Parasitism by Phorids on Leaf Cutter Ants Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Natural and Agricultural Environments

Galvão, Alexandre Roger de Araújo; Bailez, Omar; Viana-Bailez, Ana Maria; Abib, Pedro Henrique Nogueira; Pimentel, Fabíola Aparecida; Pereira, Thalles Platiny Lavinscky

doi:10.2108/zs180190

Cited by 7 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The distribution of phorid parasitism, when considering the four parasitoid species studied here, showed that attacks by A. attophilus were the most frequent (46%). This result was similar to that seen in previous studies of A. laevigata and also for other species of leaf-cutting ants such as A. sexdens and A. bisphaerica [22,66,68,69]. In fact, the ability of A. attophilus to cause high levels of mortality differentiated it from other species of parasitoids.…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 91%

“…In the current study, an average of three A. attophilus (ranging from one to fourteen parasitoids) emerged from each host forager ant, whilst the other three species of phorids had a solitary habit, laying only one egg in each host insect. These characteristics highlight the potential of A. attophilus as a biological control agent against leaf-cutting ants [66,68]. Also in the current study, foragers that had been parasitized by A. attophilus had the shortest survival time (2.8 days) following collection in the field.…”

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 58%

“…The current results for A. laevigata parasitism rates by phorids are within the range commonly found for Atta spp., of which the lowest documented was <1% and the highest approximately 6%. In A. sexdens, for example, four different studies reported rates of 0.8% [42], 1.57% [22], 2.94% [49] and 2.6% [68]. The parasitism rates by phorids recorded in two studies of A. bisphaerica were 1% and 4.4%, respectively [66,69].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential parasitism by four species of phorid flies when attacking three worker castes of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858)

et al. 2021

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Certain species of parasitic flies belonging to the Phoridae are known to attack Atta spp. workers foraging along trails, near nest openings used by the ants to supply the colony with plant material, and in the areas where the ants are actively cutting plant material. However, there have been no previous studies of phorid parasitism of non-foraging worker ants, for example excavators and soldiers. Excavators can be found on the surface around specialized nest openings, carrying and dumping soil on characteristic mounds. Soldiers can be found on the trails protecting foragers or guarding the different types of nest openings. The current study was performed to investigate the differential parasitism rates of Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) worker castes by four species of phorids. Ants of all castes on trails and at nest entrances were collect from 18 mature colonies in the field. A total of 21,254 ants were collected from trails and 14,649 collected from the mounds of loose soil near nest openings. The captured workers were maintained under controlled laboratory conditions to evaluate the rate of parasitism. Of the ants collected from trails, 1,112 (5.23%) were found to have been parasitized, of which 1,102 were foragers and only 10 were soldiers. Of the ants collected from the soil mounds near the nest openings, only 27 (0.18%) were found to have been parasitized, of those 25 were excavators and 2 were soldiers. When evaluating parasitism of ants on the trails, 46.2% were attacked by Apocephalus attophilus Borgmeier, 1928, 22.6% by Myrmosicarius grandicornis Borgmeier, 1928, 16.6% by Eibesfeldtphora erthali (Brown, 2001) and 14.6% by Apocephalus vicosae Disney, 2000. Only two species of phorid, M. grandicornis and E. erthali, were observed parasitizing excavators, whilst only E. erthali parasitized soldiers. This is the first time that Atta spp. excavators and soldiers have been shown to be parasitized by phorids. The low rates of parasitism and specificity of certain phorid species for excavators and soldiers is discussed in relation to the behavioral interactions of hosts and their parasitoids, as well as the relationship between host and parasitoid size.

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Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Plos Onesupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential parasitism by four species of phorid flies when attacking three worker castes of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858)

et al. 2021

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“…The total parasitism rate of A. laevigata foragers by phorids observed here (5.23%), was higher than that recorded for the same host by Bragança and Medeiros (2006) (2.8%) and by Erthal and Tonhasca Jr (2000) (4.0%), however, it was similar to the rate verified by Bragança et al (2016) (5.36%). Parasitism rates by phorids in other Atta species are commonly lower than 6%, as seen for A. sexdens (1.57%–3.54%) (Bragança et al, 2016; Farder‐Gomes et al, 2016; Galvão et al, 2019) and A. bisphaerica (1%–4.4%) (Bragança et al, 2021; Farder‐Gomes et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…(1.57%-3.54%) (Bragança et al, 2016;Farder-Gomes et al, 2016;Galvão et al, 2019) and A. bisphaerica (1%-4.4%) (Bragança et al, 2021;Farder-Gomes et al, 2018). Note: The relative parasitism frequency value indicates the proportional distribution of parasitized workers (with measurement of their head capsules) among the phorid species at each site and colony.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phorid fly parasitism rates vary between individual colonies of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta laevigata

Bragança

Souza

Oliveira

et al. 2023

Agri and Forest Entomology

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Phorid flies are important natural enemies of leaf‐cutting ants. Female phorids lay eggs in the worker ants' bodies and the parasitoid larvae feed on the host's internal tissues. Here we investigated the parasitism rates by four species of phorids when attacking individual Atta laevigata colonies at three different field sites in order to further understand the host‐parasitoid relationship. There were distinct variations in parasitism rates when comparing phorid species attacking individual colonies. In 13 of the colonies sampled, parasitism by Apocephalus attophilus or Eibesfeldtphora erthali was predominant. However, in four of the colonies, Myrmosicarius grandicornis and Apocephalus vicosae were the predominant species. Variations in parasitism rates by the four phorid species were investigated in relation to the size of the potential hosts that had been collected from the foraging trails of each colony. When correlating the size of potential hosts to phorid species, ants with head capsule widths of >2 mm were predominantly parasitized by A. vicosae and E. erthali. Smaller ants, with head capsule widths of 2 mm or less, were predominantly parasitized by A. attophilus and M. grandicornis. The highest parasitism rates by E. erthali were observed in individual colonies that had the highest proportions of large workers on the trails. Although almost half the size of E. erthali, A. attophilus parasitized both large (head capsule width > 2 mm) and small workers (<2 mm). This was related to the fact that between 1 and 16 larvae can develop within an individual host, depending on host size. M. grandicornis parasitized smaller workers (mean head capsule width = 2 mm) as these phorids are themselves small and only one larva develops within each host. This study demonstrated that the parasitism profiles of individual A. laevigata colonies were related to the size of foragers on the trails.

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Host Size Preference of the Leafcutter Ant Parasitoid Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai (Diptera: Phoridae)

et al. 2022

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Parasitism by Phorids on Leaf Cutter Ants Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Natural and Agricultural Environments

Cited by 7 publications

References 55 publications

Differential parasitism by four species of phorid flies when attacking three worker castes of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858)

Differential parasitism by four species of phorid flies when attacking three worker castes of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858)

Phorid fly parasitism rates vary between individual colonies of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta laevigata

Host Size Preference of the Leafcutter Ant Parasitoid Eibesfeldtphora tonhascai (Diptera: Phoridae)

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