Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T11:32:35.312Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecology of parasite Sycophilomorpha sp. on Ficus altissima and its effect on the fig-fig wasp mutualism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2010

Y. Q. PENG ,
J. B. ZHAO ,
R. D. HARRISON  and
D. R. YANG
Y. Q. PENG
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
J. B. ZHAO
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
R. D. HARRISON
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
D. R. YANG*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
*
*Corresponding author: Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650223, China. Tel: +86 0871 5127180. Fax: +86 0871 5160916. E-mail: yangdr@xtbg.ac.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Figs and their pollinating wasps are a classic example of an obligate mutualism. In addition, figs are parasitized by a suite of non-mutualistic wasps whose basic ecology is largely undescribed. Sycophilomorpha (subfamily Epichrysomallinae) fig wasps are ovule gallers and the genus contains only 1 described species. An undescribed Sycophilomorpha species parasitized Ficus altissima at Xishuangbana, Southwestern China. The wasp was observed ovipositing on the tiny immature figs that were still concealed beneath the involucral bracts. A Sycophilomorpha wasp oviposited on more than 1 fig and spent long time-periods to lay large clutches on a single fig. The wasps naturally occurred on all 7 sampled trees, but the occurrence of wasps was significantly different among trees, crops and months. These wasps were able to prevent unpollinated figs from being aborted, and their offspring were able to develop in the figs that otherwise had no pollinator wasps or seeds. The Sycophilomorpha wasp had a detrimental effect on the fig–fig wasp mutualism. Figs in which Sycophilomorpha wasps were present, produced significantly fewer seeds, pollinators and cheaters. However, the abundance of Sycophilomorpha in a fig was only significantly negatively correlated with pollinator production and not seed or cheater production. Our study illustrates a previously unknown fig wasp niche and expands our understanding of factors that can affect the fig–fig wasp interaction.

Keywords

parasitismcoevolutiongallermutualisimsyconia
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 137 , Issue 13 , November 2010 , pp. 1913 - 1919
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Berg, C. C. (1989). Classification and distribution of Ficus. Experientia 45, 605–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berg, C. C. and Corner, E. J. H. (2005). Moraceae (Ficus). In Floral Malesiana, Series I, Vol. 17(2) (ed. Nooteboom, , , H. D.), pp. 1–625. National Herbarium of Nederland, Leiden, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Boucek, Z. (1988). Australian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International, Wallingford, pp. 1–832.Google Scholar
Bronstein, J. L. (1999). Natural history of Anidarnes bicolor (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae), a galler of the Florida strangling fig (Ficus aurea). Florida Entomologist 82, 454–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compton, S. G., Rasplus, J. Y. and Ware, A. B. (1994). African fig wasp parasitoid communities. In Parasitoid Community Ecology (ed. Hawkins, , Sheehan, B. A., , W.), pp. 343–370. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corner, E. J. H. (1965). Checklist of Ficus in Asia and Australasia with keys to identification. The Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 21, 1–186.Google Scholar
Elias, L. G., Menezes, A. O. Jr. and Pereira, R. A. S. (2008). Colonization sequence of non-pollinating fig wasps associated with Ficus citrifolia in Brazil. Symbiosis 45, 107–111.Google Scholar
Ferrière, C. (1929). Chalcidiens gallicoles de Java. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 48, 143–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galil, J. (1977). Fig biology. Endeavour 1, 52–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galil, J. and Copland, J. W. (1981). Odontofroggatia galili Wiebes in Israel: a primary fig wasp of Ficus microcarpa L. with a unique ovipositor mechanism (Epichrysomallinae, Chalicidoidea). Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (C) 84, 183–195.Google Scholar
Gu, H. Y., Yang, D. R., Zhang, G. M., Peng, Y. Q. and Song, Q. S. (2003). Species of fig wasps in Ficus altissima and their ecological characters. Chinese Journal of Ecology 22, 70–73.Google Scholar
Herre, E. A. (1995). Factors affecting the evolution of virulence: nematode parasites of fig wasps as a case study. Parasitology 111, S179–S191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joseph, K. J. and Abdurahiman, U. C. (1969). Contributions to our knowledge of fig insects (Chalcidoidea: Hymenopterai from India. IV. Further descriptions of new fig insects from Ficus bengalensis L. Oriental Insects 3, 37–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jousselin, E., Van Noort, S., Rasplus, J. Y. and Greeff, J. M. (2006). Patterns of diversification of Afrotropical Otiteselline fig wasps: phylogenetic study reveals a double radiation across host figs and conservatism of host association. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19, 253–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerdelhué, C. and Rasplus, J. Y. (1996). Non-pollinating afrotropical fig wasps affect the fig–pollinator mutualism in Ficus within the subgenus Sycomorus. Oikos 75, 3–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerdelhué, C., Rossi, J. P. and Rasplus, J. Y. (2000). Comparative community ecology studies on Old World figs and fig wasps. Ecology 81, 2832–2849.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marussich, W. A. and Machado, C. A. (2007). Host-specificity and coevolution among pollinating and nonpollinating New World fig wasps. Molecular Ecology 16, 1925–1946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McBride, R., Greig, D. and Travisano, M. (2008). Fungal viral mutualism moderated by ploidy. Evolution 62-9, 2372–2380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niu, L. M., Hu, H. Y., Huang, D. W., Fu, Y. G. and Peng, Z. Q. (2009). Brood size: a major factor influencing male dimorphism in the non-pollinating fig wasp Sycobia sp. Ecological Entomology 34, 696–701.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, Y. Q., Yang, D. R. and Wang, Q. Y. (2005 a). Quantitative tests of interaction between pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasps on dioecious Ficus hispida. Ecological Entomology 30, 70–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, Y. Q., Yang, D. R. and Duan, Z. B. (2005 b). The population dynamics of a non-pollinating fig wasp on Ficus auriculata at Xishuangbanna, China. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21, 581–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, Y. Q., Duan, Z. B., Yang, D. R. and Rasplus, J. Y. (2008). Co-occurrence of two Eupristina species on Ficus altissima in Xishuangbanna, Southwestern China. Symbiosis 45, 9–14.Google Scholar
Peng, Y. Q., Compton, S. G. and Yang, D. R. (2010). The reproductive success of Ficus altissima and its pollinator in a strongly seasonal environment: Xishuangbanna, Southwestern China. Plant Ecology doi:10.1007/s11258-009-9690-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priyadarsanan, D. R. (2000). Fig insects of Kerala. In Records of the Zoological Survey of India, pp. 1–175. The publication Division by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, India.Google Scholar
Ramirez, B. W. (1970). Host specificity of fig wasps (Agaonidae). Evolution 24, 680–691.Google Scholar
Rasplus, J. Y., Kerdelhué, C., Clainche, I. L. and Mondor, G. (1998). Molecular phylogeny of fig wasps (Hym. Chalcidoidea): Agaonidae are not monophyletic. Comptes-Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences (Paris), Série III 321, 517–527.Google Scholar
Van Noort, S. and Compton, S. G. (1996). Convergent evolution of agaonine and sycoecine (Agaonidae, Chalcidoidea) head shape in response to the constraints of host fig morphology. Journal of Biogeography 23, 415–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiblen, G. and Bush, G. (2002). Speciation in fig pollinators and parasites. Molecular Ecology 11, 1573–1578.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiblen, G. D. (2002). How to be a fig wasp. Annual Review of Entomology 47, 299–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
West, S. A. and Herre, E. A. (1994). The ecology of the New World fig-parasitizing wasps Idarnes and implications for the evolution of the fig–pollinator mutualism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 258, 67–72.Google Scholar
West, S. A., Herre, E. H., Windsor, D. M. and Green, R. S. (1996). The ecology and evolution of the New World nonpollinating fig wasp communities. Journal of Biogeography 23, 447–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiebes, J. T. (1979). Co-evolution of figs and their insect pollinators. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 10, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar