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VOL. 11, ISSUE 3 (2026)
Ant floral visitation and evidence for ant-mediated pollination in Indian flora- A review
Authors
Dipanwita Das, Tania Chatterjee, Bulganin Mitra
Abstract
Ants, traditionally recognized as biotic plant defences, also
contribute significantly to the pollination of certain plant species. This
review synthesizes Indian records of flower visiting ants and evaluates the
strength of evidence for ant mediated pollination. In India, 20 ant taxa
representing five subfamilies have been documented as floral visitors and
pollinators of 44 plant taxa across 22 families. The subfamily Formicinae is
the most diverse subfamily, with eight taxa, followed by Myrmicinae with seven
taxa, Pseudomyrmecinae and Dolichoderinae with two taxa each, and Ponerinae
with one. Host plant associations reveal that tree flowers are the most
frequently visited, compared to those of herbs, climbers, and shrubs. Among the
44 plant taxa, Brassica juncea attracted the highest number of ant visitors
(seven taxa). At the family level, Brassicaceae (seven ant taxa) was the most
frequently visited plant family in India, followed by Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae,
Primulaceae, Rosaceae and Sapindaceae (four ant taxa each). Keywords: Ants,
floral visitors, pollinators, pollination, Plants-ant interaction, India.
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Pages:713-720
How to cite this article:
Dipanwita Das, Tania Chatterjee, Bulganin Mitra "Ant floral visitation and evidence for ant-mediated pollination in Indian flora- A review". International Journal of Entomology Research, Vol 11, Issue 3, 2026, Pages 713-720
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