Parasitism versus mutualism in the ant-garden parabiosis between Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior

• Published in: Insectes sociaux Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 95 - 99
• Main Authors: Vantaux, A, Dejean, A, Dor, A, Orivel, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Basel : Birkhäuser-Verlag 01.01.2007; Springer; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal biology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Ant-gardens; Autoecology; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; calcium; Camponotus; Camponotus femoratus; chromium; Crematogaster; Crematogaster levior; Ecology, environment; epiphytes; Formicidae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Life Sciences; mutualism; nests; parabiosis; parasites; parasitism; Protozoa. Invertebrata; social insects; trees; vertebrates; Camponotus femoratus; Formicidae; Crematogaster levior; Insecta; Predatory behavior; Epiphyte; Social insect; Ant-gardens; Formicoidea; Mutualism; Parabiosis; Animal plant relation; Arthropoda; Parasitism; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Aculeata; Interspecific relation

Ant-gardens represent a special type of association between ants and epiphytes. Frequently, two ant species can share the same nest in a phenomenon known as 'parabiosis', but the exact nature (i.e., mutualistic or parasitic) of this interaction is the subject of debate. We thus attempted t...