Ant effects
Excluding ants reduced the abundance of predators (link 9 - all link codes described hereafter refer to Table 1 and Fig. 2). Also, in the Ant Exclusion treatment, the positive relationship between the number of galling nymphs and volume of B. dracunculifoliae galls was stronger (link 8). Ant presence on branches was positively correlated with parasitism of the galler B. dracunculifoliae (link 12), as well as with the abundance of the galler R. limbata on the plants (link 13), and negatively related to the presence of aphids on branches (link 14). Ant exclusion lowered the number of inquiline aphids insideB. dracunculifoliae galls (link 11) - ants seem to facilitate the aphid-galler interaction, apparently by leading or even carrying aphids inside galls.