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If anyone has an image of an ant carrying a seed with an elaiosome it would greatly appreciated. Some exist online, but I am unsure of the copyrights of those images. Quinzer ( talk) 05:17, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
The line mentioning possible mimicry in stick insect eggs is interesting but ultimately trivial to a write-up about myrmecochory, an ant-plant interaction. This content is more appropriate for the stick insect entry itself, and, in fact, you will already find it there under stick insect life cycle. If another editor chooses to revert this change I suggest putting it under its own heading; it did not make any sense having it under "nature of the interaction" which, of course, refers to the relationship between ants and plants, not ants and other insects mimicking plant diaspores. Xenetik ( talk) 20:54, 11 May 2011 (UTC)
The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Myrmecochory/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.
If anyone has an image of an ant carrying a seed with an elaiosome it would greatly appreciated. Some exist online, but I am unsure of the copyrights of those images. Quinzer ( talk) 20:08, 8 January 2009 (UTC) |
Last edited at 20:08, 8 January 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 03:16, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
This statement is not logically rigorous:
"In addition, phylogenetic comparison of myrmecochorous plant groups reveal that more than half of the lineages in which myrmecochory evolved are more species rich than their non-myrmecochorous sister groups. Not only is myrmecochory a convergent trait, but it also promotes diversification in multiple flowering plants lineages.[4]"
The faulty logic is this: More diverse taxa have more species, and therefore more opportunity to give rise to lineages featuring myrmecochory. Which is to say, we don't really know whether widespread myrmecophory is a cause or an effect of plant diversity.
In fact, on theoretical grounds, one could argue that myrmecophory might decrease diversity. If it contributes to efficient seed dispersal, this could make it harder for plant populations to be genetically isolated from each other, thus decreasing the chances of allopatric speciation.