Abstract

What are myrmecophiles? The term myrmecophile means 'ant lover', from the Greek 'myrmex' (ant) and 'philos' (loving). In the most general sense, any organism that is dependent on ants at least during part of its lifecycle is a myrmecophile. This definition encompasses plants that attract ants with food bodies or extrafloral nectaries, homopterans such as aphids, membracids, and scale insects that provide ants with honeydew, as well as fungi and bacteria that are cultivated or housed by some ants. The majority of myrmecophiles, however, are insects and other arthropods that benefit from the vast resources an ant colony provides in one way or the other. Here we limit our discussion to only those myrmecophiles that are animals living inside ant nests, the so-called ant guests, or inquilines.