Emigration of a colony of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex heyeri Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Nickele, Mariane Aparecida; Pie, Márcio R.; Filho, Wilson Reis

doi:10.1590/s0085-56262012005000045

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Another hypothesis is that due to the competition with the neighbors, the workers seek to define broad areas for foraging in order to ensure plant material for their development. This was emphasized by Nickele, Pie et al (2012), who analyzed a colony of A. heyeri which emigrated 47.5 m away from its original nest to a new location, probably because it suffered considerable stress due to competitive interactions with a A. crassispinus colony.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damage by Acromyrmex spp. to an Initial Pinus taeda L. Planting

Cantarelli

Costa

Pezzutti³

et al. 2019

Floresta Ambient.

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The objective of this study is to evaluate the damage caused by Acromyrmex heyeri Forel, 1899 and Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery, 1887 to Pinus taeda L. seedlings during the first two months after replanting. The experiment was conducted in the company Bosques del Plata, located in the province of Corrientes, Argentina. The evaluations were carried out at seven, 14, 21, 36, 50 and 65 days after replanting the seedlings, when the number of dead, alive, non-attacked, alive deneedled, and alive deneedled with cuts/damage to the apical bud by leaf-cutting ants was quantified. The results allow us to conclude that A. heyeri and A. lobicornis are responsible for losses to the order of 20.8% of the seedlings in an initial P. taeda stand at 65 days. The damage caused to seedlings by the two leaf-cutting ant species is constant over time, in which A. lobicornis is more voracious than A. heyeri.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damage by Acromyrmex spp. to an Initial Pinus taeda L. Planting

Cantarelli

Costa

Pezzutti³

et al. 2019

Floresta Ambient.

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“…Alternatively, A. charruanus could specialize on parasitizing old host colonies that have lost their queens, as has been observed in the microgyne social parasite of Myrmica rubra and in orphaned colonies of Solenopsis invicta (DeHeer and Tschinkel 1998;Schär and Nash 2014), or the parasitized A. heyeri colonies could have moved to new nest sites. Such moves of fully grown fungus-growing ant colonies have been observed in unparasitized A. heyeri colonies (Nickele et al 2012) and in colonies of other Atta and Acromyrmex species (Fowler 1981).…”

Section: Mating Behavior and Reproductive Strategymentioning

confidence: 71%

Acromyrmex charruanus: a new inquiline social parasite species of leaf-cutting ants

et al. 2015

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Social parasites exploit the colony resources of social species to secure their own survival and reproduction. Social parasites are frequently studied as models for conflict and cooperation as well as for speciation. The eusocial Hymenoptera harbor a diverse array of socially parasitic species with idiosyncratic life history strategies, but it is probably in the ants where social parasites are most speciose and have evolved the highest degrees of morphological and behavioral specialization. In the fungus-growing ants, a total of five obligate social parasites are known: four species are parasites of leaf-cutting ants and one species parasitizes a primitive fungus-growing ant species in the genus Mycocepurus. Here we describe a new species of socially parasitic leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex charruanus sp. nov., from Uruguay, and we report initial observations on the parasite's life history as well as on the morphological and behavioral adaptations related to the inquiline syndrome. Our observations suggest that Acromyrmex charruanus is an obligate inquiline social parasite of the thatch-moundbuilding, leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex heyeri. Acromyrmex charruanus appears to be tolerant of the host, producing sexual offspring in the presence of the A. heyeri host queen.Queens of A. charruanus appear to reproduce semelparously and sexual offspring are produced during the austral fall (February), which differs significantly from the mating biology of the host species, which reproduces during the southern-hemisphere spring (October-December). We suggest that the diametrically opposed mating seasons of parasite and host might be adaptive, allowing the parasite to avoid competition for resources with the host sexual brood. The morphological and behavioral adaptations of A. charruanus accord with characters observed to arise early during the evolution of other ant inquiline parasite species, and so far we have no evidence for the existence of a worker caste in A. charruanus. Further field studies and behavioral experiments need to confirm our first observations and explore A. charruanus's behavioral ecology, evolution, and life history in more detail.

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“…The emigration of A. crassispinus colonies is very common, regardless of the colony size (Nickele et al, 2009). A leaf cutting ant colony can emigrate after suffering some sort of disturbance, such as intoxication with formicide baits, floods, lack of resources for foraging or intra and interspecific competitive interactions (Nickele et al, 2012a). Probably, in this study there was the emigration of the A. crassispinus colonies after the nuptial flight, because it is assumed that it is more advantageous to this ant species build a new nest than to reform the old one, since A. crassispinus builds superficial nests with a single camera located in a shallow excavation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population Dynamics of Acromyrmex crassispinus (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Attacks on Pinus taeda Linnaeus (Pinaceae) plantations

Nickele

Filho

2015

Sociobiology

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This work aimed to study the population dynamics of Acromyrmex crassispinus (Forel) in Pinus taeda L. plantations, evaluating the density and spatial distribution of nests over time, inferring about the period of the first nuptial flight of A. crassispinus colonies, and evaluating the levels of attack of this leaf-cutting ant on P. taeda plants. Assessments were performed monthly in the first year after planting, every three months until the third year and every six months until the plantation was six years old. The presence of nests was observed only after 15 months after planting. The nest density gradually increased until the planting completed 30 months, and decreased when the forest canopy began to close (after 54 months). Spatial distribution of A. crassispinus nests was random. Probably, the first nuptial flight of an A. crassispinus colony occurs after the third year of the colony foundation. Pinus taeda plants were not attacked by A. crassispinus throughout the evaluation period. Then, when dealing with a replanting area of Pinus plantation, where the previous forest has not been subject to pruning nor thinning, the problem with A. crassispinus is almost null if the clearcutting and the new planting occur during the winter. In this case, leaf-cutting ants control can be alleviated and it is not necessary to carry out systematic control of ants where A. crassispinus is the predominant leaf cutting ant species. Acromyrmex crassispinus control should be done only if nests are located or if attacked plants by ants are detected.

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Emigration of a colony of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex heyeri Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Damage by Acromyrmex spp. to an Initial Pinus taeda L. Planting

Damage by Acromyrmex spp. to an Initial Pinus taeda L. Planting

Acromyrmex charruanus: a new inquiline social parasite species of leaf-cutting ants

Population Dynamics of Acromyrmex crassispinus (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Attacks on Pinus taeda Linnaeus (Pinaceae) plantations

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