The ecology of a keystone seed disperser, the ant Rhytidoponera violacea
1Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
2Department of Plant Science and Entomology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
3Centre for Ecosystem Diversity and Dynamics, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, Australia
Abstract
Rhytidoponera violacea (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a keystone seed disperser in Kwongan heathland habitats of southwestern Australia. Like many myrmecochorous ants, little is known about the basic biology of this species. In this study various aspects of the biology of R. violacea were examined and the researchers evaluated how these characteristics may influence seed dispersal. R. violacea nesting habits (relatively shallow nests), foraging behavior (scramble competitor and lax food selection criteria), and other life history characteristics complement their role as a mutualist that interacts with the seeds of many plant species.
Keywords: ant-plant interactions, elaiosome, life history, mutualism
Correspondence:
a*lubertazzi@antdata.org,
bmariaaa@aol.com,
cnlmccoy@ncsu.edu,
dA.Gove@curtin.edu.au,
eJ.Majer@curtin.edu.au,
frob_dunn@ncsu.edu,
*Corresponding author
Associate Editor: Robert Jeanne was editor of this paper.
Received: 19 July 2009 | Accepted: 3 March 2010 | Published: 20 September 2010
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 158
Lubertazzi D, Lubertazzi MAA, McCoy N, Gove AD, Majer JD, Dunn RR. 2010. The ecology of a keystone seed disperser, the ant Rhytidoponera violace. Journal of Insect Science 10:158, available online: insectscience.org/10.158
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