Data from: Ants at plant wounds – a little-known trophic interaction with evolutionary implications for ant-plant interactions

Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) allow plants to engage in mutualisms with
ants preventing herbivory in exchange for food. EFNs occur scattered
through the plant phylogeny and likely evolved independently from
herbivore-created wounds subsequently visited by ants collecting leaked
sap. Records of wound-feeding ants are, however, anecdotal. By surveying
38,000 trees from 40 species, we conduct the first quantitative ecological
study of this overlooked behavior. Ant-wound interactions were widespread
(0.5% of tree individuals) and occurred on 23 tree species. Interaction
networks were opportunistic, closely resembling ant-EFNs networks.
Fagaceae, a family lacking EFNs, were strongly overrepresented. For
Fagaceae, ant occurrence at wounds correlated with species-level leaf
damage, potentially indicating that wounds may attract mutualistic ants,
supporting the hypothesis of ant-tended wounds as precursors of ant-EFNs
mutualisms. Given the commonness of herbivore wounds, wound sap as
steadily available food source might furthermore help to explain the
overwhelming abundance of ants in (sub)tropical forest canopies.