Data for: An aggressive non-consumptive effect mediates pest control and multi-predator interactions in a coffee agroecosystem

Natural pest control is an alternative to pesticide use in agriculture, which may help to curb insect declines and promote crop production. Non-consumptive interactions in natural pest control, which historically have received far less attention than consumptive interactions, may have distinct impacts on pest damage suppression and may also mediate positive multi-predator interactions. Additionally, when non-consumptive effects are driven by natural enemy aggression, variation in alternative resources for enemies may impact the strength of pest control. Here we study control of the coffee berry borer (CBB), Hypothenemus hampei, by a keystone arboreal ant species, Azteca sericeasur, which exhibits a non-consumptive effect on CBB by throwing them off coffee plants. We conducted two experiments to investigate: 1) if the strength of this behavior is driven by spatial or temporal variability in scale insect density (an alternative resource which Azteca tends for honeydew), 2) if this behavior mediates positive interactions between Azteca and other ground-foraging ants, and 3) the effect this behavior has on the overall suppression of CBB damage in multi-predator scenarios. Our behavioral experiment showed that nearly all interactions between Azteca and CBB are non-consumptive and that this behavior occurs more frequently in the dry season and with higher densities of scale insects on coffee branches. Our multi-predator experiment revealed that borers thrown off coffee plants by Azteca can survive and potentially damage other nearby plants but may be suppressed by ground-foraging ants. Although we found no non-additive effects between Azteca and ground-foraging ants on overall CBB damage, together, both species resulted in the lowest level of plant damage with the subsequent reduction in “spillover” damage caused by thrown CBB, indicating spatial complementarity between predators. These results present a unique case of natural pest control, where damage suppression is driven almost exclusively by non-consumptive natural enemy aggression, as opposed to consumption or prey behavioral changes. Furthermore, our results demonstrate the variability that may occur in non-consumptive pest control interactions when natural enemy aggressive behavior is impacted by alternative resources, and also show how these non-consumptive effects can mediate positive interactions between natural enemies to enhance overall crop damage reduction.自然生物防治（Natural pest control）是农业中替代农药使用的防治手段，有助于抑制昆虫种群衰退并促进作物生产。历史上，自然生物防治中的非消耗性互作（non-consumptive interactions）受到的关注远少于消耗性互作（consumptive interactions），但其对害虫为害抑制或具有独特作用，还可介导多捕食者间的正向互作。此外，当天敌的攻击行为驱动非消耗性效应时，天敌的替代食物资源变异可能会影响害虫防治的效力。 本研究聚焦于关键树栖蚁种银毛箭蚁（Azteca sericeasur）对咖啡果小蠹（coffee berry borer, CBB，*Hypothenemus hampei*）的防治作用：该蚁种可将咖啡果小蠹从咖啡植株上驱赶，从而对其产生非消耗性效应。我们开展了两项实验以探究：1）该驱赶行为的效力是否由介壳虫（银毛箭蚁会取食其分泌的蜜露作为替代食物资源）的种群密度的空间或时间变异性所驱动；2）该行为是否介导了银毛箭蚁与其他地表觅食蚁间的正向互作；3）该行为对多捕食者情境下咖啡果小蠹为害的整体抑制效果有何影响。 行为学实验结果显示，银毛箭蚁与咖啡果小蠹间的绝大多数互作均为非消耗性，且该驱赶行为在旱季及咖啡枝条上介壳虫密度较高时发生更为频繁。多捕食者实验表明，被银毛箭蚁驱赶出咖啡植株的咖啡果小蠹仍可存活，并有可能对周边其他植株造成为害，但这类个体可能会被地表觅食蚁抑制。尽管我们未发现银毛箭蚁与地表觅食蚁对咖啡果小蠹为害存在非加性效应，但二者共同作用时可将植株为害程度降至最低，同时减少因被驱赶的咖啡果小蠹造成的“溢出为害”，这表明两种捕食者间存在空间生态位互补。 本研究结果揭示了一类独特的自然生物防治案例：其害虫为害抑制几乎完全由天敌的非消耗性攻击行为驱动，而非通过捕食行为或猎物行为改变实现。此外，我们的研究证实，当天敌的攻击行为受替代食物资源影响时，非消耗性害虫防治互作可能存在变异；同时也阐明了这类非消耗性效应如何通过介导天敌间的正向互作，进而提升整体作物为害抑制效果。