The egg capitulum of a neotropical walkingstick,Calynda bicuspis,induces aboveground egg dispersal by the ponerine ant,Ectatomma ruidum

Field observations of a walkingstick,Calynda bicuspis, reveal that its eggs are rapidly discovered and transported by the ponerine ant,Ectatomma ruidum during both dry and wet seasons in Costa Rica. The importance of the egg capitulum in inducing ant transport was established by presenting eggs from which the capitulum had been removed or sealed. Untreated eggs, including those initially taken into nests, were moved approximately 1 m and dropped on the surface of the ground, unlike the eggs of several Old World walkingstick species which ants bury. High rates of oviposition following the termination of prolonged copulatory periods appear to lead to the clumping of eggs, perhaps increasing their susceptibility to a specialist egg-parasitoid,Amisega sp. (Chrysididae, Amiseginae).