Effects of host plant quality and ant tending for treehopper Publilia concava

Abstract

Few studies have evaluated the relative importance of bottom-up regulation for the population dynamics of mutualism. To address this, we tested the hypothesis that host plant quality affects the strength of the mutualism between Publilia concava (Say) (Hemiptera: Membracidae) treehoppers feeding on Solidago altissima L. and ants. P. concava is a phloem-feeding treehopper that excretes a sugary waste product called honeydew. Ants collect this honeydew as a food resource, and treehoppers benefit both directly (e.g., feeding facilitation) and indirectly (e.g., protection from predators). We evaluated the effect of host plant quality on both the direct and indirect effects of this mutualism by using a factorial design that manipulated N-P-K fertilizer level and ant presence. For the experiment that focused on the direct effects of ant tending, both body size and survivorship were monitored. For the experiment that included the indirect effects of ant tending, only survivorship was monitored. Both host plant quality and ant tending increased the performance (survivorship and size) of Publilia treehoppers. However, we find no support for the hypothesis that host plant quality influences the strength of the mutualism in this system - there was no significant interaction between ant tending and fertilization for any measure of treehopper performance considered. We suggest that this result is explained by the independence of per capita tending levels with both host plant quality and treehopper density in this experiment. © 2006 Entomological Society of America.