title: Positive effects of shade and shelter construction by ants on leafhopper-ant mutualism.
abstract: The myrmecophilous five-spotted gamagrass leafhopper, Dalbulus quinquenotatus DeLong and Nault, and its tending ants on gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides L. were examined to determine the influence of shade and ant-constructed shelters on the population sizes of D. quinquenotatus and ants. Gamagrass plants hosting ants and leafhoppers were exposed to 50, 30, or 0% artificially constructed shade. The greatest numbers of leafhoppers and ants were found on plants that received 50% shade. Shelters made by the ant Solenopsis geminata (F.) contained large numbers of leafhoppers and ants but were found only on T. dactyloides exposed to 50% shade in artificially constructed habitats. Additional sampling was conducted on wild gamagrass plants in the field to explore the presence of ants tending leafhoppers in shelters and to evaluate whether ant-constructed shelters protect leafhopper nymphs from parasitoid wasps. Large aggregations of S. geminata in shelters were also found in natural gamagrass habitats. Leafhopper nymphs living in shelters made by S. geminata may be protected against the dryinid wasp parasitoid Anteon ciudadi Olmi. No sheltered nymphs were parasitized by dryinids, whereas 24% of unsheltered nymphs had dryinid parasitism.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Botanica y Zoologia, CUCBA, Universidad de Guadalajara, km 15.5 carretera Guadalajara-Nogales, Las Agujas, Zapopan, C.P. 45110, Apdo. Postal 139, Jalisco, Mexico. gmoya@cucba.udg.mx
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moya-Raygoza
authors.forename: Kirk J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Larsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017753:Ecosystem; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D009758:Nymph / Q000469:parasitology; D011156:Population Density; D013559:Symbiosis; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology