The Dispersal of Fruits and Seeds by Ants.

Abstract

[TBXT-FIO. 2]. BOTH to those who are interested in the biology of plants and to those engaged in the study of plant ecology, Sernander's " Entwurf einer Monographie der Europaischen Myrmekochoren'," will be a welcome source of information. Already in an earlier Swedish publication^ (with German summary) Sernander had distinguished three ways which animals might aid in the dispersal of seeds and fruits. If feeding on succulent fruits they pass the seeds through the alimentary canal, he applies the name of endozoic to the method of distribution, while he uses the term epizoic for the dispersal of fruits which adhere by means of hooks or sticky glands to passing animals. A third method of dispersal in which animals intentionally collect seeds or fruits which they may either let fall on the way or carry to their nests Sernander designates as synzoic. As instances of this method he cites the carrying off of nuts and other fruits by certain rodents, and particularly the transportation of small fruits and seeds by various specie^ of ants. It is to a thorough investigation of this latter agency that the recent monograph, running to some 400 quarto pages, is devoted. To describe this particular case of synzoic distribution, Sernander uses the term myrmecochorous (jjL6pii.yi= an ant; %w/jea) = 1 wander), a term independently used by Beguinot and Traversa' in the same sense.After referring to some of the more or less well-known instances of the dispersal of seeds by ants, such as the observations of Moggridge* and Lubbock' on the seeds of the violet, of Lundstr6m«

Opening myrmecochory's black box: what happens inside the ant nest?

“…odorata). Our results confirm that not all elaiosomes were eaten by ants during the nest stage Servigne and Detrain 2008;Weiss 1908). The consequences of such variability in the dynamics of elaiosome detachment and seed rejection may be important in terms of fitness for each partner.…”

Post‐dispersal seed removal of Carduus nutans and C. acanthoides by insects and small mammals

“…Kollmann and Bassin 2001). Our findings are consistent with earlier reports (Weiss 1908;Pemberton and Irving 1990; Alba-Lynn and Henk 2010) which suggested that the structures at the distal end of the seeds function as ant-attracting elaiosomes. It would therefore be more correct to refer to these thistle species as not only wind-dispersed and human-dispersed, but, within populations, also as ant-dispersed.…”

“…Previous studies of these species have focused on floral herbivory that causes seed losses in C. nutans (Sheppard et al 1994;Marchetto et al 2014) and on the pre-dispersal seed predation of C. nutans by goldfinches (Kelly and McCallum 1990). However, the seeds of these thistles not only have plumes for wind dispersal, but also elaiosomes (Weiss 1908;Pemberton and Irving 1990) and thus attract ants which might serve as secondary dispersal vectors (Alba-Lynn and Henk 2010). The goal of this study is therefore to shed light on this less wellknown stage of the thistle life cycle: post-dispersal seed removal.…”

Ant-plant interactions in Australia

“…Northern hemisphere myrmecochores belong to genera such as Uvularia (Robertson 1897; ; Ulex (Weiss 1908(Weiss , 1909; Roseoea and Cautleya (Nordhagen 1932a, b); Trillium (Gates 1940(Gates , 1941; Sanguinaria, Hepatiea and Viola (Gates 1942;Pudlo et al 1980);andCarex, Luzula andClaytonia (Randel 1976, 1978a). Northern hemisphere myrmecochores belong to genera such as Uvularia (Robertson 1897; ; Ulex (Weiss 1908(Weiss , 1909; Roseoea and Cautleya (Nordhagen 1932a, b); Trillium (Gates 1940(Gates , 1941; Sanguinaria, Hepatiea and Viola (Gates 1942;Pudlo et al 1980);andCarex, Luzula andClaytonia (Randel 1976, 1978a).…”