A1 Journal article (refereed)
Ecological conditions alter cooperative behaviour and its costs in a chemically defended sawfly (2018)

Lindstedt, C., Miettinen, A., Freitak, D., Ketola, T., Lopez Sepulcre, A., Mäntylä, E., & Pakkanen, H. (2018). Ecological conditions alter cooperative behaviour and its costs in a chemically defended sawfly. Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences, 285(1884), Article 20180466. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0466

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lindstedt, Carita; Miettinen, Antti; Freitak, Dalial; Ketola, Tarmo; Lopez Sepulcre, Andres; Mäntylä, Elina; Pakkanen, Hannu

Journal or series: Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences

ISSN: 0962-8452

eISSN: 1471-2954

Publication year: 2018

Volume: 285

Issue number: 1884

Article number: 20180466

Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0466

Research data link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3885sv0

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Abstract

The evolution of cooperation and social behaviour is often studied in isolation from the ecology of organisms. Yet, the selective environment under which individuals evolve is much more complex in nature, consisting of ecological and abiotic interactions in addition to social ones. Here, we measured the life-history costs of cooperative chemical defence in a gregarious social herbivore, Diprion pini pine sawfly larvae, and how these costs vary under different ecological conditions. We ran a rearing experiment where we manipulated diet (resin content) and attack intensity by repeatedly harassing larvae to produce a chemical defence. We show that forcing individuals to allocate more to cooperative defence (high attack intensity) incurred a clear cost by decreasing individual survival and potency of chemical defence. Cooperative behaviour and the magnitude of its costs were further shaped by host plant quality. The number of individuals participating in group defence, immune responses and female growth decreased on a high resin diet under high attack intensity. We also found some benefits of cheating: non-defending males had higher growth rates across treatments. Taken together, these results suggest that ecological interactions can shape the adaptive value of cooperative behaviour and maintain variation in the frequency of cooperation and cheating.

Keywords: animal behaviour; defence mechanisms (biological phenomena); mimicry; sawflies; social behaviour; Hymenoptera

Free keywords: antipredator defence; automimicry; life-history costs

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2018

JUFO rating: 3