found them to be more common on female plants (p = 0.025). In contrast to past studies, we thus found female-biased herbivory that appears to be mediated not by host plant quality, but rather by variation in ant tending between male and female plants.

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