| Abstract: | “Plant-ants”, i.e. those symbiotic with myrmecophyte plants, defend their hosts against herbivores. Plant-ants are expected to affect the host-plant ranges of herbivores that feed on myrmecophytes. This study aimed to experimentally determine whether anti-herbivore defences by plant-ants restrict the larval host-plant ranges of four Arhopala (Lycaenidae) butterflies that feed on Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) trees, some of which are myrmecophytes. We fed Arhopala larvae with the leaves of five Macaranga species under ant-excluded conditions to examine their potential host-plant ranges. Under ant-excluded conditions, three Arhopala species survived to the pupal stage when fed species not used in the field as well as their normal host species. Our data suggested that the aggressive behaviours of plant-ants towards leaf-feeding insects restrict the potential host-plant ranges of some Macaranga-feeding Arhopala butterflies. |
