The Effect of nest Size and Species Identity on Plant Selection in Acromyrmex Leaf-Cutting Ants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i3.3263Keywords:
Acromyrmex, ant nests, Chaco, foraging behaviorAbstract
Leaf-cutting ants are key organisms because their role as primary consumers and potential agricultural pests. However, their foraging ecology was mostly studied as response of extrinsic factors such as climate and plant species traits. We evaluated the effects of intrinsic factors (i. e., nest size and species identity) on the foraging behavior in two species of Acromyrmex Mayr leaf-cutting ants. While large and small nests of A. lobicornis Emery showed similar feeding behavior, small nests of A. striatus Roger harvested a greater percent of the plant species available in their foraging area and showed a higher level of selectivity than larger nests. We discussed some probable reasons for this pattern. Our results highlight the relevance of intrinsic factors and species characteristics to explain changes in the foraging ecology of leaf-cutting ants as colony growth.
Downloads
References
Armani, A. & Quirán, E. (2007). Evaluación cualitativa y cuantitativa de la oferta y cosecha de biomasa herbácea por Acromyrmex striatus Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en la provincia de La Pampa, Argentina. Gayana, 71: 203-206.
Bollazzi, M., Kronenbitter, J. & Roces, F. (2008). Soil temperature, digging behaviour, and the adaptive value of nest depth in South American species of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants. Oecologia, 158: 165-175. doi: 10.1007/s00442-008-1113-z
Bonetto, A.A. (1959). Las hormigas “cortadoras” de la provincia de Santa Fe (Géneros Atta y Acromyrmex). Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. Santa Fe, Argentina, 75 p.
Cabrera, A. & Willink, A. (1980). Biogeografía de América Latina. 2a edición. Monografía 13. OEA, Washington DC, 120 p.
Chébez, J.C. (2006). Guía de las Reservas Naturales de la Argentina: Zona Centro, 1ra Edición. Albatros, Buenos Aires, Vol. 5, 288 p.
Cherret, J.M. (1989). Leaf-cutting ants. In: Lieth, H., Werger, M. J. A. (Eds.), Tropical rainforest ecosystems: biogeographical and ecological studies (pp. 437-488). Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, NY., USA.
Del Vitto, L.A., Petenatti, E.M., Nellar, M.M. & Petenatti, M.E. (1994). Las Áreas Naturales Protegidas de San Luis, Argentina. Multequina 3: 141-156.
Diehl-Fleig, E. (1995). Formigas: organização social e ecología comportamental. São Leopoldo: Ed. UNISINOS, 166 p.
Farji-Brener, A.G. (2000). Leaf-cutting ant nests in temperate environments: mounds, mound damages and nest mortality rate in Acromyrmex lobicornis. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 35: 131-138.
Farji-Brener, A.G. (2001). Why are leaf-cutting ants more common in early secondary forests than in old-growth tropical forests? An evaluation of the palatable forage hypothesis. Oikos, 92: 169-177. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.920120.x
Farji-Brener, A.G. & Protomastro, J. (1992). Patrones forrajeros de dos especies simpátricas de hormigas cortadoras de hojas (Attini, Acromyrmex) en un bosque subtropical seco. Ecotrópicos, 5: 32-43.
Farji-Brener, A.G. & Ruggiero A. (1994). Leaf-cutting ants (Atta and Acromyrmex) inhabiting Argentina: patterns in species richness and geographical range sizes. Journal of Biogeography, 21: 391-399. doi: 10.2307/2845757
Farji-Brener, A.G. & Tadey, M. (2017). Consequences of leaf-cutting ants on plant fitness: integrating negative effects of herbivory and positive effects from soil improvement. Insectes Sociaux, 64, 45-54. doi: 10.1007/s00040-016-0510-2
Farji-Brener, A.G., de Torres Curth, M.I., Casanovas, P.V. & Naim, P.N. (2003). Consecuencias demográficas del sitio de nidificación en la hormiga cortadora de hojas Acromyrmex lobicornis: un enfoque utilizando modelos matriciales. Ecología Austral, 13: 183-194.
Feinsinger, P.E., Spears, E. & Poole, R. (1981). A simple measure of niche breadth. Ecology, 62: 27-32.
Fowler, H.G. (1977). Some factors influencing colony spacing and survival in the grass-cutting ant Acromyrmex landolti fracticornis (Forel) (Formicidae: Attini) in Paraguay. Rev. Biol. Trop. 25: 89-99.
Franzel, C. & Farji-Brener, A.G. (2000). ¿Oportunistas o selectivas? Plasticidad en la dieta de la hormiga cortadora de hojas Acromyrmex lobicornis en el noroeste de la Patagonia. Ecología Austral, 10: 159-168.
Hays, R.L., Summers, C. & Seitz, W. (1981). Estimating wildlife habitat variables. USDI. Fish and wildlife service. FWS/OBS-81/47. Washington, USA. 111 p.
Höldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. (1990). The ants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 732 p.
Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. (2011). The leafcutter ants: civilization by instinct. Nueva York: W. W. Norton and Company, 160 p.
Ivlev, V.S. (1961). Experimental Ecology of the Feeding of fishes. New Heaven: Yale University Press, 302 p.
Jofré, L.E. & Medina, A.I. (2012). Patrones de actividad forrajera y tamaño de nido de Acromyrmex lobicornis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en una zona urbana de San Luis, Argentina. Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina, 71: 37-44.
Kost, C., de Oliveira, E.G., Knoch, T.A. & Wirth, R. (2005). Spatio-temporal permanence and plasticity of foraging trails in young and mature leaf-cutting ant colonies (Atta spp.). Journal of Tropical Ecology, 21: 677-688. doi: 10.1017/S0266467405002592
Lanan, M. (2014). Spatiotemporal resource distribution and foraging strategies of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 20: 53-70.
Nichols-Orians, C.M. & Schultz, J.C. (1990). Interactions among leaf toughness, chemistry, and harvesting by attine ants. Ecological Entomology, 15: 311-320. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1990.tb00813.x
Nobua Behrmann, B.E. (2014). Interacciones tróficas entre dos especies simpátricas de hormigas cortadoras y el ensamble de plantas en el Monte central. PhD thesis, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 117 p.
Nobua-Behrmann, B.E.; Lopez de Casenave, J.; Milesi, F.A. & Farji-Brener, A. (2017). Coexisting in harsh environments: temperature-based foraging patterns of two desert leafcutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini). Myrmecol. News 25: 41-49
Pilati, A., Quirán, E.M. & Estelrich, H.D. (1997). Actividad forrajera de Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en un pastizal natural semiárido de la provincia de La Pampa (Argentina). Ecología Austral, 7: 49-56.
R Core Team (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.
Rockwood, L.L. & Hubbell, S.P. (1987). Host-plant selection, diet diversity, and optimal foraging in a tropical leafcutting ant. Oecologia, 74: 55-61. doi: 10.1007/BF00377345
Stuble, K.L., Jurić, I., Cerdá, X. & Sanders, N.J. (2017). Dominance hierarchies are a dominant paradigm in ant ecology (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), but should they be? And what is a dominance hierarchy anyways? Myrmecological News 24: 71-81.
Vieira-Neto, E.H.M., Vasconcelos, H.L. & Bruna, E.M. (2016). Roads increase population growth rates of a native leaf-cutter ant in Neotropical savannahs. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53 (4): 983-992. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12651
Wetterer, J.K. (1994). Ontogenetic changes in forager polymorphism and foraging ecology in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes. Oecologia, 98: 235-238. doi: 10.1007/BF00341478
Wirth, R., Herz, R., Ryel, R.J., Beyschlag, W. & Hölldobler, B. (2003). Herbivory of leaf-cutting ants: a case study on Atta colombica in the tropical rainforest of Panama, Berlin: Springer Verlag, 230 p.
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
