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Myrmecotrophy: Origins, Operation, And Importance

David H. Benzing

Abstract

Abstract Tropical forests harbour a poorly understood but potentially important mutualism between arboreal ants and epiphytic vascular flora. Partners are diverse and the benefits to ant and plant vary, indicating that myrmecotrophy (the feeding of plants by ants) arose repeatedly under different conditions. Plants fed by ants belong to two groups which are distinguished by the type of organ that comes into contact with useful ant products.

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Available abstract

Key concepts: Arboreal locomotion, Mutualism (biology), Myrmecophyte, ANT, Epiphyte, Ecology, Biology, Flora (microbiology)