Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, reduce predation risk by eavesdropping on communication signals of Formica oreas thatching ants.

ABSTRACT: Ticks spend most of their life inhabiting leaf litter and detritus where they are protected from sun but preyed upon by ants. Ants secrete chemical communication signals to coordinate group tasks such as nest defence. Ticks that avoid ant semiochemicals-as indicators of ant presence-would reduce predation risk by ants. We tested the hypotheses that: (i) chemical deposits from the thatching ant Formica oreas deter blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, (ii) deterrent semiochemicals originate from the ants' poison and/or Dufour's gland(s), and (iii) tick-deterrent semiochemicals serve as alarm-recruitment pheromone components in F. oreas. In two-choice olfactometer bioassays, filter paper soiled with ant chemical deposits significantly deterred female and male ticks. Pois

SUBMITTER: Gooding CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10762436 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature