Ecological benefits of
Myrmecochory for the endangered chaparral shrub Fremontodendron decumbens (Sterculiaceae), Am.
In an impossible-to-pronounce relationship called
myrmecochory, ants and plants have a good thing going.
What's more, these plants use a clever seed dispersal tactic known as
myrmecochory, where ants are the primary agents of the distribution process.
This is strong evidence for
myrmecochory, although it is not clear whether the traps (5-cm diameter, fluid-filled containers) were open to seed rain, as the authors also found mericarps of this species in their seed rain traps (sticky traps).
Choosing benefits or partners: a review of the evidence for the evolution of
myrmecochory. Oikos, 112, 481-492.
For species with different fruit types, specific adaptations and seed size [44-46], dispersal methods included anemochory, mammalichory, and
myrmecochory on the foreland of Glacier-BSl.
Dispersal distance as a benefit of
myrmecochory. Oecologia, 75:507-511.
This
myrmecochory has been well documented in the phasmid Extatosoma tiaratum, whose first instar nymphs go further by mimicking the ants of the genus Leptomyrmex (Mayr) in appearance and behavior (Key 1970): this presumably facilitates escape from the nest to the surface after hatching.
Wall spores found in Polytaenium have micro-ornamentations varying from scattered granules to clustered rod-like structures, none of which appear to resemble the spore walls of the polypods identified by Tryon (1985) as associated with
myrmecochory.
Dispersal of seeds by ants (
myrmecochory) involves many species of plants and ants in mesic habitats of North America (Beattie 1985; Holldobler and Wilson 1990).