Daily Foraging Activity of Acromyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Leaf-cutting ants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v63i1.902Keywords:
Attini, ecology behavior, forest pests, PinusAbstract
Leaf-cutting ants are well-known insects due to their remarkable activity as herbivores and the considerable economic damage they cause to many crops. The identification of season and time of day when leaf-cutting ants are most active is an important tool, not just to understand the foraging ecology of these ants, but also to optimize their control in plantation areas where they were pests. Thus, the aims of this study are to evaluate the daily foraging activity of leaf-cutting ant species of the genus Acromyrmex, which occur in forest plantations in Southern Brazil. Foraging activity of Acromyrmex crassispinus (Forel) and Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus (Forel) were correlated with weather conditions, and it was more intense during spring and summer. Workers that forage at night are significantly heavier than workers that forage during the day. This study showed that A. crassispinus and A. subterraneus subterraneus did not forage at temperatures below 10-11°C. Then, the use of granulated baits to control these leaf-cutting ants species where they were pests should be done just under favorable conditions of temperature for Acromyrmex foraging activity (over 12°C), to ensure maximum collection of baits by ants and the least left-over baits.
Downloads
References
Araújo, M. da S., Della-Lucia, T. M. C., Picanço, M. C., Anjos, N. dos & Vilela, E. F. (1998). Polimorfismo e transporte de cargas em Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus Forel, 1908 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 41: 443-446.
Araújo, M. da S., Della-Lucia, T. M. C. & Souza, D. J. (2003). Estratégias alternativas de controle de formigas cortadeiras. Bahia Agrícola, 6: 71-74.
Begon, M., Townsend, C. R. & Harper, J. L. (2006). Ecology: from individuals to ecosystems. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 738p.
Bollazzi, M. & Roces, F. (2002). Thermal preference for fungus culturing and brood location by workers of the thatching grass-cutting ant Acromyrmex heyeri. Insectes Sociaux, 49: 153-157.
Bollazzi, M. & Roces, F. (2011). Information needs at the beginning of foraging: grass-cutting ants trade off load size for a faster return to the nest. Plos One, 6: e17667. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017667
Caldato, N. (2014). Ontogenia das trilhas físicas em Atta capiguara Gonçalves 1944 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae. Tese (Doutorado). Universidade Estadual Paulista, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Botucatu, 124 f.
Elizalde, L. & Folgarait, P. J. (2011). Biological attributes of Argentinian phorid parasitoids (Insecta: Diptera: Phoridae) of leaf-cutting ants, Acromyrmex and Atta. Journal of Natural History, 45: 2701-2723. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2011.602478
Endringer, F. B., Viana-Bailez, A.M., Bailez, O.E., Teixeira, M.C., Lima, V.L.S. & Souza, J.H. (2012). Load Capacity of Workers of Atta robusta During Foraging (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 59: 839-848. DOI: 10.13102/sociobiology.v59i3.551
Evison, S. E. F., Hart, A. G. & Jackson, D. E. (2008). Minor workers have a major role in the maintenance of leafcutter ant pheromone trails. Animal Behaviour, 75: 963-969. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.013
Feener, D. H. JR. & Brown, B.V. (1993). Oviposition behavior of an ant parasitizing fly, Neodohrniphora curvinervis (Diptera: Phoridae), and defense behavior by its leaf-cutting ant host Atta cephalotes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 6: 675–688.
Fowler, H. (1979). Environmental correlates of the foraging of Acromyrmex crassispinus. Ciência e Cultura, 31: 879-882.
Fowler, H. H. & Robinson, S. W. (1979). Foraging by Atta sexdens: seasonal patterns, caste, and efficiency. Ecological Entomology, 4: 239–247.
Giesel, A., Boff, M.I.C., Girardi, D. & Boff, P. (2008). Etologia de Acromyrmex spp. no Planalto Serrano catarinense. Revista de Ciências Agroveterinárias, 7: 135-142.
Giesel, A., Boff, M.I.C. & Boff, P. (2013). Seasonal Activity and Foraging Preferences of the Leaf-Cutting Ant Atta sexdens piriventris (Santschi) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Neotropical Entomology, 42: 552-557. DOI 10.1007/s13744-013-0160-2
Gamboa, G.J. (1976). Effects of temperature on the surface activity of the desert leaf-cutter ant, Acromyrmex versicolor versicolor (Pergande) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). American Midland Naturalist, 95: 485-491.
Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. (1990). The ants. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, xii + 732 p.
Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. (2011). The leafcutter ants: civilization by instinct. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 160 p.
Howard, J. J. (2001). Costs of trail construction and maintenance in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 49: 348-356. DOI 10.1007/s002650000314
Jaffe, K. & Howse, P. E. (1979). The mass recruitment system of the leaf cutting ant, Atta cephalotes (L.). Animal Behaviour, 27: 930–939.
Lewis, T., Pollard, G. V. & Dibley, G. C. (1974a). Micro-environmental factors affecting diel patterns of foraging in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes (L.) (Formicidae: Attini). Journal of Animal Ecology, 43: 143-153.
Lewis, T., Pollard, G. V. & Dibley, G. C. (1974b). Rhythmic foraging in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes (L.) (Formicidae: Attini). Journal of Animal Ecology, 43: 129-141.
Maciel, M. A. F., Della Lucia, T. M. C., Araújo, M. S. & Oliveira, M. A. (1995). Ritmo diário de atividade forrageadora da formiga cortadeira Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus Forel. Anais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil, 24: 371-378.
Mendes, W. B. A., Freire, J. A. H., Loureiro, M. C., Nogueira, S. B., Vilela, E. F. & Della Lucia, T. M. C. (1992). Aspectos ecológicos de Acromyrmex (Moellerius) balzani (Emery, 1890) (Formicidae: Attini) no município de São Geraldo, Minas Gerais. Anais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil, 21: 155-168.
Mintzer, A. (1979). Foraging activity of the Mexican leafcutting ant Atta mexicana (F. Smith), in a sonoran desert habitat (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux, 26: 364-372.
Nickele, M. A., Reis Filho, W., Oliveira, E. B. de. & Iede, E. T. (2009). Densidade e tamanho de formigueiros de Acromyrmex crassispinus em plantios de Pinus taeda. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira, 44: 347-353.
Porter, S. D. (1988). Impact of temperature on colony growth and developmental rates of the ant, Solenopsis invicta. Journal of Insect Physiology, 34: 1127–1133.
Porter, S. D. & Tschinkel, W. R. (1993). Fire ant thermal preferences: behavioral control of growth and metabolism. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 32: 321–329.
Powell, R. J. & Stradling, D. J. (1986). Factors influencing the growth of Attamyces bromatificus, a symbiont of attine ants. Transactions of the British Mycological Society, 87: 205–213.
Roces, F. & Kleineidam, C. (2000). Humidity preference for fungus culturing by workers of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa. Insectes sociaux, 47: 348–350.
Stradling, D. J. (1978). The influence of size on foraging in the ant, Atta cephalotes, and the effect of some plant defence mechanisms. Journal of Animal Ecology, 47: 173-188.
Tonhasca Jr. A. (1996). Interactions between a parasitic fly, Neodohrniphora declinata (Diptera: Phoridae), and its host, the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa. Ecotropica, 2: 157-164.
Tonhasca JR. A. & Bragança, M. A. L. (2000). Forager size of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a mature eucalyptus forest in Brazil. Revista de Biologia Tropical, 48: 1-8.
Weber, N. A. (1972). Gardening-ants: the attines. Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, xx + 146 p.
Wetterer, J. K. (1990). Diel changes in forager size, activity, and load selectivity in a tropical leaf-cutting ant, Atta cephalotes. Ecological Entomology, 15: 97-104.
Wilson, E.O. (1980). Caste and division of labor in leaf-cutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Atta) - I. The overall pattern in A. sexdens. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 7: 143-156.
Wirth, R., Beyschlag, W., Ryelt, R. J. & Hölldobler, B. (1997). Annual foraging of the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica in a semideciduous rain forest in Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 13: 741-757.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
eISSN 2447-8067
