A Ponerine ant (Hym., Formicidae) associated with Homoptera on cocoa in Ghana
- 1 November 1971
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Bulletin of Entomological Research
- Vol. 61 (2) , 357-362
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007485300057898
Abstract
The Ponerine ant Odontomachus haematodus (L.) tendsthe aphid Toxoptera aurantii (Boy.) and a StictococcidStictococcus sjostedti Ckll. on cocoa in Ghana but predates the mealybug Planococcoides njalensis (Laing). Tents are built over the first two, largely of soil particles. Honeydew is collected in the mandibles and carried to the nest or may be accumulated and eventually drunk. Some of the soil used in the tents is infected by blackpod sporangia. Tending homopters is restricted to the immediate vicinity of the nest. The mutualism practised has evolved independently of its occurrence in higher ants.Keywords
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