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Acacia-ant symbiosis is the interaction between myrmecophilous Vachellia trees (ant acacias) and ants that nest on them (acacia ants).Obligate acacia ants dwell in the gall-like domatia within the swolen stipular spines of African or Central American ant acacia species, and they also take the food (nectar or Beltian bodies) offered by the tree.
The acacia ant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) is a species of ant of the genus Pseudomyrmex. These arboreal , wasp-like ants have an orange-brown body around 3 mm in length and very large eyes. The acacia ant is best known and named for living in symbiosis with the bullhorn acacia ( Acacia cornigera ) throughout Central America .
Many different genera of plants offer domatia. Plants of the genus Acacia have some of the most widely recognized forms of domatia and offer some of the best examples of ant-plant obligate mutualism. [5] Different Acacia species provide a variety of resources needed for their codependent counterparts. One of these resources is the need for shelter.
The big-headed ants disrupted the symbiotic relationship between the region’s native acacia ants and whistling-thorn trees. Illustrations show how the lack of trees impacts the lion’s hunting ...
The symbiotic relationship between the bullhorn acacia and P. ferrugineus ants is of a mutualistic nature for both species. This relationship has many physiological factors in both the acacia and ants. The behaviors that arise from these factors are currently known to include: Acacia defense by ants and nectar secretion by acacia resulting in ...
In addition, whistling thorn acacias are myrmecophytes that have formed a mutualistic relationship with some species of acacia ants. In exchange for shelter in the bulbous spines and nectar secretions, these ants appear to defend the tree against herbivores, such as elephants and giraffes, [12] [13] as well as herbivorous insects.
One of the best-known examples of ant-plant mutualism is in bullhorn acacias (Acacia cornigera) and their tending Pseudomyrmex ants in Central America. [3] [16] This system was studied by Daniel Janzen in the late 1960s, who provided some of the first experimental evidence that ants significantly reduce herbivory rates of myrmecophytes.
However, the genus is best known for several species that are obligate mutualists with certain species of Acacia. [5] Other species have evolved obligate mutualism with other trees; for example Pseudomyrmex triplarinus is obligately dependent on any of a few trees in the genus Triplaris. [6] [7]