| Title |
Neotropical ant-plant Triplaris americana attracts Pseudomyrmex mordax ant queens during seedling stages
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Insectes Sociaux, February 2017
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00040-017-0542-2 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
María Fernanda Torres, Adriana Sanchez |
| Abstract |
The association between the myrmecophyte Triplaris and ants of the genus Pseudomyrmex is an often-reported example of mutualism in the Neotropics. The ants colonize the hollow stems of their hosts, and in exchange, the plants benefit from a reduced degree of herbivory. The previous studies have shown that workers can discriminate their host from other plants, including a closely related species. Little is known about how queens locate their host during the colonization process, but it has been suggested that host recognition is mediated by volatiles. Since queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax colonize their hosts during the seedling stage, we hypothesized that queens would discriminate leaves of seedlings from adult plants. To evaluate our hypothesis, we used a two-sided olfactometer, to test the preference of queens towards different leaf and plant ages of Triplaris americana. Virgin queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax preferred seedlings over adult plants, as well as plant leaves over empty controls, showing no discrimination for leaf age. Our results suggest that the volatiles virgin queens recognize are either produced or are more abundant at the early growing stage of the host when colonization is crucial for the host's survival. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 25 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 25 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 3 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 3 | 12% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 3 | 12% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 2 | 8% |
| Researcher | 2 | 8% |
| Other | 3 | 12% |
| Unknown | 9 | 36% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 8 | 32% |
| Environmental Science | 3 | 12% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 8% |
| Unspecified | 1 | 4% |
| Psychology | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 9 | 36% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 February 2017.
All research outputs
#18,531,724
of 22,953,506 outputs
Outputs from Insectes Sociaux
#844
of 967 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#310,522
of 420,388 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Insectes Sociaux
#12
of 19 outputs
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