Morphology and ultrastructure of the infrabuccal pocket in Camponotus japonicus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Wang, Chu; Billen, Johan; He, Hong

doi:10.1007/s00040-019-00726-8

Cited by 12 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The IBP is a special pouch-like filtration device located in the preoral cavity of ants [ 47 ]. The anterior part of the IBP and the inner wall of the prepharynx, which are covered with long hairs, form an effective filtering system for solid materials [ 48 , 49 ]. In the fungus-growing ants, the IBP can prevent the invasion and spread of the specific fungus-garden parasite Escovopsis in their fungus garden [ 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Composition and Diversity of the Digestive Tract of Odontomachus monticola Emery and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr

Zheng

et al. 2021

Insects

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Ponerine ants are generalist predators feeding on a variety of small arthropods, annelids, and isopods; however, knowledge of their bacterial communities is rather limited. This study investigated the bacterial composition and diversity in the digestive tract (different gut sections and the infrabuccal pockets (IBPs)) of two ponerine ant species (Odontomachus monticola Emery and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr) distributed in northwestern China using high-throughput sequencing. We found that several dominant bacteria that exist in other predatory ants were also detected in these two ponerine ant species, including Wolbachia, Mesoplasma, and Spiroplasma. Bacterial communities of these two ant species were differed significantly from each other, and significant differences were also observed across their colonies, showing distinctive inter-colony characteristics. Moreover, bacterial communities between the gut sections (crops, midguts, and hindguts) of workers were highly similar within colony, but they were clearly different from those in IBPs. Further, bacterial communities in the larvae of O. monticola were similar to those in the IBPs of workers, but significantly different from those in gut sections. We presume that the bacterial composition and diversity in ponerine ants are related to their social behavior and feeding habits, and bacterial communities in the IBPs may play a potential role in their social life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Composition and Diversity of the Digestive Tract of Odontomachus monticola Emery and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr

Zheng

et al. 2021

Insects

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“…It is conceivable that it is stretched out because of the extended labiomaxillary complex of the investigated specimen, but in other investigated specimens with extended maxillolabial complex the pouch was still present (e.g., Richter et al 2020Richter et al , 2021, so this is in any case a unique state. We also observed clear variation in the size of the pouch, but this is difficult to evaluate, as the pouch size varies massively with different filling states (Wang et al 2019). If this problem can be addressed, pouch size might be an informative character, as it appears especially large in some total clade Formicidae such as †Gerontoformica and Formica.…”

Section: Maxillamentioning

confidence: 87%

The First Reconstruction of the Head Anatomy of a Cretaceous Insect, †Gerontoformica gracilis(Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and the Early Evolution of Ants

Richter

Boudinot

Yamamoto

et al. 2022

Insect Systematics and Diversity

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The fossil record allows a unique glimpse into the evolutionary history of organisms living on Earth today. We discovered a specimen of the stem group ant †Gerontoformica gracilis (Barden and Grimaldi, 2014) in Kachin amber with near-complete preservation of internal head structures, which we document employing µ-computed-tomography-based 3D reconstructions. We compare †Gerontoformica to four outgroup taxa and four extant ant species, employing parsimony and Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction to identify morphological differences and similarities between stem and crown ants and thus improve our understanding of ant evolution through the lens of head anatomy. Of 149 morphological characters, 87 are new in this study, and almost all applicable to the fossil. †Gerontoformica gracilis shares shortened dorsal tentorial arms, basally angled pedicels, and the pharyngeal gland as apomorphies with other total clade Formicidae. Retained plesiomorphies include mandible shape and features of the prepharynx. Implications of the reconstructed transitions especially for the ant groundplan are critically discussed based on our restricted taxon sampling, emphasizing the crucial information derived from internal anatomy which is applied to deep time for the first time. Based on the falcate mandible in †Gerontoformica and other Aculeata, we present hypotheses for how the shovel-shaped mandibles in crown Formicidae could have evolved. Our results support the notion of †Gerontoformica as ‘generalized’ above-ground predator missing crucial novelties of crown ants which may have helped the latter survive the end-Cretaceous extinction. Our study is an important step for anatomical research on Cretaceous insects and a glimpse into the early evolution of ant heads.

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“…The IBP is located in the preoral cavity of ant adults (Gotwald, 1969;Richter et al, 2019), which mainly serves as a filter to obstructs solid particles and allows only fluids and sufficiently small particles to flow into the digestive tube (Eisner and Happ, 1962;Gotwald, 1969). The specialized hairs inside the pocket are helpful in filtering solid pellets and bacteria (Wang et al, 2018(Wang et al, , 2019. A recent study on the bacterial communities of two predatory ants, Odontomachus monticola Forel and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr, has shown that although bacterial communities differ significantly between the IBPs and guts of both ant species, they are similar in IBPs of workers and larvae in O. monticola.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lactic Acid Bacteria Are Prevalent in the Infrabuccal Pockets and Crops of Ants That Prefer Aphid Honeydew

et al. 2022

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Ants are evolutionarily successful species and occupy diverse trophic and habitat niches on the earth. To fulfill dietary requirements, ants have established commensalism with both sap-feeding insects and bacteria. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to characterize the bacterial composition and structure of the digestive tracts in three species of Formica ants and Lasius niger (Linnaeus)—species that predominantly feed on honeydew secreted by aphids. We found that bacterial communities displayed species- and colony-level signatures, and that bacterial communities in the infrabuccal pockets and crops were different from those in the midguts and hindguts. Lactobacillus and Wolbachia were dominant in the infrabuccal pockets and crops of workers, whereas Wolbachia was dominant in the midguts, hindguts and brood (larvae, pupae and cocoons). To learn more about the dominant Lactobacillus in ants, we assessed its prevalence in a wide range of aphid-tending ants using diagnostic PCR. We found that Lactobacillus was more prevalent in Formicinae than in Myrmicinae species. We also isolated four strains of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, Lactobacillus lindneri, Weissella cibaria and Fructobacillus sp.) from the infrabuccal pockets and crops of aphid-tending ants using a culture-dependent method. Two predominant lactic acid bacterial isolates, Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis (La2) and Weissella cibaria (La3), exhibited abilities in catabolizing sugars (sucrose, trehalose, melezitose and raffinose) known to be constituents of hemipteran honeydew. These findings contribute to further understanding the association between ants, aphids and bacteria, and provide additional information on the function of lactic acid bacteria in ants.

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Morphology and ultrastructure of the infrabuccal pocket in Camponotus japonicus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Bacterial Composition and Diversity of the Digestive Tract of Odontomachus monticola Emery and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr

Bacterial Composition and Diversity of the Digestive Tract of Odontomachus monticola Emery and Ectomomyrmex javanus Mayr

The First Reconstruction of the Head Anatomy of a Cretaceous Insect, †Gerontoformica gracilis(Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and the Early Evolution of Ants

Lactic Acid Bacteria Are Prevalent in the Infrabuccal Pockets and Crops of Ants That Prefer Aphid Honeydew

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