Weed Research (2011) 51, 548-551

T.G. Pikart, G.K. Souza, J.E. Serrão and J.C. Zanuncio (2011)
Leafcutter ants: a small dispersal agent of the invasive plant Murraya paniculata
Weed Research 51 (6), 548-551
Abstract: Ants can play an important role in the success and impact of many species invasions, including weed species. This study, in a fragment of secondary forest in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, evaluates the role of native leafcutter ants in the spread of the exotic plant Murraya paniculata, an alternative host of bacteria causing citrus greening disease. The foraging activity of leafcutter ants on fruits of ten M. paniculata plants was observed daily during August 2010. The only leafcutter ant species observed was Acromyrmex niger (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), which showed a preference to remove M. paniculata fruits to its nests, cleaning them and discarding the seeds on refuse piles afterwards. Murraya paniculata was the main plant whose seeds were deposited in refuse piles (61-82% of the seeds), where they commonly germinated. This study shows that dispersal of this weed is facilitated by native leafcutter ants. This may promote the spread and establishment of this alternative host of citrus greening disease and so lead to problems in monitoring and control of this disease.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): José Cola Zanuncio, José Eduardo Serrao

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Murraya exotica (weed)		Brazil (south)