Data from: Alate production in an aphid in relation to ant tending and alarm pheromone

1. Winged dispersal is vital for aphids as predation pressure and host
plant conditions fluctuate. 2. Ant-tended aphids also need to disperse,
but this may represent a cost for the ants, resulting in an evolutionary
conflict of interest over aphid dispersal. 3. The combined effects of
aphid alarm pheromone, indicating predation risk, and ant attendance on
the production of winged aphids were examined in an experiment with Aphis
fabae (Homoptera: Aphididae) (Scopoli 1763) aphids and Lasius niger
(Formicidae: Formicinae) (Linné, 1758) ants. 4. This study is the first to
investigate the joint effects of alarm pheromone and ant attendance, and
also the first to detect an influence of alarm pheromone on the production
of winged morphs in A. fabae. 5. After a period of 2 weeks, it was found
that aphid colonies exposed to intermittent doses of alarm pheromone
produced more winged individuals, whereas ant tending had the opposite
effect. The effects were additive on a log scale, and ant attendance had a
greater proportional influence than exposure to alarm pheromone. A
tentative conclusion is that ants have gained the upper hand in an
evolutionary conflict about aphid dispersal.

1. 有翅扩散对蚜虫至关重要，因捕食压力与寄主植物的环境条件均处于动态波动之中。
2. 受蚂蚁抚育的蚜虫同样需要进行扩散，但这可能会给蚂蚁带来生存代价，进而在蚜虫扩散相关的问题上引发进化层面的利益冲突。
3. 本研究以豆蚜（Aphis fabae，Scopoli 1763，隶属于同翅目（Homoptera）蚜科（Aphididae））与黑毛蚁（Lasius niger，Linnaeus 1758，隶属于蚁科（Formicidae）蚁亚科（Formicinae））为实验材料，探究了指示捕食风险的蚜虫告警信息素（alarm pheromone）与蚂蚁护养（ant attendance）对有翅蚜虫（winged aphids）产生的联合效应。
4. 本研究首次探究了告警信息素与蚂蚁护养的联合效应，同时也是首个在豆蚜（A. fabae）中检测到告警信息素对有翅型个体（winged morphs）产生影响的研究。
5. 经过为期2周的培养后，研究发现：暴露于间歇性剂量告警信息素的蚜虫种群会产生更多有翅个体，而蚂蚁护养则产生了相反的效应。在对数尺度下，两种效应呈加性模式，且蚂蚁护养的比例性影响强于告警信息素暴露。初步结论认为，在蚜虫扩散相关的进化冲突中，蚂蚁占据了上风。