Replication Data for How to be an ant on figs

This dataset was moved to: https://doi.org/10.34725/DVN/F3O9BUMutualistic interactions are open to exploitation by one or other of the partners and a diversity of other organisms, and hence are best understood as being embedded in a complex network of biotic interactions. Figs participate in an obligate mutualism in that figs are dependent on agaonid fig wasps for pollination and the wasps are dependent on fig ovules for brood sites. Ants are common insect predators and abundant in tropical forests. Ants have been recorded on approximately 11% of fig species, including all six subgenera, and often affect the fig–fig pollinator interaction through their predation of either pollinating and parasitic wasps. On monoecious figs, ants are often associated with hemipterans, whereas in dioecious figs ants predominantly prey on fig wasps. A few fig species are true myrmecophytes, with domatia or food rewards for ants, and in at least one species this is linked to predation of parasitic fig wasps. Ants also play a role in dispersal of fig seeds and may be particularly important for hemi-epiphytic species, which require high quality establishment microsites in the canopy. The intersection between the fig–fig pollinator and ant–plant systems promises to provide fertile ground for understanding mutualistic interactions within the context of complex interaction networks.本数据集已迁移至：https://doi.org/10.34725/DVN/F3O9BU 互利共生交互易被共生双方之一或多种其他生物所利用，因此最佳的研究视角是将其视作嵌入复杂生物交互网络的系统。 无花果与榕小蜂科（Agaonidae）榕小蜂存在专性互利共生关系：无花果依赖该科榕小蜂完成传粉，而榕小蜂则以无花果的胚珠作为育幼场所。 蚂蚁是热带森林中常见且种群丰富的昆虫捕食者。 目前已在约11%的无花果属物种（涵盖全部6个亚属）上记录到蚂蚁活动，它们常通过捕食传粉榕小蜂或寄生性榕小蜂，干扰无花果与传粉榕小蜂的交互关系。 对于雌雄同株的无花果，蚂蚁常与半翅目（Hemiptera）昆虫形成共生关系；而在雌雄异株的无花果中，蚂蚁则主要以榕小蜂为捕食对象。 少数无花果物种为真正的蚁栖植物（myrmecophyte），可为蚂蚁提供巢室（domatia）或食物奖励；至少有一种无花果的该类特征与寄生榕小蜂的捕食行为存在关联。 蚂蚁还参与无花果种子的传播，对于半附生（hemi-epiphytic）无花果物种而言尤为重要——这类物种需要在树冠层中寻找高质量的定植微生境。 无花果-传粉榕小蜂与蚂蚁-植物两大共生系统的交叉研究，有望为理解复杂交互网络背景下的互利共生交互机制提供绝佳的研究契机。