Defense of termitaria by termitophilous ants |
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Authors: | S Higashi F Ito |
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Institution: | (1) Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, 060 Sapporo, Japan |
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Abstract: | Summary Mounds of Amitermes laurensis are frequently faided by meat ants Iridomyrmex sanguineus. Of eight ant species which often cohabit with the termites, Camponotus sp. B and C were considerably dependent on the termintaria for their nest sites and effectively protected it from the attacks by meat ants. Many termite colonies cohabiting with those two ant species were vigorous, suggesting that this ant-termite relationship is mutualistic; thus, the ants were provided nest sites and probably even food and the termites were protected from destructive natural enemies. |
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Keywords: | Ants Meat ants Mutualism Termites Termitophiles |
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