DOI: 10.5061/dryad.msbcc2g4x
title: Data for: Aphids increase their rate of survival on emergent aquatic plants through niche construction

description: Flooding or rain is a threat to many insects in nature, and herbivorous
 invertebrates whose hosts are emergent aquatic plants. They may thus have
 developed particular adaptations to enable them to withstand the flooding
 that is a feature of emergent plants’ environment. The aphid
 Hyalopterus pruni (Hemiptera: Aphididae) modifies the physical
 and chemical conditions of its habitat by periodically spreading wax
 around itself with its hind legs. This behaviour constitutes a form of
 niche construction. We hypothesized that the aphid decreases its risk of
 death of own or around other individuals when submerged in water by
 spreading wax powder secreted from its body onto the leaves of its host
 plant Phragmites australis. We compared the hydrophobicity of
 waxed and normal leaf surfaces. Next, we compared the survival rates of
 wax-powdering and non-wax-powdering aphids under submerged and rainy
 conditions in the laboratory and in the field. Finally, we examined
 whether the aphids’ wax powdering behaviour increased as a result of
 experiencing brief submergence or rain. The surface of the waxed area was
 significantly more water-repellent than the surface of unwaxed leaves. The
 waxed areas held bubbles of air when underwater. In experiments, aphids
 without wax around themselves exhibited lower survival rates: 22.9% in
 laboratory conditions and 15.7% in field conditions after 48 hours
 underwater. In contrast, aphids that secreted wax had higher survival
 rates, with 41.5% and 38.2% under laboratory and field conditions,
 respectively, after the same duration. Aphids exposed to rainfall showed
 similar results. Moreover, aphids that had experienced rain or submersion
 for 24 h engaged in increased wax powdering behaviour. These results
 indicate that aphids reduce their risk of drowning by powdering secreted
 wax onto the surface of leaves around them. Our findings suggest that
 niche construction by herbivorous invertebrates supports their ability to
 utilise host plants that grow under stressful conditions, such as emergent
 plants that are subject to periodic inundation.
description: # Data for: **data file
 name ‘Effects_of_submersion_experience.csv’** Column headers with
 explanations * ColonyID: ID of aphid colonies used in the experiment. *
 Treatment: The treatment of the test trials (categorical, submersion or
 non-submersion) * number of aphids: Number of aphids comprising the colony
 * 5min,10min,15min, 20min, 25min, 30min: Number of aphids that have
 carried out wax-powdering behaviour by that time **data file name
 'amount_of_air_retained_on_leaf_.csv'** Column headers with
 explanations * Condition: The experimental conditions (categorical,
 non-wax or wax) * bobble (mm3): The sizes of bubbles around aphids **data
 file name 'Angle.csv'** Column headers with explanations *
 Condition: The experimental conditions (categorical, non-wax or wax) *
 bobble (mm3): The sizes of bubbles around aphids **data file name
 VideoS1_Wax_powdering_behaviour_of_Hyalopterus_pruni_on_Phragmites_australis_leaf.mp4** The wax-powdering behavior of *Hyalopterus pruni* on Phragmites australis leaf **data file name 'Hydrophobicity_Measurement.zip'** The photographs of the droplets in the Hydrophobicity Measurement. We compared the contact angle of waxed ('waxed' file) and normal leaf surfaces ('normal' file) **data file name 'Laboratory_submerge_experiment.csv'** Column headers with explanations * Condition: Leaf conditions with submerged aphids (categorical, wax or non-wax) * Data: The condition of submerged aphids after the experiment (categorical, 0 = dead, 1 = arrive) **data file name 'Field_submerge_experiment.csv'** Column headers with explanations * Condition: Leaf conditions with submerged aphids (categorical, wax or non-wax) * Data: The condition of submerged aphids after the field experiment (categorical, 0 = dead, 1 = arrive)