From so simple a beginning

Evolution and Biodiversity

Category: mimicry (Page 1 of 2)

Beetle mimics noxious moths

31 May 2024 /

Bats leave tasty tiger beetle alone

Tiger beetles imitate ultrasonic sounds of unpalatable tiger moths

By mimicking the ultrasonic sound of noxious tiger moths, nocturnally active tiger beetles protect themselves against foraging bats, as Harlan Gough and colleagues write.

Some tiger beetles fly at night. It means that they must be afraid of hunting bats, predators that search for prey by emitting ultrasonic (very high-pitched) clicks and deducing from the reflected sound where a tree or a building is – or where a tasty insect snack is flying. This so-called echolocation allows bats to ‘see’ in the dark. Many insects perceive the ultrasonic clicks of an attacking bat and respond by fleeing or diving to avoid the enemy.

There are a few tiger beetles that react differently: they produce an ultrasonic sound in response to an approaching bat. Harlan Gough and colleagues wanted to know why.

Ultrasonic response

The only other insects known to respond with ultrasonic sound to a hunting bat are moths; an estimated 20 percent of moths responds, at a pitch that bats hear well. The sounds have several effects. Some moths disrupt the reflected bat sound by their calls, so that the bat no longer can interpret the noise. Other moths warn with their sound that they are distasteful or poisonous; once a bat has tasted such a species, it will leave it alone from then on. And other, non-poisonous moths benefit from this: they imitate the sound of a noxious species so that a bat let them also go.

And what about the tiger beetles that produce ultrasonic sound in response to a bat? What do they achieve by doing so?

The researchers tested nineteen tiger beetle species, beetles from the Cicindelidae family, from southern Arizona (USA). They exposed the beetles in the lab to the ultrasonic clicks of a bat that is about to attack. Seven of these nineteen species responded with their own ultrasonic sound, all being species that are active at night. The other twelve species stay put at night and therefore do not need to defend themselves against bats.

Tiger beetles and tiger moths

Do tiger beetles flying at night disrupt the echolocation of bats by jamming? No, the authors write, because that would require a more intensive sound (in technical terms: a higher duty cycle) than the beetles can produce.

Is their ultrasonic sound a warning that they are unpalatable? That is also not the case. The beetles do contain a repellent substance, benzaldehyde, which has an almond scent. But bats still like to eat them, as is evident from experiments with the big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus. Apparently, the concentration of benzaldehyde is too low to deter this predator. The substance may help against small enemies such as ants and robber flies.

Unpalatable tiger moth warns bat predator with ultrasonic sound

Maybe they imitate the ultrasonic sound of noxious moths? To evaluate that hypothesis, the researchers compared the sounds of tiger beetles with existing sound records of sympatric tiger moths, moths of the subfamily Arctiinae, some of which are poisonous. And yes: the sound produced by tiger beetles is similar to that of poisonous tiger moths. The beetles seem to practice acoustic mimicry.

Wings

Moths that produce ultrasonic sounds do so in diverse ways. They have special structures, such as tiny combs. Tiger beetles produce sounds by brushing their beating hindwings along the back edges of the rigid forewings, the elytra. Normally, they hold the elytra up during flight, but to make sound, they lower them slightly.

Definitive evidence for acoustic mimicry by tiger beetles is still lacking. This would require behavioural tests with bats to find out whether they indeed ignore the beetles after having tasted an unpalatable tiger moth.

Willy van Strien

Photos:
Large: Ellipsoptera marutha, Aridland Tiger Beetle, is one of the species that mimics tiger moths. Laura Gaudette (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY 4.0)
Small: unpalatable tiger moth Cisthene martini, Martin’s Lichen Moth. Ken-ichi Ueda (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY 4.0)

Sources:
Gough, H.M., J.J. Rubin, A.Y. Kawahara & J.R. Barber, 2024. Tiger beetles produce anti-bat ultrasound and are probable Batesian moth mimics. Biology Letters 20: 20230610. Doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0610
Barber, J.R., D. Plotkin , J.J. Rubin, N.T. Homziak, B.C. Leavell, P.R. Houlihan, K.A. Miner, J.W. Breinholt, B. Quirk-Royal, P. Sebastián Padrón, M. Nunez & A.Y. Kawahara, 2022. Anti-bat ultrasound production in moths is globally and phylogenetically widespread. PNAS 119: e2117485119. Doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117485119
Corcoran, A.J., W.E. Conner & J.R. Barber, 2010. Anti-bat tiger moth sounds: form and function. Current Zoology 56: 358-369. Doi: 10.1093/czoolo/56.3.358

Detering owls by buzzing

30 May 2022 /

Greater mouse-eared bat mimics the sound of bees and wasps

greater mouse-eared bat deludes owls by buzzing

Owls avoid the buzzes of angry bees and wasps. The greater mouse-eared bat takes advantage of that fear by mimicking the sound, Leonardo Ancillotto and colleagues show.

A greater mouse-eared bat in stress behaves weird: it buzzes like a startled group of bees or wasps. Leonardo Ancillotto and colleagues noticed this when they handled the animals during their research. They wondered whether the bats mimic the sound of alarmed bees and wasps when they feel threatened by a potential predator to deter it. It was worth a study.

The greater mouse-eared bat, Myotis myotis, occurs in most European countries. Its enemies are owls, which are nocturnal like the bats.

Larynx

To find out, the researchers first analysed sound recordings of buzzing bats and compared that to the buzzing sounds that several species of bees and wasps produce when they are harassed and defend their nests. Among those species were honeybee (Apis mellifera) and hornet (Vespa crabro). And yes: the buzzing sounds were similar, especially to the ears of an owl.

The similarity is remarkable because the sound is created in different ways. Bees and wasps buzz by beating their wings, while bats produce the sound with the larynx.

Next, the researchers conducted playback experiments in which they broadcasted the buzzing sounds of honeybee, hornet or greater mouse-eared bat to a number of barn owls and tawny owls. The buzzing of the bat was most similar to that of honeybee and hornet. In addition, these insects live in tree cavities, in which owls are interested. As control, they broadcasted the communication calls of another bat species, the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis).

Experience

The owls moved away from loudspeakers that emitted buzzes, whether these were produced by honeybee, hornet, or greater mouse-eared bat. Bat communication calls, in contrast, attracted them. Wild owls, which may have encountered angry bees or wasps and suffered painful stings, were even more averse to buzzing sounds than owls that had been raised in captivity.

Does it make sense that owls, which are nocturnal animals, are afraid of bees and wasps, which are active during the day? Yes, that fear is conceivable. Honeybees fly until late evening in summer and hornets may fly at night, under moonlight or artificial light. Barn owls appear already at dusk, and when they have hungry young to feed, tawny owls sometimes even hunt during the day.

Apparently, the owls are afraid of bees and wasps and the bats delude them. Buzzing like bees or wasps, acoustic mimicry, may be all they can do to escape from their predator.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Greater mouse-eared bat. Kovács Richárd (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source:
Ancillotto, L., D. Pafundi, F. Cappa, G. Chaverri, M. Gamba, R. Cervo & D. Russo, 2022. Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators. Current Biology 32: R408-R409. Doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.052

Successful as bird dropping

24 August 2021 /

Crab spider imitates fresh bird’s poo

bird-dung crab spider mimics bird's poo

It looks like bird dropping, it smells like bird dropping. But it is the bird-dung crab spider Phrynarachne ceylonica, waiting until an unsuspecting fly comes close, as Long Yu and colleagues show.

Crab spiders get their meals by sitting motionless and waiting for a prey to come within range. Then they may strike suddenly. It helps if they don’t look like a spider while they sit-and-wait, but are disguised. The bird-dung crab spider Phrynarachne ceylonica, for example, successfully mimics a moist bird’s dropping, Long Yu and colleagues write.

The spider not only looks like bird poo, but it also smells like it. It was already known to mislead its predators, such as larger jumping spiders, which simply don’t recognize it.

The spiders occurs in Sri Lanka, China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Leaf miner flies

Now this masquerade proves doubly useful. The sneaky spider attracts tasty insects, mainly leaf miner flies (agromyzids), as Yu notes after observing several juvenile and female crab spiders in the field. The larvae of these flies feed on plant tissue, but adults have a different diet, and to them, fresh bird droppings are a favourite source of nutrients.

Yu painted several spiders entirely white or black, and these painted spiders did not attract the flies.

As he shows, the bird-dung crab spider Phrynarachne ceylonica has the same colours as fresh bird droppings to the eyes of insects. Spinning some threads, the spider mimics a dehydrated edge. And it works out well: insects land right next to the spider. The spider attracts prey at a lower rate than a real bird’s dropping, but that isn’t much of a problem if it is satiated after only one meal.

Unfortunately, the researchers do not report whether the crab spiders do indeed capture and consume the leaf miner flies.

Willy van Strien

Photo: LiCheng Shih (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY 2.0)

Another crab spider mimics a flower

Source:
Yu, L., X. Xu, Z. Zhang, C.J. Painting, X. Yang & D. Li, 2021. Masquerading predators deceive prey by aggressively mimicking bird droppings in a crab spider. Current Zoology, online July 24. Doi: 10.1093/cz/zoab060

False alarm

4 March 2021 /

Superb lyrebird male tries to prolong a female’s visit

a male superb lyrebirds show is also used to manipulate females

A male superb lyrebird can deceive a female into believing that danger is imminent, Anastasia Dalziell and colleagues think. This increases the chance that she will stay for a while and copulation ensues.

Superb lyrebirds are masters of imitating all possible sounds, and males make clever use of that talent. When a female pays a visit, a male imitates the sound of a flock of alarmed songbirds, creating the illusion that a predator is nearby, Anastasia Dalziell and colleagues write. Then she might stay a little longer than she really wanted.

The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), one of the largest passerine species, lives in the forests of South East Australia. Males and females do not form breeding pairs; each bird lives in its own territory. Females have one young per year, which they raise on their own.

Just watching

During the breeding season, males make themselves as attractive as possible. They construct mounds in their territory, where they sing their songs. Sometimes they sing a special song accompanied by a dance according to fixed rules, as Dalziell described earlier, throwing their decorative tail feathers over their body and head.

The purpose of a male’s show, of course, is to attract females and get them to copulate, because every mating can result in a young that he sires. Females visit several males before making their choice. As a result, a female may come to watch a displaying male, but refrain from mating with him in the end.

That is not what he intended.

Illusion of danger

When she is about to leave without copulating, he adds a new element to his song, which is remarkably similar to the sound of a flock of aroused songbirds.

Small songbirds get aroused when they detect a predator, such as a snake, large lizard, roosting owl, or perched hawk. They utter alarm calls to recruit others and harass the enemy together. The researchers show how accurately a male lyrebird mimics such mobbing flock of multiple simultaneously calling birds. Even the noise of beating wings is incorporated into his song. It is so accurate, that small songbirds are misled and approach to join.

The predators that arouse the small birds are dangerous for lyrebirds too. Therefore, the researchers hypothesize, the song creates the illusion that danger is imminent; the female is inclined to stay, and there is a chance that a copulation will happen.

Deception

A male superb lyrebird also utters this cacophony during mating. This job is not done in a few seconds, as it is other birds. Only after havng sat on her for more than half a minute, does he transfer his sperm. From the moment he mounts her until the end, he mimics the sound of a mobbing flock to prevent her from leaving too soon. During mating, he beats his wings in front of him, obscuring her view. She is unable then to assess whether it is safe to go, the authors suggest.

In conclusion, the superb lyrebird male uses his song not only to advertise his good health and condition, as is usual, but also to get a female to stay by giving a false signal of danger. That is deception.

Whether a female will stay longer because of the false alarm, the researchers don’t know. To find out, they would have to do experiments, which would be difficult for this species.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Courting male, covered with his tail. Kim Edol (via Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Anastasia Dalziell about her research on YouTube

Sources:
Dalziell, A.H., A.C. Maisey, R.D. Magrath & J.A. Welbergen, 2021. Male lyrebirds create a complex acoustic illusion of a mobbing flock during courtship and copulation. Current Biology, online February 25. Doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.003
Dalziell, A.H., R. A. Peters, A. Cockburn, A.D. Dorland, A.C. Maisey & R.D. Magrath, 2013. Dance choreography is coordinated with song repertoire in a complex avian display. Current Biology 23, 17 juni online. Doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.05.018

Is it an ant?

5 November 2020 /

Jumping spider exchanges jumping proficiency for safety

Myrmarachne jumping spiders resemble ants

To escape from predators, some jumping spider species mimic the appearance of an ant. A smart move, but it may constrain jumping abilities, Yoshiaki Hashimoto and colleagues supposed.

Everyone can tell the difference between a spider and an ant. A spider’s body has two parts: a cephalothorax and an abdomen, which is usually round. It has eight legs. An ant, on the other hand, is slender. Head and thorax are separated, while the abdomen is connected to the thorax by a narrow pedicel. It has six legs and two antennae.

But you can be mistaken, because some jumping spiders, Myrmarachne species, convincingly mimic the appearance of a spider. This is at the expense of their jumping skills, Yoshiaki Hashimoto and colleagues show.

It will certainly be beneficial for these little spiders to look like an ant. Predators refrain from taking an ant, because this prey may bite or sting, spray formic acid or have an army of colleagues nearby. They also avoid spiders that look like an ant.

Complete picture

The jumping spiders imitate ants in several ways. Females of Myrmarachne plataleoides, for example, resemble the green weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) very closely. They are the same size and colour. The shape is also similar, thanks to a constriction behind the head and an elongated pedicel between a slender thorax and a thin, long abdomen with an anterior constriction. Two black spots on the side of the head imitate the large eyes of ants; the eight real eyes at the front are hardly visible. And to complete the picture, these spiders often slightly lift the first pair of legs; it seems as if they have six legs and a two antennae, just like ants.

But Hashimoto wondered: are jumping spiders that mimic ants really jumping spiders? In other words, isn’t the disguise at the expense of their jumping abilities?

Jumping spiders don’t construct a web, but they hunt on the ground and jump to their prey. To jump, they stretch their legs. This not done with muscle power, but with power generated by liquid pressure: the spiders pump hemolymph, their variant of blood, from the abdomen into the cephalothorax, to which the legs are attached, and by compressing the cephalothorax, they raise the pressure, extending the legs. For ant mimics this is difficult, because they have to force the liquid through the thin stalk between the abdomen and the cephalothorax. And as the cephalothorax is thin, they cannot create high pressure. Hence the question.

Giant leap

The researchers took seven Myrmarachne species from tropical Southeast Asia and compared their shape with that of other jumping spider species. Myrmarachne-spiders were indeed more elongated and slenderer. Some ant mimics, including Myrmarachne plataleoides, were very slender because they mimic a very thin ant.

In a lab test, non-mimetic jumping spiders jumped a distance nearly three times their body length. The ant mimics didn’t perform as well. The very slender types only jumped two-thirds of their body length, the thicker ones went a bit further. So, ant-mimicking jumping spiders have indeed sacrificed their jumping ability in exchange for safety. That makes hunting more difficult, because they cannot jump on prey from a distance. Tests show that their prey capture success rate is lower than that of other jumping spiders.

There is some evidence, the researchers write, that the most slender ant mimics switched to a mainly plant-based diet. That would be a giant leap – albeit figuratively.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Jumping spider Myrmarachne plataleoides, female. Renjusplace (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

Source:
Hashimoto, Y., T. Endo, T.Yamasaki, F.Hyodo & T. Itioka, 2020. Constraints on the jumping and prey‑capture abilities of ant‑mimicking spiders (Salticidae, Salticinae, Myrmarachne). Scientific Reports 10: 18279. Doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75010-y

Resemblance is striking

5 August 2020 /

Parasitic Vidua nestlings trick host parents with near-perfect mimicry

Vidua nestlings mimic the young of their host parents

In order not to stand out in the nest in which they grow up clandestinely, Vidua nestlings mimic the young of the host parents. They perform very well, Gabriel Jamie and colleagues report. But some slight discrepancies exist.

African whydahs and indigobirds, Vidua species, are brood parasites like the cuckoo. They lay their eggs in the nest of other bird species, in this case grassfinches, and have the host parents raise their young. Vidua finches are unable to provide parental care. But these brood parasites do much less harm to the host families than a cuckoo, because young Viduas don’t eject other nestlings from the nest. The host parents take care for their own offspring, but have some extra, foreign young.

The foreign nestlings should not stand out, otherwise the tricked parents will notice the deception. It was already known that Vidua young resemble their host parents’ young. With special computer software, Gabriel Jamie and colleagues now show how successful the mimicry is.

Ornamented mouths

pin-tailed whydah is brood parasiteThe Vidua genus contains nineteen species. In the breeding period, the males are real beauties, while the females are inconspicuous and difficult to recognize. Jamie took a closer look at three species: pin-tailed whydah (Vidua macroura), broad-tailed paradise whydah (Vidua obtusa) and purple indigobird (Vidua purpurascens). They are host-specific, each Vidua species has a single host species. Jamie compared the Vidua nestlings to that of their respective host parents and of a number of other grassfinch species.

Young grassfinches (Estrildidae) have ornamental mouth markings that become fully visible when they open their beaks; this ornamentation in unusual among birds. Each grassfinch species has its characteristic pattern, colour and structure.

Nestlings of the breeding parasites accurately mimic those characteristic markings, is the conclusion of the research. An analysis with pattern recognition software shows that the pattern is similar to that of their host parent species. The colours match well too. Vidua nestlings also cleverly imitate the begging calls and postures of their foster siblings.

Imprinting

Previous research, by Michael Sorenson, had shown that the nineteen species of whydahs and indigobirds are much younger than their hosts in an evolutionary sense. The idea is that their common ancestor switched to a brood parasitic lifestyle with a grassfinch as host parent.

Speciation could then occur quickly. Whenever a Vidua female happens to lay eggs in the nest of another host, a separate group associated to that new host arises, because Vidua nestlings imprint on the song of their host father. Each grassfinch species has its own characteristic song. When grown up, Vidua males will mimic the song of their host, and females are attracted to this song. Also, females select a nest of the host species they were raised by to lay their eggs in. The group turns into a new species.

The nestlings then become more and more similar to the nestlings of the new host through an evolutionary adaptation process. Because the more a Vidua nestling resembles the young of its host parents, the more likely they are to accept it and care for it, increasing its survival chance.

Exaggerated

And as a matter of fact, the resemblance between foreign and own young in a parasitized grassfinch’s nest turned out to be striking. But it is not entirely perfect. Small but consistent differences exist. Perhaps the foreign nestlings are (yet) unable to fully mimic their nest mates. And apparently, they are doing well enough: the host parents accept them.

But there may be another explanation for the discrepancies, the researchers write. Nestlings of pin-tailed whydah, for example, have spots in the beak that are slightly larger than those of their foster parents’ young, common waxbill (Estrilda astrild), and their begging calls are slightly extended. Unlike a waxbill nestling, they wave a wing under their open mouth while begging.

So, these Vidua nestlings are slightly exaggerating their host’s begging signals. And perhaps the host parents favour them as a consequence. An intriguing thought.

Willy van Strien

Photos:
Large: pin-tailed whydah nestling, the outside of the mouth markings visible. ©Gabriel A. Jamie
Small: pin-tailed whydah, breeding male. Alan Manson (Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sources:
Jamie, G.A., S.M. Van Belleghem, B.G. Hogan, S. Hamama, C. Moya, J. Troscianko, M.C. Stoddard, R.M. Kilner & C.N. Spottiswoode, 2020. Multimodal mimicry of hosts in a radiation of parasitic finches. Evolution, online July 21. Doi: 10.1111/evo.14057
Sorenson, M.D., K.M. Sefc & R.B. Payne, 2003. Speciation by host switch in brood parasitic indigobirds. Nature 424: 928-931. Doi: 10.1038/nature01863

Hoverflies entrapped

8 May 2020 /

Orchid deceives pollinators, but still offers a reward

Cypripedium subtropicum imitates an aphid colony covered with honeydew

The orchid Cypripedium subtropicum lures hoverflies by mimicking an aphid colony covered with honeydew. The hoverflies fall into a trap and while struggling out, they pollinate the flower, as Hong Jiang and colleagues write.

Pollination normally follows the principle ‘give a little, take a little’. Pollinators, such as bees, butterflies and flies, drink nectar from flowers, and through their visits they transfer pollen from one flower to another. A delicacy in exchange for pollen transport.

However, not all plants play a fair game. Some orchids, for instance, mimic a female wasp to attract male wasps. The males fruitlessly attempt to mate and while moving, they pick up or deposit pollen. Such deceptive flowers lure insects with false promises and make use of their services without paying a reward. On the contrary: a deceived male is just wasting its time.

Now, Hong Jiang and colleagues describe another form of deceit in  Cypripedium subtropicum, an orchid species that grows in mountain forests in southwest China, Tibet and north Vietnam and that is pollinated by hoverflies. It promises its visitors not a mate, but food. Peculiarly, cheated insects do receive a reward from the plant – albeit an unusual one.

Aphid colony

The flowers of Cypripedium subtropicum are dark brown and have an enlarged labellum that has the shape of a pouch and is speckled with white hair tufts. In the eyes of hoverflies, the researchers think, the whole looks like an aphid colony covered with honeydew. And that’s what hoverflies are fond of. Honeydew is a sweet and sticky substance secreted by aphids because the sap they suck from plants contains an excess of sugars. Experiments showed that hoverflies don’t land on orchids that have their white hair tufts removed.

But the imitation goes further. The flowers also smell like an aphid colony: they emit an odour similar to that of alarm pheromones that aphids use to warn each other when danger is imminent.
And to finish it off, the white hair tufts are nutritious and contain a high amount of sugar – just like honeydew. Cypripedium subtropicum mimics the colour, smell and taste of an aphid colony.

Narrow way out

But when hoverflies enjoy the sweet food, it becomes clear that the orchid uses a trick to be pollinated. The labellum has an opening between the white hair tufts. At some moment while eating, a hoverfly will fall into the hole. Crawling back through the opening is impossible because of the curved margin. The animal is trapped.

The only way out is a narrow cleft at the top of the back of the pouch, through which the hoverfly can scramble out. It will first pass the flower’s pistil and then the stamens. When it squeezes along the stamens, a smear of pollen will attach on its back. And if it is trapped again during the next flower visit and tries to escape, it will deposit that pollen on the pistil. Subsequently, it picks up a new dose of pollen.

Cypripedium subtropicum forces hoverflies to pollinate it by trapping them, but at least they get an edible reward in return. The promise is not entirely false in this case.

Willy van Strien

Photo: ©Hong Jiang

Source:
Jiang, H., J-J. Kong, H-C. Chen, Z-Y. Xiang, W-P. Zhang, Z-D. Han, P-C. Liao & Y-i Lee, 2020. Cypripedium subtropicum (Orchidaceae) employs aphid colony mimicry to attract hoverfly (Syrphidae) pollinators. New Phytologist, online April 26. Doi: 10.1111/nph.16623

Protected and aggressive mimics

9 May 2018 /

Young false cleanerfish relies on disguise to bite other fishes

False cleanerfish resembles bluestreak cleaner wrasse

It is beneficial to look like cleanerfish, Misaki Fujisawa and colleagues show. By mimicking cleanerfish, false cleanerfish prevent attack by predatory fish. Also, they can approach other fishes and take a bite – but only small individuals show such behaviour.

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, lives on coral reefs where it offers cleaning services: the cleanerfish removes blood sucking parasites from the skin of other fishes. There is also a pretender, the false cleanerfish Aspidontus taeniatus. It has the same appearance as the cleaner wrasse, but it does not clean other fishes.

Misaki Fujisawa and colleagues wondered why it resembles the bluestreak cleaner wrasse. The disguise, or mimicry, helps to escape from predatory fish, which don’t consume useful cleaner fish and don’t detect the deceit. So there is a protective function. But maybe the mimicry has a second benefit. False cleaners may be able to approach fishes undisturbed in order to attack them. In that case, the disguise would also enable aggressive behaviour.

To find out, the researchers observed the behaviour of the false cleaners in the coral reefs around Sesoko Island in Japan.

Biting fins

The false cleanerfish mainly feeds on benthic animals; it bites off pieces of the tentacles of tubeworms or soft parts of the boring clam. In addition, it bites the fins of other fishes and steals eggs from the nests of damselfish (Pomacentridae).

The resemblance to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse is profitable for fin biting, as it gives the false cleaner a chance to approach unsuspecting victims, even if it behaves a little differently. Whereas a cleaner wrasse invites clients for a cleaning service by performing a zigzag dance, a false cleaner does not: it usually approaches its victims from behind, makes a sudden dart and bites off a piece of the caudal fin. So, the disguise indeed seems to have a second function, next to the protection that it offers the false cleaners against predatory fish.

Less dangerous

But only small individuals rely on their disguise to aggressively approach other fishes, as Fujisawa shows. As the false cleaners grow bigger, they continue feeding on benthic animals, but in addition to exploiting this main food source, they gradually switch from fin biting to egg predation. To raid nests, they often form small groups, and then the mimicry loses its effect, as cleanerfish always operate solitary or with their mate.

The false cleaners have good reason to change feeding tactics, as fish eggs are more nutritious than pieces of fin. But for small false cleaners it is difficult and risky to raid nests, because the eggs are guarded by damselfish parents, which will attack each enemy fiercely and without hesitation. Large false cleaners can elude attacks by swimming fast, but for small fish this is too dangerous. Biting fins is more feasible to them – thanks to their innocent appearance.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Two adult cleaners (middle and right) and an adult mimic (left) at Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan. ©Misaki Fujisawa

Sources:
Fujisawa, M., Y. Sakai & T. Kuwamura, 2018. Aggressive mimicry of the cleaner wrasse by Aspidontus taeniatus functions mainly for small blennies. Ethology, 19 april online. Doi: 10.1111/eth.12743
Cheney, K.L., A.S.Grutter & R. Bshary, 2014. Geographical variation in the benefits obtained by a coral reef fish mimic. Animal Behaviour 88: 85-90. Doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.11.006
Kuwamura, T., 1983. Reexamination on the aggressive mimicry of the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus by the blenny Aspidontus taeniatus (Pisces; Perciformes). Journal of Ethology 1: 22-33. Doi: 10.1007/BF02347828

Unrewarded services

6 April 2018 /

Orchid utilizes fungi and fruit flies without paying

Drosophila fly on flower of the deceptive orchid Gastrodia pubilabiata

The orchid Gastrodia pubilabiata lives at the expense of other species. It steals sugars from fungi, which also attract fruit flies that provide pollination service, as Kenji Suetsugu shows, without receiving any reward in return.

While most plants produce sugars from carbon dioxide using energy from sunlight in a process called photosynthesis, the orchid Gastrodia pubilabiata leaves the job to others. The small and inconspicuous plant, which grows in Japan and Taiwan, does not have green leaves, as it lacks chloroplasts, the cell organelles that conduct photosynthesis. With its roots, it steals sugars from the underground hyphae of a number of mushroom forming fungi species; the fungi obtained these sugars from dead organic material. The fungi get nothing in return.

And while most plants produce nectar as a food resource for insects (or other animals) that pollinate the flowers in return, this orchid doesn’t. To be pollinated, it exploits fruit flies (Drosophila species) without rewarding them.

Deceived

The flies need fermenting fruit or decaying mushrooms to lay their eggs in, and their larvae will consume that stuff. Apparently, the brown-coloured flowers of Gastrodia pubilabiata smell like fermenting and decaying substrates, as the flies are sometimes deceived into laying their eggs on the flowers. Consequently, the larvae will find no suitable food and die. But the orchid has been served. While visiting a flower, the flies pick up pollinia, masses of pollen grains, which they deliver to the next flower they visit, thereby pollinating that flower.

Service

The orchid thus takes nutrients from mushrooms and is pollinated by fruit flies, and neither of these partners receives any reward for its services. Both are victims of a parasitic and deceptive plant.

Now Kenji Suetsugu shows that mushroom-forming fungi still provide another service. Old mushrooms attract fruit flies that have to lay their eggs, and upon arrival, they will also visit the orchid flowers that mimic fermenting and decaying material. Suetsugu conducted experiments in which he removed decaying Mycena mushrooms from the orchids’ proximity or added extra specimens; Mycena species are the main victims of theft by the plant. He found that the more decaying mushrooms are around, the more pollen is removed from and delivered to orchid flowers by flies that are misled, and the more seeds are produced.

So, the fungi not only function as food providers, but also as magnets that attract pollinators – without reward.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Gastrodia pubilabiata, flower and fruit fly bearing pollinia. © Kenji Suetsugu

Source:
Suetsugu, K., 2018. Achlorophyllous orchid can utilize fungi not only for nutritional demands but also pollinator attraction. Ecology, online March 25. Doi: 10.1002/ecy.2170

Deceit, abuse and benefits

28 March 2018 /

Complex relationships between arum, blowflies and lizard

Dead-horse arum flower is attractive to lizard

With its smell of rotting carrion, the dead-horse arum Helicodiceros muscivorus is irresistible to blowflies and a lizard. The blowflies will be abused, the lizard benefits. Ana Pérez-Cembranos and colleagues unraveled these complex relationships.

On islands in the Mediterranean Sea, a plant occurs with a very bad smell, the dead-horse arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus. Its odour contains chemical components that are also emitted by a decomposing dead animal. It irresistible to a female blowfly searching for carcasses to lay her eggs on to make sure that the carnivorous larvae will have food. The dead-horse arum takes advantage of that behaviour.

The plants release their odour on the first day of blooming. Blowflies that perceive the smell cannot ignore it. Upon approaching the source, they find a pink or red curved bract, the spathe, with the hairy end of the spadix (inflorescence), which produces the smell. When they land, the spadix turns out to be warm. To blowflies, the imitation is perfect: this is rotting carrion. Guided by the heat, they crawl into the tube that is formed by the base of the spathe around the lower part of the spadix, which bears female and male florets.

Trapped

Once inside, the blowflies don’t find what they need, which is decaying meat. But if they want to leave, they cannot. Spikes on the spadix keep the door closed. The blowflies are trapped.

Unintentionally, they provide a service to the arum during their imprisonment in the floral chamber. The female flowers at the bottom of the spadix are blooming this first day, and blowflies that had been misled by the arum before, now deliver the pollen that they picked up on that occasion. The plant has its female flowers pollinated.

The next day, the female flowers have faded and the male flowers are mature. The stench and the heat disappear, the spikes wilt and the blowflies escape, and while passing the male flowers, they are loaded with pollen. And here is the second benefit to the plant: the blowflies take the pollen with them to female flowers elsewhere – if at least they find another foul smelling arum on their way and are again misled into visiting it.

So, the blowflies are coerced to pollinate the dead-horse arum without receiving any reward such as nectar. On the contrary: they lose time that they should have spent on searching for genuine carcasses.

Basking

Now Ana Pérez-Cembranos and colleagues show that the Balearic lizard Podarcis lilfordi is also misled by the arum’s odour. The animal is omnivorous and sometimes forages on carcasses, which are also attractive as a heat source; lizards are cold-blooded and when the weather is cool, they may use a rotting carcass as a perching site for basking. In addition, they capture the blowflies that arrive at the cadaver in search for a site for oviposition.

The lizards respond to the smell of the dead-horse arum as they do to the smell of a carcass and will approach the source. If that turns out to be a dead-hors arum instead of a dead animal body, they will not find a meat meal, but they do find a basking place and blowflies, which they take from the spathe or grab from the tube. The lizards thus take away a number of pollinators, but, according to the researchers, enough are left to ensure pollination.

Fruits

So, the lizard isn’t an enemy of the arum. And after the flowering period, when fruits are ripe, a mutualism even develops between both. The lizards consume the fruits and disperse the seeds in their faeces; passage through the lizard’s intestine increases the probability of germination. On Aire Island, a the small island off the southeastern coast of Menorca, where the research was done, the dead-horse arum is a newcomer. It is estimated to have grown there for only about fifty years. In that period, it spread rapidly over the island and nowadays it locally occurs in great densities. That is because of the lizard, which has learned to eat the fruits and now is the main disperser of the seeds, the researchers think.

Willy van Strien

Photo: Balearic lizard on the spathe of the dead-horse arum © Ana Pérez-Cembranos

Sources:
Pérez-Cembranos, A., V. Pérez-Mellado & W.E. Cooper, 2018. Balearic lizards use chemical cues from a complex deceptive mimicry to capture attracted pollinators. Ethology  124: 260-268. Doi: 10.1111/eth.12728
Angioy, A-M.,  M. C. Stensmyr, I. Urru, M. Puliafito, I. Collu & B. S. Hansson, 2004. Function of the heater: the dead horse arum revisited. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 271: S13-S15. Doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0111
Stensmyr, M.C., I. Urru, I. Collu. M. Celander. B.S. Hansson & A-M. Angioy, 2002. Rotting smell of dead-horse arum florets. Nature 420: 625-626. Doi: 10.1038/420625a

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