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Pereira RC, Bailez O, Vieira-Júnior JOL, Silva GA, Arêdes A, Viana-Bailez AM. Host Size Preference of the Leafcutter Ant Parasitoid Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai (Diptera: Phoridae). Neotrop Entomol 2022; 51:593-599. [PMID: 35829961 DOI: 10.1007/s13744-022-00962-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai Brown (Diptera: Phoridae) is a natural enemy of Atta sexdens Linnaeus and Atta laevigata Smith and is considered a promising candidate for the biological control of these ants. The aim of this study was to verify if E. tonhascai has a preference for specific sizes of A. sexdens foragers and whether this parasitoid demonstrated host species preference when comparing parasitism of A. sexdens and A. laevigata. Worker ants were classified into four different size groups and introduced into an attack arena with one E. tonhascai female. To verify host species preference, both A. sexdens and A. laevigata workers were placed in the attack arena together with one E. tonhascai female. A no-choice test was also performed, when each ant species was offered to a phorid female at different times. Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai performed the highest number of inspection flights, attempted attacks, and actual attacks against A. sexdens workers with a cephalic capsule size of 3-5 mm. When comparing attacks on A. sexdens and A. laevigata workers, they were equally inspected, attacked, and the total parasitism rates were similar. However, the phorid adult emergence rate was significantly higher in the A. sexdens parasitized workers. We conclude that E. tonhascai females express preference for parasitizing larger hosts (cephalic capsule width of 3-5 mm), but do not display a preference for host species when comparing A. sexdens versus A. laevigata, and thus can similarly contribute to both leafcutter ants' natural biological control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata Cunha Pereira
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Omar Bailez
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - José Olívio Lopes Vieira-Júnior
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gerson Adriano Silva
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Anália Arêdes
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ana Maria Viana-Bailez
- Laboratório de Entomologia e Fitopatologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Goes AC, Kooij PW, Culot L, Bueno OC, Rodrigues A. Distinct and enhanced hygienic responses of a leaf-cutting ant toward repeated fungi exposures. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9112. [PMID: 35866016 PMCID: PMC9288931 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Leaf‐cutting ants and their fungal crops are a textbook example of a long‐term obligatory mutualism. Many microbes continuously enter their nest containing the fungal cultivars, destabilizing the symbiosis and, in some cases, outcompeting the mutualistic partners. Preferably, the ant workers should distinguish between different microorganisms to respond according to their threat level and recurrence in the colony. To address these assumptions, we investigated how workers of Atta sexdens sanitize their fungal crop toward five different fungi commonly isolated from the fungus gardens: Escovopsis sp., Fusarium oxysporum, Metarhizium anisopliae, Trichoderma spirale, and Syncephalastrum sp. Also, to investigate the plasticity of these responses toward recurrences of these fungi, we exposed the colonies with each fungus three times fourteen days apart. As expected, intensities in sanitization differed according to the fungal species. Ants significantly groom their fungal crop more toward F. oxysporum, M. anisopliae, and Syncephalastrum sp. than toward Escovopsis sp. and T. spirale. Weeding, self‐, and allogrooming were observed in less frequency than fungus grooming in all cases. Moreover, we detected a significant increase in the overall responses after repeated exposures for each fungus, except for Escovopsis sp. Our results indicate that A. sexdens workers are able to distinguish between different fungi and apply distinct responses to remove these from the fungus gardens. Our findings also suggest that successive exposures to the same antagonist increase hygiene, indicating plasticity of ant colonies' defenses to previously encountered pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aryel C Goes
- Department of General and Applied Biology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Rio Claro Brazil
| | - Pepijn W Kooij
- Department of General and Applied Biology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Rio Claro Brazil
| | - Laurence Culot
- Department of Biodiversity São Paulo State University (UNESP) Rio Claro Brazil
| | - Odair C Bueno
- Department of General and Applied Biology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Rio Claro Brazil
| | - Andre Rodrigues
- Department of General and Applied Biology São Paulo State University (UNESP) Rio Claro Brazil
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Câmara T, Arnan X, Barbosa VS, Wirth R, Iannuzzi L, Leal IR. Disentangling the effects of foliar vs. floral herbivory of leaf-cutting ants on the plant reproductive success of Miconia nervosa (Smith) Triana (Family Melastomataceae). Bull Entomol Res 2020; 110:77-83. [PMID: 31190645 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485319000294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Flower and leaf herbivory might cause relevant and negative impacts on plant fitness. While flower removal or damage by florivores produces direct negative effects on plant fitness, folivores affect plant fitness by reducing resource allocation to reproduction. In this study, we examine the effects of both flower and leaf herbivory by leaf-cutting ants on the reproductive success of the shrub species Miconia nervosa (Smith) Triana (Family Melastomataceae) in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in Northeast Brazil. We conducted a randomized block-designed field experiment with nine replicates (blocks), in which three plants per block were assigned to one of the three following treatments: undamaged plants (ant exclusion), leaf-damaged plants (ant exclusion from reproductive organs, but not from leaves), and flower + leaf-damaged plants (no exclusion of ants). We then measured flower production, fruit set, and fruit production. Our results showed that flower + leaf-damaged plants reduced flower production nearly twofold in relation to undamaged plants, while flower set in leaf-damaged plants remained constant. The number of flowers that turned into fruits (i.e., fruit set), however, increased by 15% in flower + leaf-damaged plants, while it slightly decreased in leaf-damaged compared to undamaged plants. Contrastingly, fruit production was similar between all treatments. Taken together, our results suggest a prominent role of ant floral herbivory across different stages of the reproductive cycle in M. nervosa, with no consequences on final fruit production. The tolerance of M. nervosa to leaf-cutting ant herbivory might explain its high abundance in human-modified landscapes where leaf-cutting ants are hyper-abundant.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Câmara
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - X Arnan
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
- CREAF, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Catalunya, Spain
| | - V S Barbosa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
- Centro de Formação de Professores, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Rua Sérgio Moreira de Figueiredo, s/n, Casas Populares, CEP: 58900-000, Cajazeiras, Paraíba, Brasil
| | - R Wirth
- Plant Ecology & Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, PO-Box 3049, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - L Iannuzzi
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/no, 50670-901 Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - I R Leal
- Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego s/no, 50670-901 Recife, PE, Brazil
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Catalani GC, Camargo RS, Sousa KKA, Caldato N, Silva AAC, Forti LC. Fat-Soluble Substance Flow During Symbiotic Fungus Cultivation by Leaf-Cutter Ants. Neotrop Entomol 2020; 49:116-123. [PMID: 31701477 DOI: 10.1007/s13744-019-00718-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Leaf-cutter ants perform a series of specialized behaviors in preparing plant substrates for their symbiotic fungus. This process may be related to contamination of workers by substances such as insecticides, leading us to hypothesize that substances are spread among workers through behaviors they perform to grow the fungus. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the behavioral acts of workers during the processing of the pellets by using a fat-soluble tracing dye, since the active ingredient that composes toxic baits, used for control of leaf-cutter ants, is fat-soluble. The frequencies of performed behaviors were recorded and the number of dyed workers was assessed after fungus cultivation. The most frequent behavior is allogrooming and corresponds to 45.87% of the contamination process in workers, followed by holding, licking, and cutting pellets, which account for 40.22% of the process. After pellet processing, the workers had their external and internal morphological structures marked by the tracing dye-93.75% and 79.25%, respectively. These results confirm that behaviors performed during fungus cultivation contribute to dispersing substances such as insecticides, causing the contamination of workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- G C Catalani
- Depto de Proteção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil.
| | - R S Camargo
- Depto de Proteção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil
| | - K K A Sousa
- Depto de Proteção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil
| | - N Caldato
- Depto de Proteção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil
| | - A A C Silva
- Univ Federal do Piauí, Campus Univ Ministro Petrônio Portella, Teresina, PI, Brasil
| | - L C Forti
- Depto de Proteção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Univ Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil
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Camargo RDS, Puccini C, Forti LC, de Matos CAO. Allogrooming, Self-Grooming, and Touching Behavior: Contamination Routes of Leaf-Cutting Ant Workers Using a Fat-Soluble Tracer Dye. Insects 2017; 8:insects8020059. [PMID: 28598375 PMCID: PMC5492073 DOI: 10.3390/insects8020059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2017] [Revised: 06/05/2017] [Accepted: 06/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine whether worker self-grooming, allogrooming, and direct contact promotes the dispersal of substances among members of the colony. For this purpose, a tracer (Sudan III dye) was applied topically to a worker ant and the social interactions between the worker with the tracer and workers without the tracer were studied. Additionally, the worker heads were dissected to visualize whether or not the post-pharyngeal gland was stained. The post-pharyngeal glands from 50% to 70% of workers were stained depending on the size of the group. With the increase in the experimental group size, the frequency of interactions between workers increased, with touching being the most frequent behavior. The tracer dye was probably passed on by direct contact between workers, followed by self-grooming and allogrooming. These behaviors are responsible for the rapid dispersal of substances among colony members as observed in our experiment. The results therefore support the hypothesis that contact with substances promotes the contamination of nestmates, even in the absence of feeding, serving as a model for further studies on the contamination of workers with the active ingredients of insecticides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto da Silva Camargo
- Laboratório de Insetos Sociais-Praga, Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, UNESP, Caixa Postal 237, Botucatu, SP 18603-970, Brasil.
| | - Carolina Puccini
- Laboratório de Insetos Sociais-Praga, Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, UNESP, Caixa Postal 237, Botucatu, SP 18603-970, Brasil.
| | - Luiz Carlos Forti
- Laboratório de Insetos Sociais-Praga, Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, UNESP, Caixa Postal 237, Botucatu, SP 18603-970, Brasil.
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Valadares L, Nascimento D, Nascimento FS. Foliar Substrate Affects Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles and Intraspecific Aggression in the Leafcutter Ant Atta sexdens. Insects 2015; 6:141-51. [PMID: 26463072 DOI: 10.3390/insects6010141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2014] [Accepted: 02/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are traditionally considered to be one of the most important chemical cues used in the nestmate recognition process of social hymenopterans. However, it has been suggested that in the leafcutter ant genus Atta, it is not the CHCs, but the alarm pheromone that is involved in the nestmate recognition process. In this study we used a laboratory population of Atta sexdens to explore the association between their CHC profile variation and intraspecific aggression. In the first part of the experiment, four colonies were divided into two groups with distinct diets to stimulate differentiation of their CHC profiles. In the second part of the experiment, all colonies received the same diet to examine resemblance of chemical profiles. At the end of each part of the experiment we extracted the CHCs from workers. The results demonstrated that colonies that shared the same food resource had similar cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. Furthermore, colonies were significantly more aggressive towards conspecifics that used a different foliar substrate and consequently had greater differences in their cuticular chemical composition. This study suggests that the CHC profiles of A. sexdens can be affected by the foliar substrates used, and that the CHCs are used in the nestmate recognition process of this species.
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Miyashira C, Tanigushi D, Gugliotta A, Santos D. Comparison of radial growth rate of the mutualistic fungus of Atta sexdens rubropilosa forel in two culture media. Braz J Microbiol 2010; 41:506-11. [PMID: 24031524 PMCID: PMC3768695 DOI: 10.1590/s1517-838220100002000035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2008] [Revised: 04/26/2009] [Accepted: 11/07/2009] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In vitro culture of the mutualistic fungus of leaf-cutting ants is troublesome due to its low growth rate, which leads to storage problems and contaminants accumulation. This paper aims at comparing the radial growth rate of the mutualistic fungus of Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel in two different culture media (Pagnocca B and MEA LP). Although total MEA LP radial growth was greater all along the bioassay, no significant difference was detected between growth efficiencies of the two media. Previous evidences of low growth rate for this fungus were confirmed. Since these data cannot point greater efficiency of one culture medium over the other, MEA LP medium is indicated for in vitro studies with this mutualistic fungus due its simpler composition and translucent color, making the analysis easier.
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Affiliation(s)
- C.H. Miyashira
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - D.G. Tanigushi
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - A.M. Gugliotta
- Seção de Micologia e Liquenologia, Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - D.Y.A.C. Santos
- Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
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