Dietary niche shapes bacterial community in Indo-Pacific ants.

ABSTRACT: Ants are among the most ecologically diverse insects, especially in tropical forest ecosystems, yet what shapes their microbial associates remains poorly understood. Most research has focused on Neotropical ants, where strong microbial associations have been linked to shifts in diet-such as herbivory-and nesting ecology. In contrast, Indo-Pacific ants, which have independently evolved similar specialized lifestyles, remain largely unstudied for their microbial associations. Here, we integrate deep-coverage 16S rRNA sequencing with stable isotope (δ¹⁵N) analyses to characterize the microbiomes of 239 ants from 36 species across 24 genera from the Indo-Pacific region. These ants span a broad ecological range, from ground-dwelling predators to strict arboreal herbivores, allowing u

SUBMITTER: Cunningham P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12502676 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature