Larval hemolymph feeding: a nondestructive parental cannibalism in the primitive ant Amblyopone silvestrii Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Masuko, Keiichi

doi:10.1007/bf00300639

Cited by 56 publications

(53 citation statements)

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“…In some species, workers regurgitate glandular secretions to the queen, which were supposed to contain profertile substances (Bier 1954). In others, queens feed on larval hemolymph (Masuko 1986) or eggs laid by the workers (Crespi 1992;Heinze et al 1999). Finally, mating and insemination themselves have been found to negatively affect longevity in Drosophila, where substances in the male's seminal fluid reduce female receptivity for other males and shorten the female's life span (Fowler and Partridge 1989;Chapman et al 1993;Chapman et al 1995).…”

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Lay Eggs, Live Longer: Division of Labor and Life Span in a Clonal Ant Species

Hartmann

Heınze

2003

Evolution

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Abstract. Due to a trade-off between reproduction and life span, highly fertile individuals often live shorter lives than nonreproductive conspecifics. Perennial eusocial insects are exceptional in that reproductive queens live considerably longer than the nonreproductive workers. The two female castes may differ strongly in morphology, ontogeny, physiology, diet, behavior, and mating, and all these differences could be responsible for life span differences. In the ponerine ant Platythyrea punctata, morphological and ontogenetic caste differences do not exist. Instead, all workers are capable of producing diploid offspring through thelytokous parthenogenesis, and colonies are essentially clones. Here, we show that reproductives live significantly longer than nonreproductive workers. Reproductives stay in the nest during their whole life, whereas nonreproductives switch from intranidal tasks to foraging when they get older. Different work load and different hormone titers might proximately underlie the different life span of reproductives and nonreproductives in this ant.

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Lay Eggs, Live Longer: Division of Labor and Life Span in a Clonal Ant Species

Hartmann

Heınze

2003

Evolution

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“…Those leptanillines that have been studied are tiny, eyeless subterranean ants with an army-ant lifestyle, preying on geophilomorph centipedes like wolves on elk (10). Their bizarre habit of the queen feeding on hemolymph from her larvae also occurs in the Amblyoponinae (11), and this and morphological similarities raised suspicions that these groups are closely related. Having the Leptanillinae placed at the base of the tree of all ants (4, 5) is therefore very odd.…”

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Charting uncertainty about ant origins

Crozier¹

2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…(= E.) urichi (Wilson, 1986;Holldobler and Wilson, 1990). Among them, Proceratium, Discothyrea, and Stegomyrmex are exclusive egg predators; the former two genera feed on spider eggs and Stegomyrmex vizottoi predates on spirobolid millipede eggs (Brown, 1957(Brown, , 1979Masuko, 1986;Dejean & Dejean, 1998;Diniz & Brandao, 1993). Ants in the myrmicine genus Calyptomyrmex are, in spite of their wide tropical distribution, very rare, and therefore, nothing is known about their biology and feeding habits (Baroni Urbani, 1975;Bolton, 1981).…”

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“…It is considered to be an alternative feeding mode for specialized predators, in which prey capture is difficult and/or not constant (Masuko, 1986). Among egg predators, it has been known in three species of Proceratium but not in Discothyrea (Masuko, 1986). LHF has also been reported in Amblyopone silvestrii, Prionopelta kraepelini, and Leptanilla japonica (Masuko, 1986(Masuko, , 1989Ito & Billen, 1998).…”

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Specialized Predation on Arthropod Eggs in a Myrmicine Ant, Calyptomyrmex sp.(Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in the Oriental Tropics.

文紀¹

2001

Tropics

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A colony of the rare myrmicine ant, Calyptomyrmex sp., was collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia. Laboratory observation suggested that the species is a highly specialized predator of arthropod eggs. Workers fed on arthropod eggs and often showed larval hemolymph feeding. The queen never fed directly on prey eggs but took nutrients mainly through oral trophallaxis from workers.Key words: ant / prey specialization / egg predation Most ant species are generalist predators, although some species show remarkable specialization on certain prey animals (Holldobler & Wilson 1990). Specialized predation on arthropod eggs has been known in a few ponerine genera, Discothyrea, Proceratium, and Plectroctena (Brown, 1979;Masuko, 1986) and myrmicine ants, Stegomyrmex vizottoi (Diniz & Brandao 1993), Oligomyrmex (= Erabomyrma) nevermanni and 0. (= E.) urichi (Wilson, 1986;Holldobler and Wilson, 1990). Among them, Proceratium, Discothyrea, and Stegomyrmex are exclusive egg predators; the former two genera feed on spider eggs and Stegomyrmex vizottoi predates on spirobolid millipede eggs (Brown, 1957(Brown, , 1979Masuko, 1986;Dejean & Dejean, 1998;Diniz & Brandao, 1993). Ants in the myrmicine genus Calyptomyrmex are, in spite of their wide tropical distribution, very rare, and therefore, nothing is known about their biology and feeding habits (Baroni Urbani, 1975;Bolton, 1981). Fortunately, I collected one colony of Calyptomyrmex sp. in Indonesia, and revealed that it is a highly specialized egg predator.A colony of Calyptomyrmex sp. (colony code FI95-404) was collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia. This species awaits description. Voucher specimens are deposited at the Bogor Zoological Museum. The colony was kept in an artificial nest in a laboratory to study feeding behavior and food preference. To know their feeding habits, I gave the colony diluted sugar water and several kinds of soil animal including centipedes, termites, isopods, springtails, eggs and adults of spiders and earwigs. This experiment was repeated four times. Feeding behavior of ants was observed for five hours over five days under a dissecting binocular microscope. Additionally, feeding habit of the dealated queen was recorded on video for 2 to 6 hours per day over 5 days (total 24 hours). During the observation of feeding behavior, several eggs of earwigs were always found in the nest chamber. 406F. ITO Queens and workers were dissected under the microscope after the last observation to check ovarian development.The colony contained one dealate queen, 40 workers, and some immatures. In the nest chamber, we found five arthropod eggs. In all experiments, only the eggs of spiders and earwigs were brought into the nest chamber. A forager held an egg with its forelegs and grasped it with its mandibles. Then the egg was carried into the nest chamber. When the egg was too large to hold, a worker rolled it with mandibles and fore-and mid-legs. In the nest chamber, prey eggs were deposited near brood, which was usua...

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Larval hemolymph feeding: a nondestructive parental cannibalism in the primitive ant Amblyopone silvestrii Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 56 publications

References 16 publications

Lay Eggs, Live Longer: Division of Labor and Life Span in a Clonal Ant Species

Lay Eggs, Live Longer: Division of Labor and Life Span in a Clonal Ant Species

Charting uncertainty about ant origins

Specialized Predation on Arthropod Eggs in a Myrmicine Ant, Calyptomyrmex sp.(Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in the Oriental Tropics.

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