IBIS-Flora

Angiosperm Flora of India

Leafcutter ants: a small dispersal agent of the invasive plant Murraya paniculata

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:2011
Authors:PIKART, TG, SOUZA, GK, SERRÃO, JE, ZANUNCIO, JC
Journal:Weed Research
Volume:51
Issue:6
Date Published:2011
ISBN Number:1365-3180
Keywords:Acromyrmex niger, citrus, citrus greening disease, Dispersal, exotic weed, Murraya, myrmecochory, orange jessamine
Abstract:

Pikart TG, Souza GK, Serrão JE & Zanuncio JC (2011). Leafcutter ants: a small dispersal agent of the invasive plant Murraya paniculata. Weed Research51, 548–551.Summary Ants can play an important role in the success and impact of many species invasions, including weed species. This study, in a fragment of secondary forest in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, evaluates the role of native leafcutter ants in the spread of the exotic plant Murraya paniculata, an alternative host of bacteria causing citrus greening disease. The foraging activity of leafcutter ants on fruits of ten M. paniculata plants was observed daily during August 2010. The only leafcutter ant species observed was Acromyrmex niger (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), which showed a preference to remove M. paniculata fruits to its nests, cleaning them and discarding the seeds on refuse piles afterwards. Murraya paniculata was the main plant whose seeds were deposited in refuse piles (61–82% of the seeds), where they commonly germinated. This study shows that dispersal of this weed is facilitated by native leafcutter ants. This may promote the spread and establishment of this alternative host of citrus greening disease and so lead to problems in monitoring and control of this disease.

URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3180.2011.00881.x
Short Title:Weed Research
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