Seed Dispersal by Ants in the Rocky Mountains
- 19 August 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by JSTOR in The Southwestern Naturalist
- Vol. 28 (3) , 289-293
- https://doi.org/10.2307/3670789
Abstract
Field tests quantifying the behavior responses of ants to the seeds of 20 Rocky Mountain species were conducted in Gunnison County, Colorado. Claytonia lanceolata Pursh, Corydalis aurea Willd., C. caseana A. Gray., Delphinium nelsoni Greene and Viola nuttallii Pursh are myrmecochores. The seeds of these species all bear a conspicuous elaiosome and are selectively removed by 3 spp. of ants, Formica podzolica Francoeur, F. canadensis Francoeur and Myrmica discontinua Weber. These are the first records of ant dispersal from the Rocky Mountains.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: