Fat-Soluble Substance Flow During Symbiotic Fungus Cultivation by Leaf-Cutter Ants

Catalani, Gabriela Christal; Camargo, Roberto da Silva; Sousa, Kátia Kaelly Andrade; Caldato, Nádia; Silva, A A C; Forti, Luíz Carlos

doi:10.1007/s13744-019-00718-0

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…For example, allogrooming and self‐grooming removed efficiently the pathogenic fungus Metarhizium from the insect cuticle 43–45 . However, these hygiene behaviors are not efficient in controlling the dispersion of chemical compounds (insecticides), on the contrary, they disperse insecticide among nestmates 7,26,46 . This occurs because the active ingredients used to control LCAs act through ingestion and contact and, as a result, hygiene behaviors provide greater direct contact with the insecticide and, consequently, greater contamination 3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trophallaxis is not the most common insecticide‐dispersing behavior within an LCA colony. Intoxication in these ants occurs through direct contact with toxic baits during processing and incorporation into the fungus garden, by self‐grooming and allogrooming, and by contact between contaminated and non‐contaminated workers, thus contaminating other colony members 24,7,25–27 . Oral trophallaxis in LCAs is very inconsistent and is an unreliable method of exchanging substances between nestmates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contamination routes and mortality of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by the insecticides fipronil and sulfluramid through social interactions

Filho

Camargo

Zanúncio³

et al. 2021

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND Leaf‐cutting ants (LCAs) of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are important pests of forest plantations, agriculture and livestock. Toxic baits containing the active ingredients fipronil or sulfluramid are the main method used to control LCAs. Insecticide dispersion among members of an LCA colony during control with toxic bait is not well understood. The objective of the study was to determine whether self‐grooming, allogrooming or touching behavior among Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) workers disperses the insecticides fipronil and sulfluramid among members of the colony. The insecticides were topically applied on groups of A. sexdens workers and social interactions between ants with and without insecticide, and group mortality were evaluated. RESULTS Behavioral analysis showed an increase in interaction among LCA workers as the numbers of individuals increased, with touches between workers being the most frequent behavior. The frequency of observed behaviors was higher in groups treated with sulfluramid compared with fipronil. The mortality of groups treated with fipronil was almost twice as high compared with ants treated with sulfluramid. The insecticides are probably dispersed by excessive touching among workers and subsequent self‐grooming and allogrooming. CONCLUSION These behaviors were responsible for the rapid dispersion of insecticides among members of the colony. Corroboration of the hypothesis that social interactions contaminate nestmates is a model for future studies on contamination of ant workers with active insecticide ingredients. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contamination routes and mortality of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by the insecticides fipronil and sulfluramid through social interactions

Filho

Camargo

Zanúncio³

et al. 2021

Pest Management Science

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show abstract

“…The most used method is toxic bait, which combines in its composition an attractant for LCA and a synthetic insecticide such as sulfluramid (0.3%) or fipronil (0.003%) (Nuñez et al, 2020). Toxic bait are collected by foraging workers and accrued in the nest where it is spread among nestmates (Catalani et al, 2019; Gandra et al, 2016). This method of control is effective for foresters, but the use of these chemical compounds is banned by certifying programmes such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as they are known to be hazardous to the environment and risky to handle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a leaf‐cutting ant (Atta sexdens L.) on a Pinus taeda plantation: A 6 year‐long study

Scherf

Corley

Gioia

et al. 2022

J Applied Entomology

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Leaf‐cutting ants are the most economically important pest of plantation forests in the Neotropics. These social insects can defoliate whole trees, reducing their growth ability and occasionally causing tree mortality. Control of leaf‐cutting ants in plantations is mainly carried out by using insecticides such as sulfluramid or fipronil. Foresters that adhere to voluntary sustainability certification systems are requested to implement integrated pest management programmes that reduce the use of insecticides. However, this approach is much delayed since it requires a better understanding of ant ecology, including quantitative data on the long‐term impact that leaf‐cutting ants have on tree plantations. In this study, we show, for the first time, the results on the long‐term impact of Atta sexdens L. on a Pinus taeda L. plantation in NE Argentina. The annual growth in diameter, height, volume and mortality of P. taeda trees in two 11 ha stands were evaluated up to the middle of the harvest cycle (i.e. 6 years). One of the stands had no control of A. sexdens nests, and in the other stand, all ant nests were removed (total control). After six years since planting, P. taeda trees show significant reductions in total height (19%), diameter at breast height (4.4%) and wood volume (21%) in sites with A. sexdens present. Moreover, tree mortality reached 31.2% when ants were present. Forest managers could use these results to improve their integrated management programmes, by better adjusting their economic damage threshold parameters.

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“…Self-grooming effectively removed parasites such as Metarhizium from the ant cuticle [31][32][33] . The higher frequency of self-grooming behavior in the 01:04, 01:09 and 01:19 groups than in the 01:01 shows an increase in social interactions with the group size and, consequently, the dispersion of insecticidal substances among the colony nests 16,26,34 . Active ingredients, used to manage leaf-cutting ants, act by ingestion and contact and, therefore, hygiene behaviors increase contact with the insecticide and, consequently, ant contamination 3 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…This can also occur through indirect contact with the active ingredient, during social interactions between workers in the colony 15 . These interactions include hygienic behaviors such as allogrooming, self-grooming and touching, besides contact between contaminated workers or not dispersing the insecticide among colony members 14 , 16 , 17 . This social interaction can be the route of contamination with other substances, such as fungicides?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contamination and mortality of leaf-cutting ant workers by the quinone inside inhibitor fungicide after social interactions

Scudillio

Camargo

Filho

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Leaf-cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are the most important pests in forest and agricultural plantations and livestock. Toxic baits are the main method to manage these insects. The objective was to determine whether the behavior of allogrooming, touch, and self-grooming among Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel, 1908 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) workers disperse the fungicide quinone inside inhibitor and whether this product is toxic to them. This fungicide was applied, topically, in groups of workers and the social interactions between them and their mortality with and without the fungicide were evaluated. The interactions and the quinone inside inhibitor fungicide contamination increased with the number of leaf-cutting ant workers per group. Excessive touches, with subsequent allogrooming, and self-grooming among the ant workers dispersed the quinone inside the inhibitor fungicide causing 100% mortality and indicating its toxicity to this insect. The hypothesis that social interactions contaminated ant colony mates and the toxicity of the fungicide quinone inside inhibitor to workers of the leaf-cutting ant A. sexdens rubropilosa was proven.

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Fat-Soluble Substance Flow During Symbiotic Fungus Cultivation by Leaf-Cutter Ants

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

Contamination routes and mortality of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by the insecticides fipronil and sulfluramid through social interactions

Contamination routes and mortality of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by the insecticides fipronil and sulfluramid through social interactions

Impact of a leaf‐cutting ant (Atta sexdens L.) on a Pinus taeda plantation: A 6 year‐long study

Contamination and mortality of leaf-cutting ant workers by the quinone inside inhibitor fungicide after social interactions

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