DOCSLIB.ORG

Florivorous Myrmecophilous Caterpillars Exploit an Ant–Plant

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Florivorous Myrmecophilous Caterpillars Exploit an Ant–Plant Austral Ecology (2018) , – Florivorous myrmecophilous caterpillars exploit an ant– plant mutualism and distract ants from extrafloral nectaries ESTEVAO ALVES-SILVA,1,2* ALEXANDRA BACHTOLD€ 1,3 AND KLEBER DEL-CLARO2 1Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Rua Prof. Dr. Renato Figueiro Varella, Caixa Postal 08, CEP: 78690-000, Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso (Email: [email protected]); 2Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia,^ Uberlandia,^ Minas Gerais; and 3Universidade de Sao~ Paulo, Ribeirao~ Preto, Sao~ Paulo, Brasil Abstract Females of myrmecophilous butterflies tend to oviposit in plants visited by ant species that engage in stable associations with its larvae. In Banisteriopsis malifolia, caterpillars are attended by the same ants that feed on extrafloral nectaries. A conflict may arise when both the plant and caterpillars compete for ant attention, and ants are assumed to forage on the highest quality resource. By attending caterpillars, ants can be indirectly detri- mental to plant fitness because florivorous larvae feed intensively until pupation. In this study, we specifically investigated (i) whether the occurrence of facultative myrmecophilous Synargis calyce (Riodinidae) caterpillars in B. malifolia was based on ant species (Camponotus blandus or Ectatomma tuberculatum) and abundance; (ii) the monopolization of ants by the butterfly larvae and (iii) the florivory rates incurred by the caterpillars on inflores- cences. The abundance of S. calyce was six-fold greater in plants with C. blandus, compared to E. tuberculatum treatments. Caterpillars monopolized up to 50% of C. blandus on the plants, indicating that the resources offered by S. calyce were more attractive to ants than extrafloral nectaries. Florivory by riodinids incurred losses of almost 60% of flower buds. Myrmecophilous riodinids exploited an ant–plant mutualism by attracting aggressive ants that become larvae bodyguards. Thus, this ecological interaction is potentially detrimental to B. malifolia, since the ants, which can provide protection against herbivores, shift to provide defence for one of these herbi- vores. Key words: Banisteriopsis malifolia, Brazilian savanna, Camponotus, Ectatomma, Synargis calyce. INTRODUCTION (B€achtold et al. 2013; Torres & Pomerantz 2016). This timing seems to be important for the natural Many ant species are known for their mutualistic history of myrmecophilous butterflies because it interactions with extrafloral nectary (EFN) plants matches the period when potential specific ant-part- (Del-Claro et al. 2016). These ants, however, not ners occur on plants (Kaminski 2008). Depending only feed on plant-derived resources, but also on the on the ant species, caterpillars can be ignored, secretions of myrmecophilous insects, such as tended or preyed upon (Robbins & Aiello 1982; hemipterans and caterpillars (DeVries 1991; Sendoya DeVries et al. 1992). Therefore, adult females should et al. 2016). For instance, larval stages of Lycaenidae be able to evaluate host plants to maximize larval sur- and Riodinidae butterflies have so-called ant-organs vivorship (Ballmer 2003; Mota & Oliveira 2016) and (DeVries et al. 1992; Campbell & Pierce 2003), thus oviposit in plants with certain ant species to which release a nectar-like solution for ants that, in achieve this goal (Collier 2007; B€achtold et al. 2017). turn, faithfully attend the larvae (Kaminski & Car- A conflict arises when both the plant (with EFNs) valho-Filho 2012). In this mutualistic interaction, and myrmecophilous caterpillars compete for ant ants receive a valuable sugared food source (Cush- attention (DeVries & Baker 1989). Ants can shift man et al. 1994), while butterfly larvae are protected from foraging for plants to animal resources, depend- from natural enemies, especially parasitoids (Stadler ing on quality (Bluthgen€ & Fiedler 2004). Thus, a et al. 2003; Weeks 2003). shift from EFN to insect secretions can occur in In the tropics, florivorous myrmecophilous butter- some scenarios (Katayama et al. 2013). Indeed, it flies occur in a large array of EFN plants, and some- has been recently shown that myrmecophilous cater- times during specific periods of EFN activity pillars can chemically (through secretions from ant- organs) manipulate ant behaviour so that ants remain *Corresponding author. close to larvae (Hojo et al. 2014). In this context, Accepted for publication March 2018. caterpillars can monopolize ant attention (i.e. a high © 2018 Ecological Society of Australia doi:10.1111/aec.12609 2E.ALVES-SILVAET AL. abundance of ants are attracted to caterpillars, in Blooming and EFN activity are markedly seasonal and take comparison to the number of ants that forage on the place from January/February to April. Flower buds are plant) to get them close and serve as bodyguards. 8 mm in diameter, pinkish and grow in inflorescences Most studies on the interaction between ants and located at the apex of stems (Alves-Silva & Del-Claro myrmecophilous larvae have been performed with 2016). This plant is visited by a wide range of arthropods, of which oil-gathering bees and EFN feeding ants have lycaenids (see Fiedler 1991, 2001; Eastwood & Fra- € been the most studied (Rocha-Filho et al. 2008; Vilela et al. ser 1999; Pierce et al. 2002; Bachtold et al. 2014) 2014). Camponotus blandus and E. tuberculatum (Fig. 1a,b) and little is known about ant associations within are frequently found in B. malifolia (B€achtold et al. 2016). myrmecophilous riodinid caterpillars, despite recent These ants are known as plant guards as they engage in efforts in the neotropics (Kaminski et al. 2013). Since mutualistic associations with EFN plants, thereby reducing many riodinid caterpillars have ant-organs, they also herbivory rates (Oliveira et al. 1987). engage in stable associations, either facultative or Banisteriopsis malifolia also supports a rich fauna of obligate, with ants (DeVries 1988; DeVries et al. myrmecophilous caterpillars (Lycaenidae – B€achtold et al. 2004; Kaminski 2008; Kaminski et al. 2013). More- 2016), some of which are specialized in the family over, myrmecophilous riodinids tend to occur in Malpighiaceae (Kaminski & Freitas 2010). Information on the interactions between ants and riodinids are scarce EFN plants, most likely because the same ants that (DeVries & Baker 1989; Kaminski et al. 2013), but in feed on EFNs may also tend the caterpillars (Robbins B. malifolia (and in other Malpighiaceae) it is known that & Aiello 1982; DeVries 1988; DeVries et al. 1992; myrmecophilous metalmarks co-exist with ants (B€achtold Torres & Pomerantz 2016). et al. 2016), what suggests that larvae can be attended by In this study, we investigated some aspects of the the same ants that attend lycaenids and visit EFNs. The interaction between a facultative myrmecophilous rio- myrmecophilous metalmark S. calyce (Riodinidae) spends dinid caterpillar (Synargis calyce (C. Felder and R. its whole immature stage feeding on flower buds of B. mali- Felder, 1862), Riodinidae) and tending ants (Cam- folia (Fig. 1c,d). ponotus blandus (Smith 1858) and Ectatomma tubercu- latum (Olivier, 1792)) in the extrafloral nectaried shrub Banisteriopsis malifolia (Nees and Mart.) B. Sampling and conditions of study Gates (Malpighiaceae). We specifically analysed (i) whether riodinid occurrence was based on ant species A total of 60 B. malifolia individuals were tagged in the end fl (C. blandus or E. tuberculatum) and abundance, (ii) a of January, prior to the onset of the owering season. These shrubs (1.62 Æ 0.02 m tall, mean Æ SE) had the same phe- possible monopolization of ants by riodinid larvae nological conditions, such as presence of young foliage, fl fl and (iii) the orivory rates in in orescences with and absence of flower buds and presence of the target ants. without riodinids. We hypothesized (i) a higher Plants consistently supported either C. blandus or E. tuber- abundance of caterpillars in plants with C. blandus culatum throughout the whole study period (no ant species because ants in this genus are known to engage in overlap), and were tagged to account for two equal groups stable associations with myrmecophilous butterflies, of shrubs (n = 30 shrubs per group) with each ant species. that is, lycaenids (Kaminski et al. 2010), whereas In our study system, Camponotus and Ectatomma occur con- Ectatomma may prey on caterpillars (Robbins 1991); sistently in different individual plants, with no overlap of ii) that ants should be consistently concentrated in different ant species in the same individual plant, a natural € inflorescences with riodinids (ant-monopolization) trend noted in other Malpighiaceae (Bachtold et al. 2017). This permitted us to investigate if riodinids occurred more and (iii) that riodinids themselves should inflict high fl in plants with Camponotus or Ectatomma because no other orivory rates in plants (like their sister group Lycae- ant species were present on tagged plants. Neither ant pres- – nidae Badenes-Perez et al. 2010), compared to ence nor species were manipulated in B. malifolia. other herbivores. In the field, we examined the beha- Synargis calyce caterpillars occurred on the plants from viour of ants towards riodinids to see whether ants February to April. Whenever a larva was found, it was consistently attended caterpillars, what would be evi- monitored in the field until it reached approximately dence of stable ant–larvae relationships (i.e. myrme- 10 mm in length, when part of the study was performed cophily). (objectives ii, iii). This was done to standardize the data,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Functions and Evolution of Social Fluid Exchange in Ant Colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Marie-Pierre Meurville & Adria C
    ISSN 1997-3500 Myrmecological News myrmecologicalnews.org Myrmecol. News 31: 1-30 doi: 10.25849/myrmecol.news_031:001 13 January 2021 Review Article Trophallaxis: the functions and evolution of social fluid exchange in ant colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Marie-Pierre Meurville & Adria C. LeBoeuf Abstract Trophallaxis is a complex social fluid exchange emblematic of social insects and of ants in particular. Trophallaxis behaviors are present in approximately half of all ant genera, distributed over 11 subfamilies. Across biological life, intra- and inter-species exchanged fluids tend to occur in only the most fitness-relevant behavioral contexts, typically transmitting endogenously produced molecules adapted to exert influence on the receiver’s physiology or behavior. Despite this, many aspects of trophallaxis remain poorly understood, such as the prevalence of the different forms of trophallaxis, the components transmitted, their roles in colony physiology and how these behaviors have evolved. With this review, we define the forms of trophallaxis observed in ants and bring together current knowledge on the mechanics of trophallaxis, the contents of the fluids transmitted, the contexts in which trophallaxis occurs and the roles these behaviors play in colony life. We identify six contexts where trophallaxis occurs: nourishment, short- and long-term decision making, immune defense, social maintenance, aggression, and inoculation and maintenance of the gut microbiota. Though many ideas have been put forth on the evolution of trophallaxis, our analyses support the idea that stomodeal trophallaxis has become a fixed aspect of colony life primarily in species that drink liquid food and, further, that the adoption of this behavior was key for some lineages in establishing ecological dominance.
    [Show full text]
  • Fine-Tuned Intruder Discrimination Favors Ant Parasitoidism
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Fine-tuned intruder discrimination favors ant parasitoidism 1 1 2 1 Gabriela PeÂrez-LachaudID *, Franklin H. Rocha , Javier Valle-Mora , Yann HeÂnaut , Jean- Paul Lachaud1,3 1 ConservacioÂn de la Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2 El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, 3 Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie InteÂgrative (CBI), Universite de Toulouse; CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France a1111111111 * [email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract a1111111111 A diversity of arthropods (myrmecophiles) thrives within ant nests, many of them unmo- lested though some, such as the specialized Eucharitidae parasitoids, may cause direct damage to their hosts. Ants are known to discriminate between nestmates and non-nest- OPEN ACCESS mates, but whether they recognize the strength of a threat and their capacity to adjust their behavior accordingly have not been fully explored. We aimed to determine whether Ecta- Citation: PeÂrez-Lachaud G, Rocha FH, Valle-Mora J, HeÂnaut Y, Lachaud J-P (2019) Fine-tuned tomma tuberculatum ants exhibited specific behavioral responses to potential or actual intruder discrimination favors ant parasitoidism. intruders posing different threats to the host colony and to contribute to an understanding of PLoS ONE 14(1): e0210739. https://doi.org/ complex ant-eucharitid interactions. Behavioral responses differed significantly according to 10.1371/journal.pone.0210739 intruder type. Ants evicted intruders that represented a threat to the colony's health (dead Editor: Kleber Del-Claro, Universidade Federal de ants) or were not suitable as prey items (filter paper, eucharitid parasitoid wasps, non myr- UberlaÃndia, BRAZIL mecophilous adult weevils), but killed potential prey (weevil larvae, termites).
    [Show full text]
  • Formicidarum Index Synonymicus. 385-460 © Zool.-Bot
    ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Verhandlungen der Zoologisch- Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Frueher: Verh.des Zoologisch-Botanischen Vereins in Wien. seit 2014 "Acta ZooBot Austria" Jahr/Year: 1863 Band/Volume: 13 Autor(en)/Author(s): Mayr Gustav Ludwig Artikel/Article: Formicidarum Index synonymicus. 385-460 © Zool.-Bot. Ges. Österreich, Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Formicidarum Index synonymicus. Voii Dr. Gustav L. Mayr In Wien. Vorgelegt in der Sitzung vom 1. April 1863. Seit einer Reihe von Jahren wurde so viel über Ameisen geschrieben, wurden unzählige Arten aufgestellt, alte mit neuen Namen beschrieben, verschiedene Arten mit dem gleichen Namen belegt oder von den Autoren zu verschiedenen Gattungen gestellt, so dass sich derjenige, welcher sich nicht ganz speciell und durch längere Zeit dem Studium der Formiciden widmet, unmöglich zurecht finden kann. Um nur ein Beispiel anzuführen, wie gross die Verwirrung ist, zähle ich jene Namen auf, welche von Smith für je zwei verschiedene Arten verwendet wurden: Oremastoyaster obscurus, Formica familiaris, Odontomachus tyrannicus, Polyrhachis hector, Ponera nitida, pallipes und simillima, Pseudomyrma modesta. Um nun diesem grossen Uebelstande einigermassen abzuhelfen, habe ich mich im vorigen Jahre entschlossen, an die mühsame Arbeit eines syno- nymischen Index, wozu ich die Vorarbeiten schon besass, zu gehen. Ich wählte die alphabetische Form, weil ich es
    [Show full text]
  • Metal Acquisition in the Weaponized Ovipositors of Aculeate Hymenoptera
    Zoomorphology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-018-0403-1 ORIGINAL PAPER Harden up: metal acquisition in the weaponized ovipositors of aculeate hymenoptera Kate Baumann1 · Edward P. Vicenzi2 · Thomas Lam2 · Janet Douglas2 · Kevin Arbuckle3 · Bronwen Cribb4,5 · Seán G. Brady6 · Bryan G. Fry1 Received: 17 October 2017 / Revised: 12 March 2018 / Accepted: 17 March 2018 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract The use of metal ions to harden the tips and edges of ovipositors is known to occur in many hymenopteran species. However, species using the ovipositor for delivery of venom, which occurs in the aculeate hymenoptera (stinging wasps, ants, and bees) remains uninvestigated. In this study, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis was used to investigate the morphology and metal compositional differences among aculeate aculei. We show that aculeate aculei have a wide diversity of morphological adaptations relating to their lifestyle. We also demonstrate that metals are present in the aculei of all families of aculeate studied. The presence of metals is non-uniform and concentrated in the distal region of the stinger, especially along the longitudinal edges. This study is the first comparative investigation to document metal accumulation in aculeate aculei. Keywords Scanning electron microscopy · Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy · EDS · Aculeata · Aculeus · Cuticle · Metal accumulation Introduction with the most severe responses (as perceived by humans) delivered by taxa including bullet ants (Paraponera), taran- Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps) are the most con- tula hawk wasps (Pepsis), and armadillo wasps (Synoeca) spicuous of the hymenopteran insects, and are known pre- (Schmidt 2016).
    [Show full text]
  • Download PDF File
    Myrmecological News 20 7-14 Vienna, September 2014 Imperfect chemical mimicry explains the imperfect social integration of the inquiline ant Ectatomma parasiticum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) Fabrice SAVARIT & Renée FÉNÉRON Abstract Inquilinism is an extreme form of social parasitism where the parasite permanently depends on its host. This parasitism is widespread among Formicinae and Myrmicinae ants but rare in other subfamilies, like Ectatomminae where Ectatomma parasiticum FEITOSA & FRESNEAU, 2008 is the sole inquiline described so far. This species is genetically and morpholo- gically very similar to its host, E. tuberculatum (OLIVIER, 1792), and uses its worker force to produce exclusively sexuals. During their life cycle, E. parasiticum queens enter into established host colonies and cohabit with the resident queens over an extended period of time. However, previous experiments in the laboratory have shown that some parasites are attacked by host workers, suggesting that their social integration into host colonies is incomplete or unstable. We thus investigate how the chemical cues of the parasites relate to the host's recognition system. For this, we compare the cuticu- lar hydrocarbon profiles of parasites, host queens and host workers using solid-phase microextraction. Although over- lapping, the chemical profiles of both species are distinct. Parasites have no specific compounds but a reduced total amount of cuticular hydrocarbons compared with hosts. We suggest that E. parasiticum uses an imperfect chemical mimicry stra- tegy as it is well-discriminated by its host species. Key words: Chemical strategy, cuticular hydrocarbons, inquiline ants, Ectatomma parasiticum, Ectatomma tuberculatum. Myrmecol. News 20: 7-14 (online 17 February 2014) ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Received 14 June 2013; revision received 12 November 2013; accepted 12 November 2013 Subject Editor: Falko P.
    [Show full text]
  • Speciation of Ants in the Tropics of South America
    Ludwig Maximilians Universität Master‘s Program in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics Speciation of Ants in the Tropics of South America Master’s Thesis September 2012 Adrián Troya Supervisors Prof. Dr. Gerhard Haszprunar (Zoologische Staatssammlung München - ZSM) ForDr. Stephan Review Hutter (Ludwig Maximilians Universität Only - LMU) PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.CutePDF.com 2 …to my dad For Review Only 3 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Background................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Materials and Methods ................................................................................... 8 2.1 About the Species and the Specimens ...................................................................................... 8 2.2 Molecular Lab Methods .......................................................................................................... 10 2.3 Molecular Analyses and Phylogenetic Inference .................................................................... 13 2.4 Morphological Phylogenetic Inference ................................................................................... 16 2.4.1 Cladistic Analyses ............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Microgynous Queens in the Paleartic Ant, Manica Rubida: Dispersal Morphs Or Social Parasites?
    Journal of Insect Science: Vol. 10 | Article 17 Lenoir et al. Microgynous queens in the Paleartic ant, Manica rubida: Dispersal morphs or social parasites? Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/10/1/17/828587 by guest on 24 September 2021 Alain Lenoir1a*, Séverine Devers1b, Philippe Marchand1, Christophe Bressac1c, and Riitta Savolainen2d 1Université François Rabelais, IRBI, UMR CNRS 6035, Faculté des Sciences, Parc de Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France 2Department of Biosciences, P.O. Box 65, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Abstract In many ant species, queen size is dimorphic, with small microgynes and large macrogynes, which differ, for example, in size, insemination rate, ovary development, and dispersal tactics. These polymorphic queens often correspond with alternative reproductive strategies. The Palearctic ant, Manica rubida (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), lives mostly in mountainous regions in either monogynous colonies, containing one macrogynous queen or polygynous colonies, containing a few large macrogynous queens. In 1998, a colony of M. rubida was discovered containing macrogynes and many small alate microgynes that did not engage in a nuptial flight but, instead, stayed in the home nest the following winter. These microgynes were studied more closely by investigating their size, behavior, and spermatheca in relation to M. rubida macrogynes and workers. Mitochondrial DNA of macrogynes, microgynes and workers from four nests was sequenced to detect possible genetic differences between them. The microgynes were significantly smaller than the macrogynes, and the head width of the gynes was completely bimodal. The microgynes behaved like workers of the macrogynes in every experiment tested. Furthermore, the microgynes had a normal spermatheca and could be fecundated, but rarely (only one in several years).
    [Show full text]
  • "An Overview of the Species and Ecological Diversity of Ants"
    An Overview of the Advanced article Species and Ecological Article Contents . Introduction Diversity of Ants . Origin and Diversification of Ants Through Time . Taxonomic Diversity . Biogeography and Diversity Patterns of Ants Benoit Gue´nard, Biodiversity and biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and . Ecological Diversity of Ants Technology, Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan . Conclusion Online posting date: 15th May 2013 Since their appearance during the Cretaceous, ants have approximately 12 500 species of ants, all eusocial, have diversified to become today the most diverse group of been described and hundreds of new species are described social insects and one of the most influential groups of each year. Ant biologists estimate that the Formicidae organisms on the planet. More than 12 500 species of ants family could include no less than 20 000 species (Ho¨lldobler and Wilson, 1990). In comparison, there are ‘only’ are presently described, distributed within 21 sub- approximately 3000 termite species (Engel et al., 2009), families, with a large majority of the species belonging to 2000 species of social bees (8% of the total bees) and 1100 only four subfamilies. Ants are present in almost all ter- social wasp species (James Carpenter, personal communi- restrial ecosystems, their peak of diversity is found within cation) known. See also: Ecology and Social Organisation the tropical regions, and ant richness tends to decline of Bees both with increasing latitude and altitude. In most eco- In the first part of this article the diversity of ants from systems the ecological importance of ants, involved in geologic times to the present is reviewed, focusing on four numerous interactions with organisms ranging from taxonomically dominant groups and their spatial distri- bacteria, plants, fungi, arthropods to vertebrates, plays a bution.
    [Show full text]
  • Facultative Polygyny in Ectatomma Tuberculatum (Formicidae, Ectatomminae)
    Insect. Soc. 52 (2005) 194–200 0020-1812/05/020194-07 Insectes Sociaux DOI 10.1007/s00040-004-0794-5 © Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, 2005 Research article Facultative polygyny in Ectatomma tuberculatum (Formicidae, Ectatomminae) R. R. Hora 1, 2, E. Vilela 3, R. Fénéron 1, A. Pezon 1, D. Fresneau 1 and J. Delabie 2 1 Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée (CNRS FRE 2413), Université Paris-Nord, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430 Villetaneuse, France, e-mail: [email protected] 2 U.P.A. Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Convênio UESC/CEPLAC, Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau, C.P.7, 45600-000 Itabuna, Bahia, Brazil 3 Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil Received 7 April 2004; revised 11 November 2004; accepted 15 November 2004. Summary. Polygyny, the presence of several mated queens Introduction within the same colony, is widespread in insect societies. This phenomenon is commonly associated with ecological The occurrence of multiple mated queens in the same colony constraints such as limited nest sites. In habitats where solitary (i.e. polygyny) is known in many ant species, and queen num- nest foundation is risky, monogynous colonies can reintegrate ber usually varies between and within species (Hölldobler and young daughter queens (secondary polygyny). We studied the Wilson, 1990; Bourke and Franks, 1995). The origin of poly- reproductive structure (i.e. queen number) of the ectatommine gynous colonies can either be primary by pleometrotic colony ant Ectatomma tuberculatum from Bahia State, Brazil. This foundation (e.g. Iridomyrmex purpureus: Hölldobler and Car- species was found to present facultative polygyny: out of a lin, 1985; Carew et al., 1997; Pachycondyla villosa: Trunzer total of 130 colonies collected, 39.2% were monogynous, et al., 1998; Heinze et al., 2001) or secondary, generally by the while 43.8% were polygynous.
    [Show full text]
  • The Insect Sting Pain Scale: How the Pain and Lethality of Ant, Wasp, and Bee Venoms Can Guide the Way for Human Benefit
    Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 27 May 2019 1 (Article): Special Issue: "Arthropod Venom Components and their Potential Usage" 2 The Insect Sting Pain Scale: How the Pain and Lethality of Ant, 3 Wasp, and Bee Venoms Can Guide the Way for Human Benefit 4 Justin O. Schmidt 5 Southwestern Biological Institute, 1961 W. Brichta Dr., Tucson, AZ 85745, USA 6 Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: 1-520-884-9345 7 Received: date; Accepted: date; Published: date 8 9 Abstract: Pain is a natural bioassay for detecting and quantifying biological activities of venoms. The 10 painfulness of stings delivered by ants, wasps, and bees can be easily measured in the field or lab using the 11 stinging insect pain scale that rates the pain intensity from 1 to 4, with 1 being minor pain, and 4 being extreme, 12 debilitating, excruciating pain. The painfulness of stings of 96 species of stinging insects and the lethalities of 13 the venoms of 90 species was determined and utilized for pinpointing future promising directions for 14 investigating venoms having pharmaceutically active principles that could benefit humanity. The findings 15 suggest several under- or unexplored insect venoms worthy of future investigations, including: those that have 16 exceedingly painful venoms, yet with extremely low lethality – tarantula hawk wasps (Pepsis) and velvet ants 17 (Mutillidae); those that have extremely lethal venoms, yet induce very little pain – the ants, Daceton and 18 Tetraponera; and those that have venomous stings and are both painful and lethal – the ants Pogonomyrmex, 19 Paraponera, Myrmecia, Neoponera, and the social wasps Synoeca, Agelaia, and Brachygastra.
    [Show full text]
  • Myrmecological News Myrmecologicalnews.Org
    Myrmecological News myrmecologicalnews.org Myrmecol. News 30 Digital supplementary material Digital supplementary material to DE LA MORA, A., SANKOVITZ, M. & PURCELL, J. 2020: Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies. – Myrmecological News 30: 53-71. The content of this digital supplementary material was subject to the same scientific editorial processing as the article it accompanies. However, the authors are responsible for copyediting and layout. Supporting Material for: de la Mora, Sankovitz, & Purcell. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as host and intruder: recent advances and future directions in the study of exploitative strategies Table S1: This table summarizes host/parasite relationships that have been described or discussed in the literature since 2000. Host and parasite nomenclature is up‐to‐date based on AntWeb.org, but note that some of the taxonomy is controversial and/or not fully resolved. Names are likely to change further in coming years. Due to changing nomenclature, it can be challenging to track which species have been well‐studied. We provide recently changed species and genus names parenthetically. In addition, we have split this table to show recent taxonomic revisions, compilations (e.g. tables in empirical papers), reviews, books, or species descriptions supporting relationships between hosts and parasites in one column and articles studying characteristics of host/parasite relationships in a second column. For well‐studied species, we limit the ‘primary research’ column to five citations, which are selected to cover different topics and different research teams when such diverse citations exist. Because of the active work on taxonomy in many groups, some misinformation has been inadvertently propagated in previous articles.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing the Proteomic Activity of the Venom of the Ant Ectatomma Tuberculatum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae)
    Hindawi Psyche Volume 2018, Article ID 7915464, 11 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7915464 Research Article Assessing the Proteomic Activity of the Venom of the Ant Ectatomma tuberculatum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) Juliana Rocha da Silva,1 Aline Zanotelli de Souza,2 Carlos Priminho Pirovani,2 Helena Costa,2 Aline Silva,2 João Carlos Teixeira Dias,2 Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie ,2,3 and Renato Fontana 2 1 Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Programa de Pos-Graduac¸´ ao˜ em Biologia e Biotecnologia de Microrganismos (PPGBBM), 45.662-900 Ilheus,´ BA, Brazil 2Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilheus,´ BA, Brazil 3Laboratorio´ de Mirmecologia, Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau (CEPLAC), Itabuna, BA, Brazil Correspondence should be addressed to Renato Fontana; [email protected] Received 22 November 2017; Revised 20 March 2018; Accepted 29 May 2018; Published 21 June 2018 Academic Editor: Leonardo Dapporto Copyright © 2018 Juliana Rocha da Silva et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Ectatomma tuberculatum has one of the most toxic venoms known among ants but there is no detailed study on its characteristics. In light of this, knowing the venom’s chemical composition is of paramount importance in order to obtain information about the mechanisms of its components. Several bioactive molecules have already been identifed in Hymenoptera venoms, i.e., proteins such as phospholipases, hyaluronidases, and proteinases, as well as peptides. Protein databases show that information on protein components of ant venoms has been recently growing exponentially.
    [Show full text]