Ants do not prey upon an extrafloral‐nectar‐feeding predatory mite

Abstract Extrafloral‐nectar‐producing plants associated with crops can increase the densities and diversity of natural enemies, which can improve the control of crop pests. However, the various natural enemies that feed on the nectar are likely to interact with each other, which can have negative effects on pest control. Ants, for example, are well known for their interactions with plants that produce extrafloral nectar and are important natural enemies of crop pests. They can aggressively defend the nectar‐producing plants against other arthropods, including natural enemies and pollinators. We therefore studied the interactions among three ant species and the predatory mite Amblyseius herbicolus (Acari: Phytoseiidae) (Chant, 1959), which also feeds on nectar. This predatory mite is an important natural enemy of coffee pest mites and visits extrafloral nectaries of Inga trees. Inga is used to intercrop with coffee plants and its nectar attracts many natural enemies of coffee pests, including several ant species, including Camponotus rufipes (Fabricius, 1775), Camponotus crassus Mayr, 1862, and Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863). Workers of these ants did not attack any stage of predatory mites, but they did attack other prey, showing that the experimental set‐up was adequate for studying ant predation. This suggests that an extrafloral‐nectar‐producing plant can simultaneously benefit ants and predatory mites, which may result in better control of several coffee pests. Thus, the presence of Inga and other plants producing extrafloral nectar may improve natural pest control in coffee fields.