Molecular phylogenetic study on coevolution of Macaranga myrmecophytes, their symbiontic ants and scale insects in Southeast Asian tropics

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The Asian ant-plant association between Crematogaster ants and Macaranga plants was highly species-specific, and the molecular phylogeny of the ants parallels the plant phylogeny reflecting the history of cospeciation. Interspecific comparison of leaf damage and enemy fauna of nine coexisting Macaranga species supported that the plants differ in their types of non-biotic ( chemical/structural ) defense. Despite these variations in chemical/structural defense, ant-colonized plants were generally well defended by ants against most kinds of enemies. This, together with the differences in defensive behavior of the ant species, suggests that the individual host-specific ant mutualists are well adapted to deter the specific enemies, which can potentially overcome the chemical/structural defense of the host plants.