La fuerza del amor en el Neotrópico: contraste en la eficiencia defensiva de dos especies de hormigas del género Pseudomyrmex sobre plantas de Acacia cornigera. (Parte I)

Abstract

For years in the Neotropics has been impossible not to pay attention to one of the most recognized mutual interactions between some plants of the genus Acacia and Pseudomyrmex ants. For this first review, I present the maintenance of the interaction of plants with two Pseudomyrmex ant species with apparent differences in defensive behavior in a seasonal forest in Mexico. Following an observational methodology in the field, we found that there is a contagion colonization effect of plants. Moreover, the mayority of plants and also the largest ones were colonized with P. ferrugineus showing indirectly that they have a better defensive efficiency on their host plants to ants compared to P. gracilis. The obtained results are the starting point for the development of this research in which I will try to find what are the mechanisms that allow the coexistence of two species of ants in the study area.