Aulacothrips dictyotus Hood, 1952 (Thysanoptera: Heterothripidae) is a highly specific ectoparasite, which infests nymphs and adults of Aetalion reticulatum (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera: Aetalionidae) in South America. However, nothing is known about the consequences of this remarkable interaction to the hemipterans, which also exhibit mutualistic associations with ants. In this study, we test the hypothesis that Au. dictyotus directly affects Ae. reticulatum behaviour by comparing ethograms of thrips‐infected and uninfected aetalionids. An analysis of 15 behavioural acts showed significant differences in the behaviour of Ae. reticulatum between these two experimental groups. Hemipterans exhibited dramatic changes in behaviour under Au. dictyotus presence, and the frequencies of some behaviours related to locomotion were statistically higher in individuals with thrips, as well as kicking movements using the hind legs. Moreover, infected aetalionids showed higher frequencies of grooming behaviour, which seems to have some efficacy in detaching Au. dictyotus. We demonstrated that thrips presence disturb host foraging behaviour and induces unusual behavioural acts that are likely to be very costly to hosts. Our results suggest that thrips parasitism constitutes an important selective force for hemipterans and that its effects can influence host individuals, the aggregation and potentially the mutualistic interaction with ants.

中文翻译：

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寄生虫蓟马会影响其乙醛树蝉寄主的行为

1952年的拟南芥（Auracothrips dictyotus Hood）（Th翅目（Thysanoptera：Heterothripidae））是一种高度特异性的外寄生虫，在南美洲会感染若虫和网纹伊蚊（Linnaeus，1758）（Hemiptera：Aetalionidae）的成虫。但是，对于这种显着的相互作用对半足动物的后果一无所知，半足动物也表现出与蚂蚁的相互联系。在这项研究中，我们检验了金的假设。dictyotus直接影响Ae。通过比较蓟马感染和未感染的乙醛类药物的心电图来确定网状行为。对15种行为的分析表明，Ae的行为存在显着差异。网状在这两个实验组之间。在金的作用下，半翅类动物表现出戏剧性的变化。在有蓟马的个体以及使用后腿的踢腿动作中，双侧卧扇的存在以及与运动有关的某些行为的频率在统计学上较高。此外，被感染的乙二醛显示出更高的修饰行为频率，这似乎具有分离金的功效。独角兽。我们证明了蓟马的存在会干扰宿主的觅食行为，并诱发异常的行为，这可能对宿主造成巨大的损失。我们的结果表明，蓟马寄生虫构成了对半足动物的重要选择力，其作用会影响宿主个体，聚集以及与蚂蚁的相互影响。