This report elucidates the process of settlement by Coccus scale insects mto Crematogaster plant-ant nests formed inside the hollow stems of a myrmecophytic species, Macaranga bancana, in a tropical rain forest. We collected wafting scale insect nymphs from the canopy using sticky traps and characterized the DNA sequence of the trapped nymphs. In addition, we experimentally introduced first-instar nymphs of both symbiotic and non-symbiotic scale insects to M. bancana seedlings with newly formed plant-ant colonies. Nymphs of symbiotic species were generally carried by ants into their nests within a few minutes of introduction. Most nymphs of nonsym-biotic species were thrown to the ground by ants. Our results suggest that in Crematogaster-Macaranga myrmecophytism, symbiotic coccids disperse by wind onto host plant seedlings at the nymphal stage, and plant-ants actively carry the nymphs landing on seedlings into their nests in discrimination from nonsymbiotic scale insects.
CITATION STYLE
Handau, C., Ueda, S., Tanaka, H., Itino, T., & Itioka, T. (2011). How do scale insects settle into the nests of plant-ants on macaranga myrmecophytes? dispersal by wind and selection by plant-ants. Practice Nurse, 41(17), 435–446. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v59i2.607
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