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The organic material that the ants contribute to the plant falls into three categories; nest building material (material such as leaves, bark, or other plant matter), ant-created products (such as waste, dead enemies, or the bodies of dead ants), and the final category is food that the ants themselves consume.
Myrmecophytes (/ m ər ˈ m ɛ k ə f aɪ t /; literally "ant-plant") are plants that live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. [1] These plants possess structural adaptations in the form of domatia where ants can shelter, and food bodies and extrafloral nectaries that provide ...
Myrmecochory is exhibited by more than 3,000 plant species worldwide [3] and is present in every major biome on all continents except Antarctica. [4] Seed dispersal by ants is particularly common in the dry heath and sclerophyll woodlands of Australia (1,500 species) and the South African fynbos (1,000 species).
They have been used in companion planting as pest control in agricultural and garden situations, and in households. Certain plants have shown effectiveness as topical repellents for haematophagous insects, such as the use of lemon eucalyptus in PMD, but incomplete research and misunderstood applications can produce variable results. [1]
Acromyrmex versicolor is known as the desert leafcutter ant. A. versicolor is found during the summer months in the Colorado and Sonoran deserts when there is precipitation. They form large, distinctive nest craters that are covered with leaf fragments. Living and dead leaves are collected by workers and used to cultivate fungus gardens. [2]
Finally, current work focusing on ants' role in nutrient supplementation for plants has shown that in many ant-plant relationships, nutrient flow is bidirectional. One study has estimated that while 80% of the carbon in the bodies of Azteca spp. workers is supplied by the host tree ( Cecropia spp.), 90% of the Cecropia tree's nitrogen was ...
The plant also produces food bodies that the ants use as their main food source. The ants in turn defend the plant against predation by herbivorous caterpillars and fungi. Adding to the complexity of this food web is the beetle Tarsobaenus letourneauae, a specialized predator which lives in the plant's petioles and feeds upon the ants and their ...
Lecanopteris is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). [1] They have swollen hollow rhizomes that provide homes for symbiotic ants.