GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: "Lasius flavus ants protect root aphid eggs from predators and pathogens during winter hibernation” under review in R Soc Open Science

2. Author Information
   A. Principal Investigator and first author Contact Information
   Name: Thomas Parmentier
   Institution: Université Libre de Bruxelles
   Address: Brussels, Belgium
   Email: Thomas.Parmentier@ulb.be

   B. Last Author Contact Information
   Name: Nicky Wybouw
   Institution: Ghent University
   Address: Gent, Belgium
   Email: Nicky.Wybouw@ugent.be

3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2014-2024

4. Geographic location of data collection: Belgium

5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: This work was supported by the F.R.S.-FNRS Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (Chercheur qualifié Crédit n° 1.C.094.25F to T.P.; and the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen—FWO (FWO Postdoc junior: 1203020N to T.P.)

SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION

1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain
2. Links to publications that cite or use the data:

Parmentier T, Wybouw N (2025). Lasius flavus ants protect root aphid eggs from predators and pathogens during winter hibernation. accepted in R Soc Open Science

1. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: None
2. Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: None
3. Was data derived from another source? No
4. Recommended citation for this dataset:

Parmentier T, Wybouw N (2025). Lasius flavus ants protect root aphid eggs from predators and pathogens during winter hibernation. accepted in R Soc Open Science

DATA Overview

The data is stored in 6 txt. files: coordinates.txt, retrieval.txt, glass beads.txt, fungus.txt, predation.txt, hatching.txt,

first file "coordinates.txt" contains the coordinates of the sampled nests
following columns can be found:

nest: nest identity (categorical data)
site: site where the nest was found (categorical)
longitude_d: longitude degrees (integer)
longitude_m: longitude minutes (integer)
longitude_s: longitude seconds (decimal)
latitude_d: latitude degrees (integer)
latitude_m: latitude minutes (integer)
latitude_s: latitude seconds (decimal)

second file "retrieval.txt" contains the data belonging to the paragraph "Only Lasius flavus carries Anoecia zirnitsi eggs to safety from the ant panel".
following columns can be found:

id: identity of the trial per replicate (categorical)
set: identity of replicate (categorical)
nest: nest identity (categorical data)
trophobiont: levels: aphid_egg, ant_larva, egg_hexane_treated, egg_hexane_methanol_treated (categorical)
host: species identity of the host (categorical)
time: time point (integer, unit: minute) at which the status (see next column) is checked
status: 1 = picked up by the ants at time point, O = not picked up at time point (binary)

third file "glass beads.txt" contains the data belonging to the paragraph "A chemical cue on Anoecia zirnitsi eggs triggers the care-taking behaviour of Lasius flavus". here we tested whether the extract of root aphid eggs makes glass beads attractive
following columns can be found:

id: identity of the trial per replicate (categorical)
set: identity of replicate (categorical)
nest: nest identity (categorical data)
treatment: levels: glass_bead_with_hexane_methanol_extract, glass_bead_control (categorical)
host: species identity of the host (categorical)
time: time point (integer, unit: minute) at which the status (see next column) is checked
status: 1 = picked up by the ants at time point, O = not picked up at time point (binary)

fourth file "fungus.txt" contains the data belonging to the paragraph "Lasius flavus protects root aphid eggs against fungal pathogens"
following columns can be found:

id: identity of the trial (categorical)
treatment: with (level: plus) or without ants (level: min) (categorical)
id: identity of the trial (categorical)
nest: nest identity (categorical data)
soil_added_g: soil added to the petri dish (decimal in g)
start: number of non-infected eggs at start experiment (integer)
end: number of non-infected eggs at end experiment (integer)

fifth file "predation.txt" contains the data belonging to the paragraph "Lasius flavus protects root aphid eggs against a predatory rove beetle"
following columns can be found:

treatment: with (level: plus) or without ants (level: min) (categorical)
id: identity of the trial (categorical)
start: number of not-consumed eggs at start experiment (integer)
end: number of not-consumed eggs at end experiment (integer)

sixth file "hatching.txt" contains the data belonging to the paragraph Lasius flavus is not essential for egg hatching and host plant attachment of Anoecia zirnitsi"
following columns can be found:

replicate: identity of the replicate (categorical)
treatment: with (level: ant_plus) or without ants (level: ant_min) (categorical)
date: day when experiment started (integer)
hatched: level: 1 = egg hatched, level 0 = egg not hatched (binary)
time_after_start: days to hatching from initial time point (integer)

CODE OVERVIEW
The code to run the analyses are stored in a .R file, it can be found under "Rscript_Parmentier and Wybouw_root aphid eggs.R"