Multiple Factors Maintaining High Species-Specificity in Macaranga-Crematogaster (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Myrmecophytism: Higher Mortality in Mismatched Ant-Seedling Pairs

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Myrmecophytism, a type of mutualistic symbiosis, occurs between certain species of Macaranga trees and Crematogaster ants in the tropics of Southeast Asia. Several recent studies have revealed that myrmecophytism in Macaranga-Crematogaster involves a highly species-specific partnership, but there is less specificity at the beginning of the symbiosis when ant foundress queens settle into host seedlings. However, how 'mis-matched' species combinations of ants and plants are selected against in the field has not yet been investigated. We therefore experimentally swapped foundress queens among three sympatric species of myrmecophytic Macaranga and subsequently examined growth and survival of the ants and recipient plants. Our results suggest that severe mortality occurs among ants and seedlings of unmatched pairs throughout multiple processes, such as initial worker production, early colony growth after initial worker appearance, and defense by ants against herbivores. This contributes to the maintenance of high species-specificity in Macaranga-Crematogaster myrmecophytism.

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  • SOCIOBIOLOGY

    SOCIOBIOLOGY 55 (3), 883-898, 2010

    California State University

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