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.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Shawn M. Clark (Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA) for the identification of the chrysomelid beetles, to Marie-Françoise Prévost (Herbier de Guyane, Cayenne, France) for the identification of the plants, and to Andrea Yockey-Dejean for proof-reading the manuscript. Financial support for this study was provided by the Programme Amazonie II of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (project 2ID) and the Programme Convergence 2007–2013, Région Guyane from the European Community (project DEGA). The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Dejean, A., Leroy, C., Corbara, B. et al. A temporary social parasite of tropical plant-ants improves the fitness of a myrmecophyte. Naturwissenschaften 97, 925–934 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0710-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0710-y