Abstract
The influence of ants on ecological communities is well documented by their quantitative effect on populations of other organisms (66, 176) and through the variety of relationships in which they are involved (166). Ants have influenced the evolution of other organisms in numerous ways: by being partners in symbiotic relationships, by providing exploitable resources, and by serving as models for the evolution of a remarkable variety of mimetic species (72). Myrmecomorphy, or the morphological and behavioral resem blance to ants, has evolved at least 70 times-IS times in the spiders (145), at least 10 times in the plant bugs (154), and 7 times in the staphylinid beetles (158). More than 2000 species of myrmecomorphic arthropods have been described thus far, belonging to over 200 genera in 54 families. Myrmecomorphy, or myrmecoidy (sensu 41, 42, 118), forms a subset of ant mimicry, which includes all species that resemble ants through convergence in morphological, behavioral, chemical, or textural characters. The other major group of ant-mimetic species are the myrmecophiles, or those arthropods that associate closely with ants, but do not necessarily resemble them (83). Unlike most myrmecomorphic species, myrmecophiles are typi cally convergent in chemical and/or textural characters that facilitate a close relationship with their ant models (71). Some myrmecophiles are also
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