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| Oliveira,Paulo S.; Pie,Marcio R.. |
| Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are nectar-secreting glands not directly involved with pollination which may occur on virtually all above-ground plant parts of angiosperms. Recent studies revealed that such glands are widely distributed amongst the woody flora of the Brazilian cerrados. Plants bearing EFNs are visited day and night by a diverse assemblage of nectarivorous ants. In this review we present the data gathered during the past 15 years on the interaction between ants and EFN-bearing plants in cerrado vegetation. Field experiments indicate that ants visiting EFNs may prey or attack insect herbivores on the plant foliage, significantly reducing herbivore damage to leaves, buds or flowers. As a response, some herbivore species have developed an array... |
| Tipo: Info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
Palavras-chave: Insecta; Hymenoptera; Herbivory; Mutualism; Predation. |
| Ano: 1998 |
URL: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0301-80591998000200001 |
