Ants on Sweet Plants

We’re in the middle of independent projects and, as usual, there are more problems when we are out in the field at 5 am than when we are comfortable chatting about our plans at dinner. It’s part of science, I guess. I am working on a project with Erin & Jess that looks at how plants defend structures in which they have invested different amounts of energy. Let me explain the model system so that this makes more sense:
Our organism is Ipomea carnea, a morning glory species that flowers in the dry season and is prevalent in disturbed areas around Palo Verde. The leaves and stems contain toxic or impalpable compounds that deter herbivores, but their flowers and buds are more vulnerable. To defend their floral structures, they have extrafloral nectaries on near the petals that secrete (you guessed it!) nectar that attracts ants and wasps. Researchers suspect that these aggressive insects around the buds deter herbivore from munching. Okay, so that is plant defense.
Some defensive mechanisms are constitutive, that is they are produced all the time. For examples, plants constantly produce toxins in leaves, prickles on bark, or nectar in extrafloral nectaries. These defenses and others can be induced, or increased if the plant is threatened by herbivory. So plants will produce more toxins, prickles, or nectar if they are damaged by herbivores. That is induced plant defense?
But do plants induce defenses equally across all of their structures? Would they defend a little bud, in which they had invested little energy, as vigorously as they defend a large bud, in which they had invested a lot of energy? This is the question we are asking. We are comparing the extrafloral nectar production among large and small damaged and undamaged buds. Straight forward, right?
This means that Erin, Jess, and I roll out of bed at 4:45 am to get to the nectaries before the wasps take their share and collect droplets of nectar in little capillary tubes. And we also will be counting ants on plants for 20 minutes at a time. The observation period will not be quite are intense as Ben’s methods for his project, but it will still be tedious. But that is part of fieldwork. At the end of the four days, I think we will get some really interesting results.