Eur. J. Entomol. 101 (4): 689-692, 2004 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2004.090

A novel relationship between ants and a leafhopper (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

Florian M. STEINER1, Birgit C. SCHLICK-STEINER1, Werner HOLZINGER2, Christian KOMPOSCH2, Sylvie PAZOUTOVA3, Matthias SANETRA4, Erhard CHRISTIAN1
1 Institute of Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology, and Institute of Forest Entomology, Forest Pathology and Forest Protection, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, A-1180 Wien, Austria; e-mail: h9304696@edv1.boku.ac.at
2 Ökoteam - Institute of Faunistics and Animal Ecology, Bergmanngasse 22, A-8010 Graz, Austria; e-mail: oekoteam@sime.com
3 Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, VídeĖská 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic; e-mail: pazouto@biomed.cas.cz
4 Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany

Ten ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from three subfamilies feed on honeydew excreted by nymphs of the leafhopper Balclutha punctata (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). This relationship is facultative for the partners. Preliminary field observations suggest a mutualistic interaction that represents an intermediate stage in the spectrum of formicid-hemipteran mutualisms. Behavioural adaptations of the leafhopper (no escape reaction) and the ants (no predation of leafhoppers, protection from spiders) are evident, but characters of advanced facultative mutualism such as physical contact between the partners or ant-triggered excretion of honeydew were not observed.

Keywords: Araneae, Auchenorrhyncha, ant-leafhopper relationship, honeydew, insect-insect interactions, mutualism, Cicadellidae, Formicidae, Balclutha punctata, Calamagrostis epigejos

Received: January 26, 2004; Revised: June 21, 2004; Accepted: July 30, 2004; Published: December 20, 2004  Show citation

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STEINER, F.M., SCHLICK-STEINER, B.C., HOLZINGER, W., KOMPOSCH, C., PAZOUTOVA, S., SANETRA, M., & CHRISTIAN, E. (2004). A novel relationship between ants and a leafhopper (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). EJE, 101(4), 689-692. doi: 10.14411/eje.2004.090
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