Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-jkvpf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-18T13:33:27.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Swimming ants and pitcher plants: a unique ant-plant interaction from Borneo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

C. M. Clarke  and
R. L. Kitching
C. M. Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
R. L. Kitching
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The relationship between Camponotus sp. ants and the carnivorous pitcher plant, Nepenthes bicalcarata, from Borneo were investigated. The ants nest in the hollow tendrils of the plant, and feed on large prey items caught by the pitchers. These are hauled from the pitcher fluid by the ants and consumed. When large prey items are absent, the ants feed upon mosquito larvae which inhabit the pitcher fluid. The accumulation of excess prey in pitchers can lead to putrefaction of the contents, and disruption of the pitcher's digestive system. Experiments on the possible benefits of the ants' behaviour to the plant showed that the accumulation of excess prey and the putrefaction of the pitcher contents were significantly reduced in the presence of the ants. The accumulation of ammonia in pitchers was unaffected by the presence of the ants when small prey were added to pitchers, but was reduced significantly in the presence of ants when large prey were added. It is suggested that Camponotus sp. and N. bicalcarata have a mutualistic association, from which the ants obtain food and nesting sites and, in return, prevent damaging accumulation of excess prey in the pitchers.

Keywords

ant-plant interactionsBorneoCamponotus spmutualismmyrmecophyteNepenthes bicalcaratapitcher plantsswimming ants

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1995 , pp. 589 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

LITERATURE CITED

Anderson, J. A. R. 1964. The structure and development of the peat swamps of Sarawak and Brunei. Journal of Tropical Geography 18:7–16.Google Scholar
Beattie, A. J. 1985. The evolutionary ecology of ant-plant mutualisms. Cambridge University Press, London, England.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beattie, A. J. 1991. Problems outstanding in ant-plant interaction research. Chapter 37 in Huxley, C. R. & Cutler, D. F. (eds). Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 601 pp.Google Scholar
Beaver, R. A. 1983. The communities living in Nepenthes pitcher plants: fauna and food webs. In Frank, H. & Lounibos, P. (eds). Phytotelmata: terrestrial plants as hosts for aquatic insect communities. Plexus, Medford, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Beccari, O. 1904. Wanderings in the great forests of Borneo. Archibald and Constable, London, England. 424 pp.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, W. E. & Creelman, R. A. 1984. Mutualism between the carnivorous purple pitcher plant and its inhabitants. American Midlands Naturalist 112:294–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burbidge, F. W. 1880. The gardens of the Sun. Murray, London, England. 364 pp.Google Scholar
Clarke, C. M. & Kitching, R. L. 1993. The metazoan food webs of six Bornean Nepenthes species. Ecological Entomology 18:7–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darwin, C. 1875. Insectivorous plants. Appleton, London, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. 1990. The ants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huxley, C. 1980. Symbiosis between ants and epiphytes. Biological Reviews 55:321–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huxley, C. & Cutler, D. F. (eds). 1991. Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. 601 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1985. The natural history of mutualisms. In Boucher, D. H. (ed.). The biology of mutualism. Croom Helm, London, England.Google Scholar
Kitching, R. L. & Schofield, C. 1986. Every pitcher tells a story. New Scientist 109:48–50.Google Scholar
Lloyd, F. E. 1942. The carnivorous plants. Chronica Botanica Co., Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. 352 pp.Google Scholar
Nemcek, O., Sigler, K. & Kleinzeller, A. 1966. Ion transport in the pitcher of Nepenthes henryana. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 126:73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelford, R. 1916. A naturalist in Borneo. T. Fisher Unwin, London, England. 331 pp.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. N. 1981. Reversed animal-plant interactions: the evolution of insectivorous and ant-fed plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 16:147–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. 1984. Tropical rain forests of the Far East (2nd edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford, England. 352 pp.Google Scholar