Skip to main content
Log in

The Mutual Adaption Between the Ovipositor of Epicephala eriocarpa and the Style of Glochidion eriocarpum

  • Published:
Journal of Insect Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Specialization of adaptive devices can reflect the coevolution of closely interactive relationship between partners in mutualism. Glochidion eriocarpum and Epicephala eriocarpa have formed a strict species-specific mutualism over a long term of evolution. Based on field observation and the anatomical study of adult specimens, we clarified the morphological and biological characteristics of E. eriocarpa and performed morphological analyses of the specialized female genitalia for the first time. Epicephala eriocarpa had four generations per year. Adaptive specialization in the mutualism was expressed by morphological variations in the relative length of the ovipositor and the flower style. The mean length of the apophyses posteriores, which constituted 38% of E. eriocarpa body size, was unique among known Epicephala species. The variations among partners suggested that the flower style might have selected an optimal ovipositor length in its pollinator. This indicated that highly specialized structures resulted from mutual specificity and reciprocal adaptation among interacting partners in “one-to-one” mutualism. The evolutionary characteristics of pollinators might be more sensitive to outside stimulation than their partners and could express the process of adaptive evolution better. Moreover, our analyses help to further understand the evolutionary mechanism and driving force of cospeciation in obligate pollination mutualism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atwater MM (2013) Diversity and nectar hosts of flower-settling moths within a Florida sandhill ecosystem. J Nat Hist 47:2719–2734

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galil J, Zeroni M, Bar Shalom D (1973) Carbon dioxide and ethylene effects in the coordination between the pollinator Blastophaga quadraticeps and the syconium in Ficus religiosa. New Phytol 72:1113–1127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganeshaiah KN, Kathuria P, Shaanker RU, Vasudeva R (1995) Evolution of style-length variability in figs and optimization of ovipositor length in their pollinator wasps: a coevolutionary model. J Genet 74:25–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Govaerts R, Frodin DG, Smith AR (2000) Word checklist and bibliography of Euphorbiaceae 3. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

    Google Scholar 

  • Hembry DH, Kawakita A, Gurr NE, Schmaedick MA, Baldwin BG, Gillespie RG (2013) Non-congruent colonizations and diversification in a coevolving pollination mutualism on oceanic islands. Proc R Soc B 280:0361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu B, Wang S, Zhang J, Li H (2011) Taxomy and biology of two seed-parasitic gracillariid moths (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae), with description of a new species. Zookeys 83:43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1980) When is it coevolution? Evolution 34:611–612

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kato M, Takimura A, Kawakita A (2003) An obligate pollination mutualism and reciprocal diversification in the tree genus Glochidion (Euphorbiaceae). Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 100:5264–5267

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kawakita A, Kato M (2009) Repeated independent evolution of obligate pollination mutualism in the Phyllantheae-Epicephala association. Proc R Soc B 276:417–426

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kawakita A, Okamoto T, Goto R, Kato M (2010) Mutualism favours higher host specificity than does antagonism in plant-herbivore interaction. Proc R Soc B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.0355

  • Kerdelhue C, Clainche IL, Rasplus JY (1999) Molecular phylogeny of the Ceratosolen species pollinating Ficus of the subgenus Sycomonts sensu stricto: biogeographical history and origins of the species-specificity breakdown cases. Mol Phylogenet Evol 3:401–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li BT, Gilbert MG (2008) Glochidion. In: Wu ZY, Raven PH, Hong DY (eds) Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, pp 193–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Li HH, Yang XF (2015) Three new species of Epicephala Meyrick (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) associated with Phyllanthus microcarpus (Benth.) (Phyllanthaceae). Zookeys 484:71–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li HH, Zhang ZG (2016) Five species of the genus Epicephala Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) from China. Zootaxa 4084:391–405

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li HH, Wang ZB, Hu BB (2015) Four new species of Epicephala Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) associated with two Glochidion plants (Phyllanthaceae). Zookeys 508:53–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nefdt RJC, Compton SG (1996) Regulation of seed and pollinator production in the fig-fig wasp mutualism. J Anim Ecol 65:170–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellmyr O (2003) Yuccas, Yucca moths and coevolution: a review. Ann Missouri Bot Gard 90:35–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellmyr O, Krenn HW (2002) Origin of a complex key innovation in an obligate insect–plant mutualism. P Natl Acad Sci 99(8):5498–5502

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Riley CV (1892) The yucca moth and yucca pollination. Missouri Botanical Garden Annual Report 3:99–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang ZB, Li HH (2015) The biology and survival strategy of Epicephala sp. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). Chin J Appl Ento 52(1):162–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiblen GD (2004) Correlated evolution in fig pollination. Syst Biol 53(1):128–139

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiebes JT (1979) Co-evolution of figs and their insect pollinators. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 10:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Hu BB, Wang SX, Li HH (2012a) Six new species of the genus Epicephala Meyrick, 1800 (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae) associated with Euphorbiaceae plants. Zootaxa 3275:43–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang J, Wang S, Li H, Hu B, Yang X, Wang Z (2012b) Diffuse coevolution between Two Epicephala Species (Gracillariidae) and Two Breynia Species (Phyllanthaceae). PLoS One 7:e41657

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman EG (1978) Insects of Hawaii: A manual of the insects of the Hawaiian Islands, including an enumeration of the species and notes on their origin, distribution, hosts, parasites, etc. University of Hawaii Press, Hawaii, pp 109–200

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are given to X.T. Wang (Chinese Academy of Forestry Tropical Forestry Experiment Center, Guangxi), J.X. Chen, Y.Q. Wei, and X.Y. Su (Shao Ping Forest Farm, Guangxi), all the staff of the Shao Ping Forest Farm, and the members of the Tianzhu Mountain National Forest Park of Xiamen for providing support and help with the field work. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30930014 & No. 31272356).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Houhun Li.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, X., Li, H. The Mutual Adaption Between the Ovipositor of Epicephala eriocarpa and the Style of Glochidion eriocarpum. J Insect Behav 31, 264–276 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-018-9676-y

Download citation

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-018-9676-y

Keywords

Navigation