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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Meat-Farming Ants: Predatory Mutualism Between Melissotarsus Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) And Armored Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), Scott A. Schneider
The Meat-Farming Ants: Predatory Mutualism Between Melissotarsus Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) And Armored Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), Scott A. Schneider
Doctoral Dissertations
Ant agricultural mutualisms are common, well studied, and receive attention from scientific and public spheres due to shared similarities with human agriculture (i.e. ant/fungus ‘crop farming’ and ant/insect ‘dairy farming’). They also serve as important model systems for studying many facets of mutualism. This study reveals that the repertoire of ant agriculture may also include ‘meat farming’. Predatory mutualisms occur between Melissotarsus ants and various species of armored scale insects. This dissertation employs a multi-disciplinary approach to investigate the evolutionary history and nature of ant/diaspidid mutualisms. Chapter 1 reviews the current state of knowledge regarding species composition of these associations …