title: Ant-plant symbioses: Stalking the chuyachaqui.
abstract: According to Quechua-speaking peoples, orchard-like stands ('Supay Chacras') of two Amazonian ant-plant species are cultivated by the devil, or 'Chuyachaqui'. These "devil gardens" offer extreme examples of specializations that have evolved repeatedly in ant-plant associations. Numerous investigations are beginning to disclose the identity of the Chuyachaqui - the forces behind evolutionary specialization in ant-plant symbioses. These developments have important implications for our understanding of modes of coevolution in symbiotic mutualism, remarkable convergent similarities in the form of ant-plant symbioses on different continents, and pronounced intercontinental differences in the diversity and taxonomic composition of associates.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McKey