Cost and Evolution of a Facultative Mutualism between Ants and Lycaenid Larvae (Lepidoptera)

Larvae of Arawacus lincoides (Lycaenidae) reared in the lab with ants took 0.68 d longer to complete development than larvae without ants. Pupal weight was independent of whether a larva had been ant-tended. A 0.68 d delay in reaching age of first reproduction represents an estimated 1.0%-2.2% lower...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oikos 1991-12, Vol.62 (3), p.363-369
Main Author: Robbins, Robert K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ants
Beneficial insects
Female animals
Formicidae
Hymenoptera
Insect behavior
Insect brood
Insect larvae
Insect vectors
Larval development
Lepidoptera
Lycaenidae
Mutualism
Pupae
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Larvae of Arawacus lincoides (Lycaenidae) reared in the lab with ants took 0.68 d longer to complete development than larvae without ants. Pupal weight was independent of whether a larva had been ant-tended. A 0.68 d delay in reaching age of first reproduction represents an estimated 1.0%-2.2% lowered intrinsic rate of increase for this continuously brooded species. I show that mutualism will be favored when the ratio of larval survival with ants to that without ants is greater than exp (dr), where d is the additional larval development time caused by feeding ants and r is the intrinsic rate of increase. Other things being equal, species with higher intrinsic rates of increase will be less likely to be mutualistic than their relatives with lower rates of increase.
ISSN:0030-1299
1600-0706
DOI:10.2307/3545502