Is passive dispersal informed? - Experimental evidence for decision-making in phytophagous arthropods

Abstract

Animals must acquire and decode information to make the right decisions. While active dispersers can evaluate habitats en route, passive dispersers can only control their departure timing. Although the passive strategy is ubiquitous among arthropods, the mechanisms behind their take-off decisions remain poorly understood. We tested whether host niche breadth shapes passive dispersal in phytophagous mites by exposing them to host-derived kairomones and measuring departure rates. Using experimentally evolved specialist and generalist lineages, we found that dispersal depends more on the context in which cues are encountered that on the kairomones themselves. Host specialisation strongly shaped responses: mites left plants more readily when exposed to unfamiliar hosts, with generalists dispersing over twice as often as specialists. Increased number of unfamiliar kairomones strongly inhibited generalists dispersal but barely affected specialists. This suggests specialists use environmental novelty to trigger exploration, whereas generalists need multiple cues to confirm host suitability, revealing a trade-off between host range and environmental sensitivity.