Morphological camouflage: Efficacy of body wax in the interaction among lady beetle larvae, tending ants, and mealybugs
2025
Adria Samara Galindo | Christian Sherley Araujo Silva-Torres
Multitrophic interactions can affect pest management practices. The mealybugs are major crop pests worldwide because they can transmit plant pathogens and cause yield loss. Mutualistic ants tend to and protect mealybugs from predators in exchange for the honeydew they discharge. On the other hand, some lady beetles have a wax layer covering their body as a defense mechanism and camouflage against mealybug tending ants. Thus, this study investigates the efficacy of body wax protection within the multitrophic interaction among lady beetles, mealybugs, and tending ants. To do so, nests of fire ants were collected from the field and transferred to round micro-plots containing mealybug-infested cotton plants in a greenhouse. Next, two different types of lady beetle larvae, wax-covered and waxless, were placed on the same micro-plots to forage on infested cotton leaves. Ants were allowed to freely tend the mealybugs on the leaves where lady beetle larvae were, and the number of lady beetle larvae alive per plant was measured at: 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after release. Regardless of the time, waxless lady beetle larvae suffered higher predation by ants than wax-covered larvae. Results indicate that wax cover is an advantageous strategy of lady beetle larvae significantly enhancing their survival when exposed to mealybug-tending ants.
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