Abstract
Macaranga myrmecophytes harbor species-specific Crematogaster ants that defend host trees from herbivores. We examined ant aggressive behaviors when artificially damaged leaf pieces from another tree were offered to four sympatric species of obligate Macaranga myrmecophytes. The ants showed aggressive behavior in response to leaf pieces regardless of the leaf species; however, aggressiveness was higher when conspecific leaf pieces were offered than when nonhost species were offered. Thus, ants can recognize leaf damage and distinguish among damaged leaf species. Chemical analyses of volatile compounds emitted from damaged leaves that may induce ant defense showed that the composition of the minor compounds differed among the four Macaranga species, although there were many compounds in common.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ms. Lucy Chong of the Forest Research Center, Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Abang A. Hamid Karim of the Department of Agriculture, Sarawak, and Prof. Tohru Nakashizuka of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature for providing the opportunity to carry out this study in Lambir Hills National Park, and Mrs. Tadahiro Ohkubo and Shimpei Nishino of Osaka Kyoiku University for helping with the field assessments. We also thank the Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University where we carried out the chemical analyses. This work was financially supported by grants from the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B, 15770008) to Y. Inui.
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Inui, Y., Itioka, T. Species-specific Leaf Volatile Compounds of Obligate Macaranga Myrmecophytes and Host-specific Aggressiveness of Symbiotic Crematogaster Ants. J Chem Ecol 33, 2054–2063 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9369-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-007-9369-z