Data from: The acacia ants revisited: convergent evolution and biogeographic context in an iconic ant/plant mutualism

Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses can enhance our understanding of
multispecies interactions by placing the origin and evolution of such
interactions in a temporal and geographical context. We use a phylogenomic
approach—ultraconserved element sequence capture—to investigate the
evolutionary history of an iconic multispecies mutualism: Neotropical
acacia ants (Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus group) and their associated
Vachellia hostplants. In this system, the ants receive shelter and food
from the host plant, and they aggressively defend the plant against
herbivores and competing plants. We confirm the existence of two separate
lineages of obligate acacia ants that convergently occupied Vachellia and
evolved plant-protecting behaviour, from timid ancestors inhabiting dead
twigs in rainforest. The more diverse of the two clades is inferred to
have arisen in the Late Miocene in northern Mesoamerica, and subsequently
expanded its range throughout much of Central America. The other lineage
is estimated to have originated in southern Mesoamerica about 3 Myr later,
apparently piggy-backing on the pre-existing mutualism. Initiation of the
Pseudomyrmex/Vachellia interaction involved a shift in the ants from
closed to open habitats, into an environment with more intense plant
herbivory. Comparative studies of the two lineages of mutualists should
provide insight into the essential features binding this mutualism.