ArticlePloS one2014
Ants use partner specific odors to learn to recognize a mutualistic partner.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Discrimination of Methyl-Branched Hydrocarbons by Tetramorium tsushimae Ants: a Focus on Branch Position and Chain Length.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Article
- Ant responses in a lycaenid-ant symbiosis are not facilitated by cuticular compounds alone.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Influence of Host Plants and Tending Ants on the Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile of a Generalist Myrmecophilous Caterpillar.Journal of chemical ecology · 2024Article
- Review
- Resource exchange and partner recognition mediate mutualistic interactions between prey and their would-be predators.Biology letters · 2021Article
- Odor of achlorophyllous plants' seeds drives seed-dispersing ants.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Mechanisms of recognition in birds and social Hymenoptera: from detection to information processing.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Tetramorium tsushimae Ants Use Methyl Branched Hydrocarbons of Aphids for Partner Recognition.Journal of chemical ecology · 2017Article
- Social transmission of information about a mutualist via trophallaxis in ant colonies.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Arthropods Associate with their Red Wood ant Host without Matching Nestmate Recognition Cues.Journal of chemical ecology · 2017Article
- Efficacy of Chemical Mimicry by Aphid Predators Depends on Aphid-Learning by Ants.Journal of chemical ecology · 2016Article
- Restricting mutualistic partners to enforce trade reliance.Nature communications · 2016Article
- Ants Learn Aphid Species as Mutualistic Partners: Is the Learning Behavior Species-Specific?Journal of chemical ecology · 2015Article
- Antennal RNA-sequencing analysis reveals evolutionary aspects of chemosensory proteins in the carpenter ant, Camponotus japonicus.Scientific reports · 2015Article
- Various chemical strategies to deceive ants in three Arhopala species (lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) exploiting Macaranga myrmecophytes.PloS one · 2015Article
- The role of tending ants in host plant selection and egg parasitism of two facultative myrmecophilous butterflies.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2014Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Regulation via interspecific communication is an important for the maintenance of many mutualisms. However, mechanisms underlying the evolution of partner communication are poorly understood for many mutualisms. Here we show, in an ant-lycaenid butterfly mutualism, that attendant ants selectively learn to recognize and interact cooperatively with a partner. Workers of the ant Pristomyrmex punctatus learn to associate cuticular hydrocarbons of mutualistic Narathura japonica caterpillars with food rewards and, as a result, are more likely to tend the caterpillars. However, the workers do not learn to associate the cuticular hydrocarbons of caterpillars of a non-ant-associated lycaenid, Lycaena phlaeas, with artificial food rewards. Chemical analysis revealed cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of the mutualistic caterpillars were complex compared with those of non-ant-associated caterpillars. Our results suggest that partner-recognition based on partner-specific chemical signals and cognitive abilities of workers are important mechanisms underlying the evolution and maintenance of mutualism with ants.
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