Trophobioses on Borneo Climbing
Bamboo – diversity and ecology of ant-hemipteran associations
on Dinochloa trichogona (Poaceae)
DIRK MEZGER1* & NICO BLÜTHGEN2
1 Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm,
Germany,
2 Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biozentrum,
University of Würzburg, Germany
Abstract: Trophobioses between ants and hemipterans play an
important role in tropical rainforests. The Borneo Climbing
Bamboo Dinochloa trichogona commonly occurs in the
understorey of lowland forests on Borneo where it frequently
hosts trophobioses. Twenty-eight species of ants attending
ten species of hemipterans were found on these plants. Coreid
bugs and delphacids contributed the majority of associations.
On average, 25 % of the stems were infected with trophobioses.
Some ants built shelters over their hemipteran partner to
protect them. When offered an artificial food resource, the
hemipterans were not abandoned completely. D. trichogona
seems to be a keystone species for ants in the forest understorey,
since a large proportion of understorey trophobioses was found
on this plant.
