Journal
ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Volume 115, Issue 3, Pages 219-231Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aesa/saab051
Keywords
embarkation; disembarkation; dispersal; life history; phoresy
Categories
Funding
- Department of Science and Technology (DST)
- DST-FIST
- Ministry of Environment, Forests Climate Change
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
- Indian Institute of Science-Department of Biotechnology Partnership Programme
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Phoresy plays a vital role in facilitating dispersal between organisms with limited mobility, allowing for mutualistic relationships and coordination through chemical signals. Immature stages and wingless insects are common riders, often preferring female vehicles, with rider numbers influenced by density-dependent selection.
The ability to disperse is vital for all organisms, but especially for those whose habitats deteriorate, necessitating relocation to better feeding or breeding sites. Phoresy is assisted dispersal in which one organism uses another as its vehicle. In this review, phoresy will be largely restricted to cases wherein the rider is not parasitic on the vehicular stage used for dispersal, and in which insects are riders or rides. Phoresy occurs in organisms with limited mobility, and in secondarily brachypterous or completely wingless insects. Intraspecific phoresy also occurs. Generally, immature stages resistant to environmental assaults, such as dauers in nematodes, triungulins in beetles, or deutonymphs in mites, undertake phoresy. A size differential between rider and rider enables several conspecifics to board the same vehicle, likely ensuring mating opportunities at the destination. Riders may have special attachment devices or adhesive secretions to ensure safety during travel. Life cycles of riders and vehicles are often synchronized, and when phoresy is mutualistic, vehicles may also employ chemical tactics to achieve this synchrony. Chemical cues help to identify the appropriate vehicle, for disembarkation, or to lure the vehicle towards riders. Most riders prefer female vehicles, possibly to ensure access to rich nesting sites. Density-dependent selection may operate to limit the number of riders on a vehicle and phoresy may also facilitate sexual selection among riders. Whether vehicles can avoid phoresy is barely understood. This review attempts to place phoresy within a broad evolutionary context and points out the paucity of knowledge in certain research areas.
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