ABSTRACT
Many plant species escape attack from leaf-cutting ants (Cherrett 1968a, 1968b, 1972, Rockwood 1976, Pintera 1983). Host plant selection may be influenced by repellent chemicals in the plants (Cherrett 1972, Hubbell et al. 1983, Howard and Wiemer 1986), physical characteristics of the leaves (Stradling 1978, Waller 1982a and 1982b), the proximity of plants to established trails (Shepherd 1982), the nutritional (Cherrett and Seaforth 1970, Littledyke and Cherrett 1975, 1978, Mudd et al. 1978) and water content of leaves (Cherrett 1972, Bowers and Porter 1981) and resident ant defense of plants against leaf-cutting ant attack (Jutsum et al. 1981).
