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.