The association between the myrmecophyte Triplaris and ants of the genus Pseudomyrmex is an often-reported example of mutualism in the Neotropics. The ants colonize the hollow stems of their hosts, and in exchange, the plants benefit from a reduced degree of herbivory. The previous studies have shown that workers can discriminate their host from other plants, including a closely related species. Little is known about how queens locate their host during the colonization process, but it has been suggested that host recognition is mediated by volatiles. Since queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax colonize their hosts during the seedling stage, we hypothesized that queens would discriminate leaves of seedlings from adult plants. To evaluate our hypothesis, we used a two-sided olfactometer, to test the preference of queens towards different leaf and plant ages of Triplaris americana. Virgin queens of Pseudomyrmex mordax preferred seedlings over adult plants, as well as plant leaves over empty controls, showing no discrimination for leaf age. Our results suggest that the volatiles virgin queens recognize are either produced or are more abundant at the early growing stage of the host when colonization is crucial for the host's survival.

中文翻译：

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新热带蚂蚁植物美洲三叶草在幼苗阶段吸引 Pseudomyrmex mordax 蚁后

桃金娘植物与 Pseudomyrmex 属蚂蚁之间的关联是新热带地区经常报道的互利共生的例子。蚂蚁在宿主的空心茎上定居，作为交换，植物受益于草食性的降低。先前的研究表明，工人可以将宿主与其他植物区分开来，包括密切相关的物种。关于蜂王在定殖过程中如何定位宿主知之甚少，但有人提出宿主识别是由挥发物介导的。由于 Pseudomyrmex mordax 的皇后在幼苗阶段殖民他们的宿主，我们假设皇后会区分幼苗的叶子和成年植物。为了评估我们的假设，我们使用了一个双面嗅觉计，测试皇后对美洲三叶草不同叶龄和植株年龄的偏好。Pseudomyrmex mordax 的处女皇后更喜欢幼苗而不是成年植物，以及植物叶子而不是空对照，显示出对叶龄没有歧视。我们的结果表明，当定植对宿主的生存至关重要时，处女皇后识别的挥发性物质要么在宿主的早期生长阶段产生，要么更丰富。