Paper presents the phenomenon of thanatosis or death-feigning in selected aphids species. This specific reaction was predominantly analysed on the example of aphid subfamily Lachninae. Individuals of this group were used in experiments, during which a thanatotic response was induced with various results. The response differed from prolonged thanatosis, lasting for several minutes (Eulachnus rileyi), through shrinking behaviour (e. g. in Stomaphis graffii) to non-responsive species such as Cinara (Schizolachnus) pineti. The large interspecies variation of observed responses can be linked to other defensive mechanisms existing in the studied species, as well as to their mutualistic relationship with ants. The behaviour of shrinking is hypothesized to be the mutualistic response, developed from thanatosis, and being adapted to transportation by ant workers.

中文翻译：

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蚜虫扮演负鼠——防御反应还是互惠反应？


论文介绍了选定的蚜虫物种的死亡或假死现象。该特定反应主要以蚜虫亚科 Lachninae 为例进行分析。该组的个体被用于实验，在此过程中诱导了致死反应，并产生了不同的结果。这种反应不同于持续几分钟的长期死亡（Eulachnus rileyi），而是通过收缩行为（例如Stomaphis graffii）对无反应的物种如Cinara（Schizolachnus）pineti。观察到的反应的巨大种间差异可能与所研究物种中存在的其他防御机制以及它们与蚂蚁的互利关系有关。缩小的行为被假设为互惠反应，由死亡状态发展而来，并适应蚂蚁工蚁的运输。