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Author Ruiz-Gonzalez, M.X.; Male, P.J.G.; Leroy, C.; Dejean, A.; Gryta, H.; Jargeat, P.; Quilichini, A.; Orivel, J. openurl 
  Title Specific, non-nutritional association between an ascomycete fungus and Allomerus plant-ants Type Journal Article
  Year 2011 Publication Biology Letters Abbreviated Journal Biol. Lett.  
  Volume 7 Issue 3 Pages 475-479  
  Keywords (up) ant-fungus association; Cordia nodosa; Chaetothyriales; Hirtella physophora; myrmecophyte; population structure  
  Abstract Ant-fungus associations are well known from attine ants, whose nutrition is based on a symbiosis with basidiomycete fungi. Otherwise, only a few non-nutritional ant-fungus associations have been recorded to date. Here we focus on one of these associations involving Allomerus plant-ants that build galleried structures on their myrmecophytic hosts in order to ambush prey. We show that this association is not opportunistic because the ants select from a monophyletic group of closely related fungal haplotypes of an ascomycete species from the order Chaetothyriales that consistently grows on and has been isolated from the galleries. Both the ants' behaviour and an analysis of the genetic population structure of the ants and the fungus argue for host specificity in this interaction. The ants' behaviour reveals a major investment in manipulating, growing and cleaning the fungus. A molecular analysis of the fungus demonstrates the widespread occurrence of one haplotype and many other haplotypes with a lower occurrence, as well as significant variation in the presence of these fungal haplotypes between areas and ant species. Altogether, these results suggest that such an interaction might represent an as-yet undescribed type of specific association between ants and fungus in which the ants cultivate fungal mycelia to strengthen their hunting galleries.  
  Address [Leroy, Celine; Dejean, Alain; Quilichini, Angelique; Orivel, Jerome] CNRS, UMR Ecol Forets Guyane 8172, F-97379 Kourou, France, Email: jerome.orivel@ecofog.gf  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Royal Soc Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1744-9561 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000290515100044 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 317  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Salas-Lopez, A.; Talaga, S.; Lalague, H. doi  openurl
  Title The discovery of devil's gardens: An ant-plant mutualism in the cloud forests of the Eastern Amazon Type Journal Article
  Year 2016 Publication Journal of Tropical Ecology Abbreviated Journal Journal of Tropical Ecology  
  Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 264-268  
  Keywords (up) ant-plant interactions; biogeography; cloud forest; Cordia nodosa; mutualism, Myrmelachista; refuge hypothesis  
  Abstract Devil's gardens are one of the most remarkable mutualistic associations between ants and plants. Myrmelachista ants eliminate all vegetation from around their host plants, resulting in wide forest clearings which have intrigued scientists from the start. Despite their noticeability, here we report the discovery of devil's gardens in remote highland cloud forests of the Eastern Amazon, more than 2000 km away from their nearest known analogues in Western Amazonia. We describe the ecological characteristics of these gardens and consider what factors could have produced the geographic isolation of Eastern Amazonian devil's gardens. Three hypotheses are investigated: (1) the host plant distribution restricts the distribution of the mutualism, (2) the ecological tolerances of Myrmelachista explain the isolation, and (3) the devil's gardens of the Eastern Amazon constitute relicts from ancient forest refugia. The distribution of the possible associated myrmecophytes and previously described ecological ranges of devil's gardens cannot explain their ecological restriction to cloud forests in Eastern Amazonia, but our discovery is consistent with the biogeographic refuge hypothesis (i.e. highlands along the Amazon Basin constitute refugia for humid forests that spread during the Cenozoic). Our finding opens exciting perspectives for comparative studies of the origin, ecology and evolutionary history of this ant-plant mutualism. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016.  
  Address INRA, UMR, EcoFoG, Campus Agronomique, BP 316, Kourou Cedex, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 1 September 2016 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 691  
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Author Mony, R.; Dejean, A.; Bilong, C.F.B.; Kenne, M.; Rouland-Lefèvre, C. url  openurl
  Title Melissotarsus ants are likely able to digest plant polysaccharides Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Comptes Rendus – Biologies Abbreviated Journal C. R. Biol.  
  Volume 336 Issue 10 Pages 500-504  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant interactions; Degradation of plant material; Enzymatic activity; Melissotarsus ants  
  Abstract Melissotarsus ants have an extremely specialized set of behaviours. Both workers and gynes tunnel galleries in their host tree bark. Workers walk with their mesothoracic legs pointing upwards and tend Diaspididae hemiptera for their flesh. The ants use their forelegs to plug the galleries with silk that they secrete themselves. We hypothesised that the ants' energetic needs for nearly constant gallery digging could be satisfied through the absorption of host tree tissues; so, using basic techniques, we examined the digestive capacities of workers from two species. We show that workers are able to degrade oligosaccharides and heterosides as well as, to a lesser degree, polysaccharides. This is one of the rare reports on ants able to digest plant polysaccharides other than starch. © 2013 Académie des sciences.  
  Address IRD, UMR BIOEMCO-IBIOS, 32, rue Henri-Varagnat, 93143 Bondy cedex, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 16310691 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 6 December 2013; Source: Scopus; Coden: Crboc; doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2013.08.003; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; Université de Toulouse, UPS, Ecolab, 118, route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France; email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr; References: Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E.O., (1990) The Ants, , Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA, USA 730 p; Duchesne, L.C., Larson, D.W., Cellulose and the evolution of plant life (1989) BioScience, 39, pp. 238-241; Watanabe, H., Tokuda, G., Cellulolytic Systems in Insects (2010) Annu. Rev. Entomol., 55, pp. 609-632; Wenzel, M., Schonig, I., Berchtold, M., Kampfer, P., König, K., Aerobic and facultatively anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from the gut of the Termite Zootermopsis angusticollis (2002) J. Appl. Microbiol., 92, pp. 32-40; Brune, A., Microbial symbioses in the digestive tract of lower termites (2011) Beneficial Microorganisms in Multicellular Life Forms, pp. 3-25. , E. Rosenberg, U. Gophna, Heidelberg Springer; Tokuda, G., Watanabe, H., Hidden cellulases in termites: Revision of an old hypothesis (2007) Biol. Lett., 3, pp. 336-339; Nobre, T., Aanen, D.K., Fungiculture or termite husbandry? The ruminant hypothesis (2012) Insects, 3, pp. 307-323; Zientz, E., Feldhaar, H., Stoll, S., Gross, R., Insights into the microbial world associated with ants (2005) Arch. Microbiol., 184, pp. 199-206; Aylward, F., Burnum, K.E., Scott, J.J., Suen, G., Tringe, S.G., Metagenomic and metaproteomic insights into bacterial communities in leaf-cutter ant fungus gardens (2012) ISME J., pp. 1-14; Cook, S.C., Davidson, D.W., Nutritional and functional biology of exudate-feeding ants (2006) Entomol. Exp. Appl., 118, pp. 1-10; He, H., Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Wei, C., Bacteria associated with gut lumen of Camponotus japonicus Mayr (2011) Environ. Entomol., 40, pp. 1405-1409; Blochmann, F., Über das Vorkommen von bakterienähnlichen Gebilden in den Geweben und Eiern verschiedener Insekten (1892) Zentbl. Bakteriol., 11, pp. 234-240; Feldhaar, H., Straka, J., Krischke, M., Berthold, K., Stoll, S., Nutritional upgrading for omnivorous carpenter ants by the endosymbiont Blochmannia (2007) BMC Biol., 5, p. 48; De Souza, D.J., Bézier, A., Depoix, D., Drezen, J.M., Lenoir, A., Blochmannia endosymbionts improve colony growth and immune defence in the ant Camponotus fellah (2009) BMC Microbiol., 9, p. 29; Van Borm, S., Buschinger, A., Boomsma, J.J., Billen, J., Tetraponera ants have gut symbionts related to nitrogen-fixing root-nodule bacteria (2002) Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B., 269, pp. 2023-2027; Eilmus, S., Heil, M., Bacterial associates of arboreal ants and their putative functions in an obligate ant-plant mutualism (2009) Appl. Env. Microbiol., 75, pp. 4324-4332; Russell, J.A., Moreau, C.S., Goldman-Huertas, B., Fujiwara, M., Lohman, D.J., Pierce, N.E., Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants (2009) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 106, pp. 21236-21241; Delage-Darchen, B., Une fourmi de Côte d'Ivoire: Melissotarsus titubans Del., N. Sp. (1972) Insect. Soc., 19, pp. 213-226; Prins, A.J., Ben-Dov, Y., Rust, D.J., A new observation on the association between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and armoured scale insects (Homoptera: Diaspididae) (1975) J. Entomol. Soc. S. Afr., 38, pp. 211-216; Mony, R., Kenne, M., Dejean, A., (2002) Biology and Ecology of Pest Ants of the Genus Melissotarsus (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), with Special Reference to Tropical Fruit Tree Attacks, Sociobiology, 40, pp. 645-654; Mony, R., Fisher, B.L., Kenne, M., Tindo, M., Dejean, A., Behavioural ecology of bark-digging ants of the genus Melissotarsus (2007) Funct. Ecosyst. Commun., 1, pp. 121-128; Fisher, B.L., Robertson, H.G., Silk production by adult workers of the ant Melissotarsus emeryi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in South African fynbos (1999) Insect. Soc., 46, pp. 78-83; Sanson, G., The biomechanics of browsing and grazing (2006) Am. J. Bot., 93, pp. 1531-1545; Clissold, F., Sanson, G.D., Read, J., The paradoxical effects nutrient ratios and supply rates on an outbreaking insect herbivore, the Australian plague locust (2006) J. Anim. Ecol., 75, pp. 1000-1013; Cannon, C.A., (1998) Nutritional Ecology of the Carpenter Ant Camponotus Pennsylvanicus (De Geer): Macronutrient Preference and Particle Consumption, , (PhD thesis) Blacsburg VA; Eisner, T., A comparative morphological study of the proventriculus of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) (1957) Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 116, pp. 441-490; Caetano, F.H., Can we use the digestive tract for phyllogenetic studies in ants (1990) Social Insects and the Environment, pp. 321-322. , G.K. Veeresh, B. Mallik, C.A. Viraktamath, Oxford & IBH publishing co. New Dehli; Delage, B., Recherches sur l'alimentation des fourmis granivores Messor capitatus Latr (1962) Insect. Soc., 9, pp. 137-143; Oettler, J., Johnson, R.A., The old ladies of the seed harvester ant Pogonomyrmex rugosus: Foraging performed by two groups of workers (2009) J. Insect. Behav., 22, pp. 217-226; Abbott, A., Nutrient dynamic of ants (1977) Production Ecology of Ants and Termites, pp. 233-244. , M.V. Brian, Cambridge University Press Cambridge; D'Ettorre, P., Mora, P., Dibangou, V., Rouland, C., Errard, C., The role of symbiotic fungus in the digestive metabolism of two species of fungus-growing ants (2002) J. Comp. Physiol. B, 172, pp. 169-176; Rouland, C., Lenoir, F., Lepage, M., The role of the symbiotic fungus in the digestive metabolism of several species of fungus-growing termites (1991) Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 99 A, pp. 657-663; Williams, J., Villaroya, H., Petek Galactosidase, F., II, III and IV from seeds of Trifolium repens (1978) Biochem. J., 175, pp. 1069-1077; Werner, W., Rey, H.G., Wielinger, R.H., Properties of a new chromogen for determination of glucose in blood according to the COD/POD method (1970) Anal. Chem., 252, pp. 224-228; Mora, P., Rouland, C., Comparison of hydrolytic enzyme produced during growth on carboidrate substrated by Termitomyces associates of Pseudacanthotermes spiniger and Microtermes subhyalinus (isopteran: Termitidae) (1994) Sociobiology, 26, pp. 39-53; Koning, R.E., Secondary Growth. Plant Physiology Information, , http://plantphys.info/plant_biology/secondary.shtml; Scheffrahn, R.H., Termites (Isoptera) (2008) Encyclopedia of Entomology Part 20, pp. 3737-3747. , J.L. Capinera, Springer Berlin; Richard, F.J., Mora, P., Errard, C., Rouland, C., Digestive capacities of leaf-cutting ants and the contribution of their cultivar to the degradation of plant material (2005) J. Comp. Physiol. B, 175, pp. 297-303; Ayre, G.L., The relationships between food and digestive enzymes in five species of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (1967) Can. Entomol., 99, pp. 408-411; Went, F.W., Wheeler, J., Wheeler, G.C., Feeding and digestion in some ants (Veromessor and Manica) (1972) BioScience, 22, pp. 82-88; Moller, I.E., De Fine Licht, H.H., Harholt, J., Willats, G.T., Boomsma, J.J., The dynamics of plant cell-wall polysaccharide decomposition in leaf-cutting ant fungus garden (2011) PloS ONE, 6, p. 17506 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 516  
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Author Orivel, J.; Leroy, C. openurl 
  Title The diversity and ecology of ant gardens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Spermatophyta: Angiospermae) Type Journal Article
  Year 2011 Publication Myrmecological News Abbreviated Journal Myrmecol. News  
  Volume 14 Issue Pages 73-85  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant interactions; epiphytes; mutualisms; Neotropics; Paleotropics; phytotelm; parabiosis; seed dispersal; review  
  Abstract Mutualistic interactions between ants and plants are important features of many ecosystems, and they can be divided into three main categories: dispersal and protective mutualisms and myrmecotrophy. In both the Neotropics and the Southeastern Asian Paleotropics, ant gardens (AGs), a particular type of ant-plant interaction, are frequent. To initiate AGs, ants integrate the seeds of certain epiphyte species into the carton of their nest. The development of the plants leads to the formation of a cluster of epiphytes rooted in the carton. They have been defined as one of the most complex associations between ants and plants known because of the plurispecific, but also specialized nature of the association involving several phylogenetically-distant ant and plant species. The aim of this review is to provide a synthesis of the diversity and ecology of AGs, including the outcomes experienced by the partners in the interaction and the direct and indirect impacts ant-garden ants have on the plant and arthropod communities.  
  Address [Orivel, Jerome; Leroy, Celine] CNRS, UMR Ecol Forets Guyane, Kourou 97379, French Guiana, Email: jerome.orivel@ecofog.gf  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher OESTERREICHISCHE GESELL ENTOMOFAUNISTIK, C/O NATURHISTOR MUSEUM WIEN Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1994-4136 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000286844100009 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 292  
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Author Dejean, A.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Cerdan, P.; Gibernau, M.; Corbara, B. url  openurl
  Title Are myrmecophytes always better protected against herbivores than other plants? Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Biological Journal of the Linnean Society Abbreviated Journal Biol. J. Linn. Soc.  
  Volume 89 Issue 1 Pages 91-98  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant mutualism; Azteca; Maieta; Myrmecophytes; Plant protection; Tococa; ant; defoliation; field method; mutualism; myrmecophyte; plant-herbivore interaction; Azteca; Azteca bequaerti; Clidemia; Crematogaster laevis; Formicidae; Maieta; Maieta guianensis; Pheidole minutula; Tococa; Tococa guianensis  
  Abstract The present field study compared the degree of defoliation of three Guianian melastome, two myrmecophytes (i.e. plants sheltering ants in hollow structures) and Clidemia sp., a nonmyrmecophytic plant serving as a control. Maieta guianensis Aubl. hosted mostly Pheidole minutula Mayr whatever the area, whereas Tococa guianensis Aubl. hosted mostly Azteca bequaerti Wheeler along streams and Crematogaster laevis Mayr or Azteca sp. 1 in the understory where it never blossomed. Only Tococa, when sheltering A. bequaerti in what can be considered as a truly mutualistic relationship, showed significantly less defoliation than control plants. In the other associations, the difference was not significant, but P. minutula is mutualistic with Maieta because it furnishes some protection (exclusion experiments) plus nutrients (previous studies). When devoid of ants, Tococa showed significantly greater defoliation than control plants; therefore, it was deduced that Tococa probably lacks certain antidefoliator metabolites that control plants possess (both Tococa and control plants are protected by ground-nesting, plant-foraging ants, which is termed 'general myrmecological protection'). Consequently, plant-ants other than A. bequaerti probably also protect Tococa slightly, thus compensating for this deficiency and permitting it to live in the understory until treefall gaps provide the conditions necessary for seed production. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London.  
  Address Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale de la Cognition (UMR CNRS 6024), Université Blaise Pascal, 34 avenue Carnot, 63037 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
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  ISSN 00244066 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Cited By (since 1996): 9; Export Date: 22 October 2011; Source: Scopus; Coden: Bjlsb; doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00660.x; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; Laboratoire d'Evolution et Diversité Biologique (UMR CNRS 5174), Université Toulouse III, Bâtiment 4R3, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France; email: dejean@cict.fr Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 355  
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Author Dejean, A.; Azémar, F.; Petitclerc, F.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Corbara, B.; Leroy, C.; Céréghino, R.; Compin, A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Highly modular pattern in ant-plant interactions involving specialized and non-specialized myrmecophytes Type Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Science of Nature Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 105 Issue 43 Pages  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant mutualism; Ecological network; Modularity; Myrmecophytes; Nestedness; Sympatric species  
  Abstract Because Tachia guianensis (Gentianaceae) is a “non-specialized myrmecophyte” associated with 37 ant species, we aimed to determine if its presence alters the ant guild associated with sympatric “specialized myrmecophytes” (i.e., plants sheltering a few ant species in hollow structures). The study was conducted in a hilly zone of a neotropical rainforest where two specialized myrmecophytes grow at the bottom of the slopes, another at mid-slope, and a fourth on the hilltops. Tachia guianensis, which occurred everywhere, had its own guild of associated ant species. A network analysis showed that its connections with the four other myrmecophytes were rare and weak, the whole resulting in a highly modular pattern of interactions with one module (i.e., subnetwork) per myrmecophyte. Three ant species parasitized three out of the four specialized myrmecophytes (low nestedness noted), but were not or barely associated with T. guianensis that therefore did not influence the parasitism of specialized myrmecophytes. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.  
  Address AMAP, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
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  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 1 September 2018 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 815  
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Author Dejean, A.; Petitclerc, F.; Roux, O.; Orivel, J.; Leroy, C. url  openurl
  Title Does exogenic food benefit both partners in an ant-plant mutualism? the case of Cecropia obtusa and its guest Azteca plant-ants Type Journal Article
  Year 2012 Publication Comptes Rendus Biologies Abbreviated Journal C. R. Biol.  
  Volume 335 Issue 3 Pages 214-219  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant mutualisms; Azteca; Cecropia obtusa; Myrmecotrophy; Stable isotopes  
  Abstract In the mutualisms involving the myrmecophyte Cecropia obtusa and Azteca ovaticeps or A. alfari, both predatory, the ants defend their host trees from enemies and provide them with nutrients (myrmecotrophy). A. ovaticeps provisioned with prey and then 15N-enriched food produced more individuals than did control colonies (not artificially provisioned). This was not true for A. alfari colonies, possibly due to differences in the degree of maturity of the colonies for the chosen range of host tree sizes (less than 3 m in height). Myrmecotrophy was demonstrated for both Azteca species as provisioning the ants with 15N-enriched food translated into higher δ 15N values in host plant tissues, indicating that nitrogen passed from the food to the plant. Thus, the predatory activity of their guest ants benefits the Cecropia trees not only because the ants protect them from defoliators since most prey are phytophagous insects but also because the plant absorbs nutrients. © 2012 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.  
  Address IRD, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs, Équipe BEES-IRD, BP 171, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 16310691 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 15 April 2012; Source: Scopus; Coden: Crboc; doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2012.01.002; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus Agronomique, 97379 Kourou cedex, France; email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 391  
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Author Dejean, A.; Grangier, J.; Leroy, C.; Orivel, J.; Gilbernau, M. openurl 
  Title Nest site selection and induced response in a dominant arboreal ant species Type Journal Article
  Year 2008 Publication Naturwissenschaften Abbreviated Journal Naturwissenschaften  
  Volume 95 Issue 9 Pages 885-889  
  Keywords (up) ant-plant relationships; biotic defense; induced responses; predation  
  Abstract It is well known that arboreal ants, both territorially dominant species and plant ants (e.g., species associated with myrmecophytes or plants housing them in hollow structures), protect their host trees from defoliators. Nevertheless, the presence of an induced defense, suggested by the fact that the workers discovering a leaf wound recruit nestmates, is only known for plant ants. Based on the results from a field study, we show here (1) that colonies of Azteca chartifex, a territorially dominant, neotropical arboreal ant species, mostly selected Goupia glabra (Goupiaceae) trees in which to build their principal carton nests and (2) that plant signals induced workers to recruit nestmates, which patrol the leaves, likely providing the plant with a biotic defense. Furthermore, the number of recruited workers was clearly higher on G. glabra, their most frequently selected host tree species, than on other tree species. These results show that contrary to what was previously believed, induced responses are also found in territorially dominant arboreal ants and so are not limited to the specific associations between myrmecophytes and plant ants.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain] CNRS Guyane, UPS 5621, F-97300 Cayenne, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher SPRINGER Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0028-1042 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000258675700013 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ eric.marcon @ Serial 209  
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Author Dejean, A.; Leroy, C.; Corbara, B.; Cereghino, R.; Roux, O.; Herault, B.; Rossi, V.; Guerrero, R.J.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Orivel, J.; Boulay, R. openurl 
  Title A temporary social parasite of tropical plant-ants improves the fitness of a myrmecophyte Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Naturwissenschaften Abbreviated Journal Naturwissenschaften  
  Volume 97 Issue 10 Pages 925-934  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant relationships; Biotic defense; Parasites of mutualisms; Temporary social parasites; Azteca; Cecropia  
  Abstract Myrmecophytes offer plant-ants a nesting place in exchange for protection from their enemies, particularly defoliators. These obligate ant-plant mutualisms are common model systems for studying factors that allow horizontally transmitted mutualisms to persist since parasites of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms exploit the rewards provided by host plants whilst providing no protection in return. In pioneer formations in French Guiana, Azteca alfari and Azteca ovaticeps are known to be mutualists of myrmecophytic Cecropia (Cecropia ants). Here, we show that Azteca andreae, whose colonies build carton nests on myrmecophytic Cecropia, is not a parasite of Azteca-Cecropia mutualisms nor is it a temporary social parasite of A. alfari; it is, however, a temporary social parasite of A. ovaticeps. Contrarily to the two mutualistic Azteca species that are only occasional predators feeding mostly on hemipteran honeydew and food bodies provided by the host trees, A. andreae workers, which also attend hemipterans, do not exploit the food bodies. Rather, they employ an effective hunting technique where the leaf margins are fringed with ambushing workers, waiting for insects to alight. As a result, the host trees' fitness is not affected as A. andreae colonies protect their foliage better than do mutualistic Azteca species resulting in greater fruit production. Yet, contrarily to mutualistic Azteca, when host tree development does not keep pace with colony growth, A. andreae workers forage on surrounding plants; the colonies can even move to a non-Cecropia tree.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain; Leroy, Celine; Roux, Olivier; Orivel, Jerome] CNRS, F-97379 Kourou, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher SPRINGER Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0028-1042 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000282094100006 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ eric.marcon @ Serial 77  
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Author Dejean, A.; Petitclerc, F.; Compin, A.; Azémar, F.; Corbara, B.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Leroy, C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Hollow internodes permit a neotropical understory plant to shelter multiple mutualistic ant species, obtaining protection and nutrient provisioning (myrmecotrophy) Type Journal Article
  Year 2017 Publication American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal American Naturalist  
  Volume 190 Issue 5 Pages E124-E131  
  Keywords (up) Ant-plant relationships; Biotic protection; Mutualism; Myrmecotrophy; Stable isotopes; Tachia guianensis  
  Abstract The Neotropical understory plant Tachia guianensis (Gentianaceae)- known to shelter the colonies of several ant species in its hollow trunks and branches-does not provide them with food rewards (e.g., extrafloral nectar). We tested whether these ants are opportunistic nesters or whether mutualistic relationships exist as for myrmecophytes or plants sheltering ant colonies in specialized hollow structures in exchange for protection from enemies and/or nutrient provisioning (myrmecotrophy). We noted 37 ant species sheltering inside T. guianensis internodes, three of them accounting for 43.5% of the cases. They protect their host plants from leaf-cutting ant defoliation and termite damage because individuals devoid of associated ants suffered significantly more attacks. Using the stable isotope 15N, we experimentally showed that the tested ant species furnish their host plants with nutrients. Therefore, a mutualism exists. However, because it is associated with numerous ant species, T. guianensis can be considered a nonspecialized myrmecophyte. © 2017 by The University of Chicago.  
  Address Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR botAnique et Modélisation de l’Archtecture des Plantes et des Végétations, Cirad, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, Boulevard de la Lironde, TA A-51/PS2, Montpellier cedex 5, Brazil  
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  Notes Export Date: 2 November 2017 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 768  
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