Camponotus schmitzi
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| Camponotus schmitzi | ||||||||||||||
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| Camponotus schmitzi Stärke, 1933 |
Camponotus schmitzi is a species of carpenter ant native to northwestern Borneo.[1]
The ant makes its nest in the hollow tendrils of the pitcher plant Nepenthes bicalcarata.[2][3][4]
This unique animal-plant interaction was noted by Frederick William Burbidge as early as 1880.[5] In 1904, Odoardo Beccari suggested that the ants feed on insects found on and around the plant, but may fall prey to it themselves.[6] In 1990, B. Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson proposed that N. bicalcarata and C. schmitzi form a mutually beneficial association.[7] At the time, however, no experimental data existed to support such a hypothesis. A series of observations and experiments carried out in Brunei by Charles Clarke in 1992 and 1998,[8][9][10] and by Clarke and Kitching in 1993 and 1995,[11][12] strongly support the mutualism theory.
The ants feed by descending into the pitcher fluid and retrieving arthropods caught by the plant. The ants seem to ignore smaller insects and only target larger prey items. Hauling food from the pitcher fluid to the peristome, a distance of no more than 5 cm, may take up to 12 hours.[13] In this way the contents of N. bicalcarata pitchers is controlled such that organic matter does not accumulate to the point of putrefaction, which can lead to the demise of pitcher infauna (which also appear to benefit the plant) and sometimes the pitcher itself.[13]
The ants seem to favour upper pitchers and rarely colonise lower pitchers.[14] This is likely due to the fact that terrestrial traps are periodically submerged in water during heavy rains. Flooding of the ants' nest chamber could result in the death of the developing eggs, larvae, and pupae.[15]
C. schmitzi nests solely in the tendrils of N. bicalcarata and rarely ventures onto other plants. The species is completely dependent on N. bicalcarata for food and domicile.[13] N. bicalcarata, on the other hand, is able to survive and reproduce without the presence of the ants; it is a facultative mutualist. This being the case, there appear to be few mature plants over 2 metres in height not colonised by C. schmitzi.[13]
John Thompson suggests that N. bicalcarata may be the only plant species that obtains nutrients through both insect capture and ant-hosting habits.[16]
[edit] References
- ^ Schuitemaker, J.P. & A. Stärke 1933. Contribution a l'etude de la faune Nepenthicole. Art. III Un noveau Camponotus de Borneo, habitant les tiges cruises de Nepenthes récolté par J. P. Schuitemaker et décrit par A. Stärke, den Dolder. Overdruk uit het Natuurhistorisch Maandblad 22(3): 29–31.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
- ^ Shelford, R. 1916. A naturalist in Borneo. T. Fisher Unwin, London.
- ^ Cresswell, J.E. 2000. Resource input and the community structure of larval infaunas of an eastern tropical pitcher plant Nepenthes bicalcarata. Ecological Entomology 25(3): 362–366. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.2000.00267.x
- ^ Burbidge, F.W. 1880. The Gardens of the Sun. Murray, London. 364 pp.
- ^ Beccari, O. 1904. Wanderings in the great forests of Borneo. Archibald and Constable, London.
- ^ Hölldobler, B. & E.O. Wilson 1990. The Ants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. 1992. The ecology of metazoan communities in Nepenthes pitcher plants in Borneo, with special reference to the community of Nepenthes bicalcarata Hook.f. Ph.D. thesis, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales. 269 pp.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. 1998. Initial colonisation and prey capture in Nepenthes bicalcarata (Nepenthaceae) pitchers in Brunei. Sandakania 12: 27–36.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. 1998. The aquatic arthropod community of the pitcher plant, Nepenthes bicalcarata (Nepenthaceae) in Brunei. Sandakania 11: 55–60.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. & R.L. Kitching 1993. The Metazoan Food Webs from Six Bornean Nepenthes Species. Ecological Entomology 18: 7–16.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. & R.L. Kitching 1995. Swimming Ants and Pitcher Plants: a Unique Ant-Plant Interaction from Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 11(4): 589–602.
- ^ a b c d Clarke, C.M. 1997. Nepenthes of Borneo. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. 1997. The effects of pitcher dimorphism on the metazoan community of the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes bicalcarata Hook.f.. Malayan Nature Journal 50: 149–157.
- ^ Clarke, C.M. & C.C. Lee 2004. Pitcher Plants of Sarawak. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
- ^ Thompson, J.H. 1981. Reverse animal-plant interactions: the evolution of insectivorous and ant-fed plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 16: 147–155.
