Vasconcelos Heraldo L
Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Cx. Postal 478, 69011, Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Oecologia. 1991 Jul;87(2):295-298. doi: 10.1007/BF00325269.
The hypothesis that ants (Pheidole minutula) associated with the myrmecophytic melastome Maieta guianensis defend their host-plant against herbivores was investigated in a site near Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. M. guianensis is a small shrub that produces leaf pouches as ant domatia. Plants whose ants were experimentally removed suffered a significant increase in leaf damage compared with control plants (ants maintained). Ants patrol the young and mature leaves of Maieta with the same intensity, presumably since leaves of both ages are equally susceptible to herbivore attack. The elimination of the associated ant colony, and consequent increase in herbivory, resulted in reduced plant fitness. Fruit production was 45 times greater in plants with ants than in plants without ants 1 year after ant removal.
在巴西亚马孙州玛瑙斯附近的一个地点，对与蚁栖植物圭亚那美丁花（Maieta guianensis）共生的蚂蚁（微小大头蚁，Pheidole minutula）是否会保护其寄主植物免受食草动物侵害这一假设进行了研究。圭亚那美丁花是一种小型灌木，它会产生叶袋作为蚂蚁的栖息处。与对照植株（保留蚂蚁的植株）相比，经实验移除蚂蚁的植株叶片损伤显著增加。蚂蚁对圭亚那美丁花的幼叶和成熟叶的巡逻强度相同，推测是因为这两种叶片受到食草动物攻击的易感性相同。相关蚁群的移除以及随之而来的食草动物数量增加，导致了植株适合度降低。移除蚂蚁1年后，有蚂蚁的植株的果实产量比没有蚂蚁的植株高出45倍。
