A Plant Needs Ants like a Dog Needs Fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni Ants Gall Many Tree Species to Create Housing

Hundreds of tropical plant species house ant colonies in specialized chambers called domatia. When, in 1873, Richard Spruce likened plant-ants to fleas and asserted that domatia are ant-created galls, he incited a debate that lasted almost a century. Alth

We thank A. Moog and B. Webber for considerable help in tracking down historical references and I. V. Shamoko and M. Shamoko for introducing D. W. Y. and G. H. S. to this phenomenon. Support for this work came from the Yunnan government (20080A001), the C