Parasitism of the leaf‐cutting ant <i>Atta bisphaerica</i> by phorid flies: biology and seasonal and inter‐colonial parasitism rates

Bragança, Marcos A. L.; Martins, Hendria Cirqueira; Oliveira, Rafael José de; Lúcia, Terezinha Maria Castro Della

doi:10.1111/eea.13020

Cited by 5 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 33 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%

“…parasitized by M. grandicornis and A. attophilus [55,66,67]. The total parasitism rate of A. laevigata by phorids seen here (3.17%) was higher than that recorded for the same host (2.8%) by Bragança & Medeiros [35], but lower than the rates (4.0%) recorded in the studies by Erthal & Tonhasca [33] or by Bragança et al [22] (5.36%).…”

Section: Plos Onecontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…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%

“…In fact, the ability of A. attophilus to cause high levels of mortality differentiated it from other species of parasitoids. Biological characteristics such as a highly successful emergence rate (93%) from hosts and the production, on average, of 2.5 individuals per host ant has been observed when A. attophilus attacked A. bisphaerica [66]. Eibesfeldtphora bragancai (Brown, 2001 [73]) and M. grandicornis parasitizing A. bisphaerica showed emergence rates of 41 and 57%, respectively, with production of a single parasitoid per host [66].…”

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 Onecontrasting

confidence: 52%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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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Seasonality of parasitism of phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in the leafcutter ant Atta sexdens Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an Atlantic Forest area

Pereira

Bailez

Vieira‐Júnior

et al. 2022

Agri and Forest Entomology

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1. There is a lack of information regarding the variations in parasitism rates of parasitoid phorids for more than one year, whether they follow a pattern of distribution, and whether climatic factors affect the parasitism rates. We observed the parasitism rates caused by parasitoids of Atta sexdens and analysed whether there is seasonality in the occurrence of parasitism and studied the effects of climatic factors on parasitism rates.2. Atta sexdens foragers were collected during 24 months from an area in the Atlantic Forest and the parasitism rate was calculated. Path analysis was used to identify and quantify the direct and indirect effects between parasitism rates and climatic factors.3. The mean parasitism rate was 5.8%, with Apocephalus attophilus accounting for 4.2%, Eibesfeldtphora spp. 1.4% and Myrmosicarius grandicornis 0.2%. Parasitism of A. attophilus and Eibesfeldtphora spp. increased as temperature decreased. The effect of relative humidity was significant and negative on Eibesfeldtphora spp. and M. grandicornis, whereas the effect of rainfall was significant and positive on M. grandicornis.4. We conclude that there is a seasonal pattern in the occurrence of parasitism by A. attophilus and that temperature is the main climatic variable associated with the fluctuation of parasitism, where the peaks occur in winter, followed by spring and autumn, and the lowest rates were in the summer.

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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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Parasitism of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta bisphaerica by phorid flies: biology and seasonal and inter‐colonial parasitism rates

Cited by 5 publications

References 33 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)

Seasonality of parasitism of phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in the leafcutter ant Atta sexdens Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an Atlantic Forest area

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

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