The diversity of ant-plant interactions in the rainforest understorey tree, Ryparosa (Achariaceae): food bodies, domatia, prostomata, and hemipteran trophobionts

Abstract

Ant-plant relationships, with variability in both intimacy and the trophic structure of associations, are described for the Austro-Malesian rainforest tree genus Ryparosa (Achariaceae). The range of associations involves opportunistic interactions between plants and foraging ants, mediated by food bodies, and tighter associations in which ant colonies, tending hemipteran trophobionts, reside permanently in plant structures with different degrees of adaptation to house ants. Our study provides strong baseline data to suggest that Ryparosa could become a new model system for examining the evolutionary radiation of ant-related traits. To define the diversity of ant-plant associations in Ryparos..