Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants (&lt;em&gt;Atta&lt;/em&gt;) in Laboratory Conditions

Nogueira, Bianca Raissa; Oliveira, Amanda Aparecida de; Silva, Janiele Pereira da; Bueno, Odair Corrêa

doi:10.3791/64154

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Specifically, in Fine et al 4 , the authors report a method for directly assessing the impact of single chemicals on the fecundity of queens (and, thus, colonies). Additionally, Nogueira et al 1 present a large-scale system for rearing and observing multiple leaf-cutter ant colonies. Both these methods have broad applicability to entomologists and agriculturalists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent technological developments, including international accessibility to transparent video creation, are transforming social processes of education, research, and governance. This editorial summarizes the protocols associated with modern entomology and aims to communicate recent methodological developments in entomology in order to facilitate their adoption.In "Collection and long-term maintenance of leaf-cutting ants (Atta) in laboratory conditions", Nogueira et al review the life history of Atta leaf-cutting ants and present a protocol for obtaining, maintaining, and studying colonies in laboratory settings1 . The methods described begin with obtaining either a mated queen or a young colony.…”

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Experimental Entomology in the Age of Video

Friedman¹,

Wexler

Alvarado

2023

JoVE

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Experimental Entomology in the Age of Video

Friedman¹,

Wexler

Alvarado

2023

JoVE

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A new experimental setup for studying ants and similar-sized insects

et al. 2023

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Laboratory studies on insects face the dual challenge of maintaining organisms under artificial conditions, and in reduced spaces while mimicking the species’ ecological requirements as much as possible. Over decades, myrmecologists have developed and continuously improved laboratory methods and artificial nests for rearing ants. However, the setups commonly used to house colony fragments of few individuals or even isolated individuals present disadvantages such as insufficient ventilation, difficult access to specific workers, and problems with water delivery. Here, we developed and tested a new setup for keeping ants or similar sized insects in small groups. The setup consisted of a Petri dish containing a piece of plaster connected underneath to a water tank by a sponge. The sponge is immersed in the water on one side and embedded in the plaster on the other side, maintaining the plaster permanently moist and thus offering a water source to the ants. We tested the setup with two ant species of different sizes, Platythyrea punctata and Cardiocondyla obscurior in feeding, starvation, and desiccation conditions. Our results showed that our new setup worked equally well for both species in all conditions in comparison to a more conventional setup with the advantage of reducing maintenance costs and ant manipulation, but also preventing death by drowning and offering water ad libitum. The setup was quick to build, with cheap and reusable materials for further experiments. Therefore, we are confident that it will facilitate future studies on isolated or small groups of individuals and that such a standardized setup will make future studies more comparable.

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