Ant-mealybug mutualism modulates the performance of co-occurring herbivores

Mutualistic interactions among species play important roles in mediating the dynamics and diversity of niche-related community^1,2. The mutualism between ant and honeydew-producing hemipterans has been well documented in multiple ecosystems^3,4,5, based on the defensive and aggressive activity of ants on sympatric herbivores by providing nutritious carbohydrate, which may severely interfere with the balance and stability of ecological communities^6,7. Early work has exposed the positive and reciprocal effects of mutualism on the colonization and development of both species involved in the mutual interaction^8,9. Currently, some studies have illuminated the ecological influence of ant-hemipteran mutualism on other co-occurring community members^6,10,11. Ant diversity and aggressiveness can directly modulate the effects of the mutualism on the surrounding community¹², affecting the ambient feed groups composed by predators and other arthropod specie⁶, in which of the abundance of arthropod species significantly decrease on trees with ant-hemipteran mutualism¹³.