I found evidence of within-tree habitat partitioning among ant species in both the

2- and 5-yr-old trees. There is little basis for comparison with other ant-plant systems

because C. alliodora is unusual in housing multiple ant species in mature plants (but see

Young et al. 1997 and Palmer et al. 2003). However, many myrmecophytes can be

occupied by multiple ant species at early stages of their development and arboreal ants in

other systems have been shown to divide space based on the distribution of resources

(Cole 1983, Bluthgen et al. 2004). In the C. alliodora system, honeydew-producing

hemipteran symbionts (Pseudococcidae and Coccidae) appear to be an important food for

some of the ant species (Tillberg 2004). Because these insects rely on access to plant

vascular tissue to feed, they are likely not distributed evenly among domatia of different

ages. Therefore, variation in the ant-coccoid relationship may account for within-tree

habitat selection. Aztecapittieri was more abundant in the younger domatia in 2-yr-old

plants but more abundant in older domatia in the 5-yr-old plants. Pseudococcids and

coccids were common in A. pittieri domatia, but this species does not appear to rely

solely on honeydew for nutrition (Tillberg 2004). Crematogaster carinata showed no

preference for domatia microhabitat in the 5-yr-old trees, inhabited older branches more

frequently in 2-yr-old trees, and also only rarely tended coccids and pseudococcids inside

its domatia (Tillberg 2004). In contrast, Ce. setulifer, which disproportionately occupied

younger domatia, commonly tended hemipterans and the apparently depends primarily on

plant sources of nutrients such as the concentrated fluid excreted by the coccoids

(Tillberg 2004). Pseudomyrmexfortis was more abundant than expected in the older

domatia from large branches and trunks, which are not surrounded with the plant vascular

tissue required for coccoids to feed. The relative importance of plant or animal food