Plant-ants use resistance-related plant odours to assess host quality before colony founding

• Published in: The Journal of ecology Vol. 106; no. 1; pp. 379 - 390
• Main Authors: Razo-Belman, Rosario, Molina-Torres, Jorge, Martínez, Octavio, Heil, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.01.2018; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Acacia; Ants; ant–plant interaction; Bacteria; Body condition; Crosstalk; Cues; Disease resistance; Eggs; females; host choice; Host plants; host preferences; host quality; Hosts; interspecific communication; Limonene; Linalool; Mutualism; Myrmecophily; myrmecophyte; Odor; Odors; Odour; Organic compounds; pathogen resistance; pathogens; Physiology; Plant-herbivore interactions; Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus; Quality; Quality assessment; Reinforcement; signal; Species; swollen‐thorn acacia; Symbiosis; Terpinene; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Wings

1. Establishing a horizontally transmitted mutualism is a critical step for many organisms, particularly when an individual can engage with only one partner over its lifetime. Ant foundresses shed their wings before they start to lay eggs, which makes host choice particularly critical for plant-ants...