Ant-gardens are a mutualistic association involving epiphyte plants and one or several ant species. Ant-gardens inhabited by Camponotus femoratus (Fabricius, 1804) and Crematogaster levior (Longino, 2003), are the most commonly found in the Neotropical Region. These two ant species share the nest and their foraging trails but keep their brood separated (i.e., parabiosis). The larger Ca. femoratus defends the nest, while benefits from the foraging ability of C. levior . However, it is still not experimentally proven which of the two parabiotic species initiates nest building. Moreover, the growth dynamic of population for these two ant species is unknown. To address these topics, we analyzed the change in proportion of individuals from the two species depending on the nest volume. Our results show that (1) the proportion of Ca. femoratus workers increased with nest volume leading to a numerically domination of Ca. femoratus in the largest nests and (2) C. levior workers are likely to initiate the nest construction given that it represents the overwhelming majority of the small nests. These results reinforce the knowledge of the complex and understudied interaction between these two ant species. Ant-gardens arise as a mutualistic association between ants and epiphyte plants. Plants benefit from the dispersal of their seeds and defense by the patrolling ants, while provide nest structure to the ants. The ants Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus live within common Ant-gardens. We studied the growth dynamic of the two species population with the volume of the Ant-garden nest. The proportion of Ca. femoratus increases with the nest volume resulting in a domination of the latter species on C. levior in the largest nets . Furthermore, our results, combined with field observations, suggest that C. levior can initiate the nest construction. These findings precise the complex relationship between the two ant species.

中文翻译：

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共生物种的相对菌落大小显示出随着生长的倒置

蚂蚁花园是一种涉及附生植物和一种或几种蚂蚁物种的互惠互利的协会。由 Camponotus femoratus (Fabricius, 1804) 和 Crematogaster levio (Longino, 2003) 栖息的蚂蚁园是新热带地区最常见的。这两个蚂蚁物种共享巢穴和觅食路径，但保持它们的巢穴分开（即共生）。较大的Ca。femoratus 保卫巢穴，同时受益于 C. levio 的觅食能力。然而，仍然没有通过实验证明这两种共生物种中的哪一种开始筑巢。此外，这两种蚂蚁种群的增长动态是未知的。为了解决这些问题，我们分析了这两个物种的个体比例随巢体积的变化。我们的研究结果表明（1）Ca的比例。股骨工人随着巢体积的增加而增加，导致 Ca 的数量占主导地位。最大巢中的股骨和 (2) C. levior 工人可能会开始建造巢，因为它代表了绝大多数小巢。这些结果加强了对这两种蚂蚁物种之间复杂且未充分研究的相互作用的了解。蚂蚁花园是蚂蚁和附生植物之间的互惠关系。植物受益于种子的传播和巡逻蚂蚁的防御，同时为蚂蚁提供巢穴结构。蚂蚁 Crematogaster levor 和 Camponotus femoratus 生活在共同的蚂蚁花园中。我们用蚁园巢的体积研究了两个物种种群的生长动态。Ca的比例。股骨随着巢体积的增加而增加，导致后者在最大的网中的 C. levor 上占主导地位。此外，我们的结果与实地观察相结合，表明 C. levio 可以启动筑巢。这些发现精确地确定了两种蚂蚁物种之间的复杂关系。