Infestation by a Common Parasite is Correlated with Ant Symbiont Identity in a Plant‐Ant Mutualism. (7th March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schumer, Molly; Birger, Ruthie; Tantipathananandh, Chayant; Aurisano, Jillian; Maggioni, Marco; Mwangi, Peter
• Is Part Of: Biotropica. Volume 45:Number 3(2013:May)
• Page Start: 276
• Page End: 279
• Publication Date: 2013-03-07
• Subjects: Biotic communities -- Tropics -- Periodicals; Applied ecology -- Tropics -- Periodicals; Biology -- Tropics -- Periodicals; 577.80913
• DOI: 10.1111/btp.12038
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0006-3606

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="btp12038-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>In East Africa, up to four symbiotic ant species associate with the obligate myrmecophyte <italic>Acacia drepanolobium</italic>. These ant species differ in the extent to which they defend their host trees from both vertebrate and invertebrate herbivores, but other potential roles of ants in tree defense have not been studied. We investigate the distribution of a new species of parasitic midge targeting <italic>A. drepanolobium</italic> in a region where <italic>A. drepanolobium</italic> is inhabited almost exclusively by two ant species—<italic>Crematogaster nigriceps</italic> and <italic>C. mimosae</italic>. We find that the frequency of infestation correlates strongly with the identity of the ant occupant: trees inhabited by <italic>C. nigriceps</italic> are significantly less likely to be infested with parasitic midges. Although the two ant species responded similarly to simulated large herbivore disturbances, trees inhabited by <italic>C. nigriceps</italic> also had a lower invertebrate load than trees inhabited by <italic>C. mimosae</italic>. We suggest that differences in defensive behavior towards invertebrates could be one explanation of the observed differences in infestation of <italic>A. drepanolobium</italic> by parasitic midges.</p> </abstract>