In article ,
Tim Tyler writes:
|
| One such report:
|
| ``The ability of L. niger to assess the.
| ‘health’ of tended aphid colonies was shown by
| Collins and Leather (2002) who reported that
| ants could remove healthy aphids to start new
| colonies if the if the original aphid colony
| became overcrowded.''

Yes, I know :-(

But I have never seen one of those that was worth a damn, because
they all proved their results by assuming it. There may be an
exception, somewhere, of course.

The papers you have referenced (and others) definitely indicate that
L. niger does assist aphids under at least SOME circumstances, but
my observations indicate that it is a rarer and less important
situation than is often claimed. And the few references I have seen
to whether it is significant in practice have all come down on the
side of "no, it isn't".

That conflict makes me certain that things aren't as simple as they
are made out, which in turn implies that either or both of your and
my beliefs are likely to be effectively wrong.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.