Carbon and nitrogen contents of food bodies in three myrmecophytic species of Macaranga: implications for antiherbivore defense mechanisms

In Macaranga myrmecophytes, differences in the production of the food bodies (FBs), on which symbiont ants feed, may relate to the intensity of antiherbivore defense by the ants. Interspecific comparisons among Macaranga species on such a mutualistic cost give important information on their strategies and evolution of antiherbivore defense. In this study, the carbon and nitrogen contents of FBs as well as the production rate of FBs were measured in three Macaranga species, M. winkleri, M. trachyphylla, and M. beccariana. There were significant differences in the production rates of FBs among species; the investment in FBs was greater in the Macaranga species in which ant defenses were more intensive. The carbon and nitrogen contents of FBs were significantly different among the three species, although they did not match the intensity of ant defense; the nitrogen content, especially, was greatest in the species of least intensive ant defense. It is suggested that Macaranga plants may have differentiated in the dependence on ant defense by controlling the total amount of nitrogen of FBs, not simply by nitrogen content.