Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Lopes, Juliane Floriano Santos
Data de Publicação: 2011
Outros Autores: Ribeiro, Laila Fieto, Brugger, Mariana Silva, Camargo, Roberto Da Silva, Caldato, Nádia, Forti, Luiz Carlos
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/231274
Resumo: Ant nests vary in their depth and internal complexity. They can be shallow or reach seven meters down into the soil, with many chambers connected by tunnels. In the case of leaf-cutting ants, the nest protects the colony and provides appropriate microclimate conditions for the ants and the symbiotic fungus garden. In the present study we compared the internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans nests in an urban and a rural area. We excavated, molded and measured six nests in an urban area and five nests in a rural area. For each nest, we measured the total volume of fungus in the chambers and estimated the population by counting the workers, which were separated into four size classes. The nests of A. subterraneus molestans in the urban and rural areas were always found near the base of trees. In the urban area they were also found near the curb of sidewalks. Ants use old roots and debris to reinforce the structure of the nest tunnels and at the same time reduce the costs of excavation by taking advantage of pre-existing cavities. Nests from the rural area had only one chamber, whereas in the urban area they had up to four chambers. Fungus chambers showed non-defined shapes and were found near the soil surface, both in the urban and in the rural area. Closeness to the surface may pose a problem to the maintenance of the humidity levels required by the fungus garden. The accumulation of cut leaves over the nest, as observed for other species of leaf-cutting ants, in particular A. crassispinus, may be a strategy to solve this problem. Building superficial nests also helps reduce the costs of excavating, and saves energy in the transport of substrate to the fungus chamber. The nest tunnels were located in pre-existingcavities and almost always connected the external environment to the fungus chamber. There were also longer tunnels that opened at some distance from the nest. These tunnels allow an increase in the foraging area and reduce the risk of outside prédation. With respect to population size, we noted that the small workers represented on average 50% of the population, with no difference between the proportion of workers of each size class between urban and rural nests. No significant differences were found in the volume of fungus between nests of the urban and rural area. There were no significant correlations between the volume of fungus and the total population of workers or the number of workers of each size class.
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spelling Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban areaAcromyrmexLeaf-cutting antsNest architectureAnt nests vary in their depth and internal complexity. They can be shallow or reach seven meters down into the soil, with many chambers connected by tunnels. In the case of leaf-cutting ants, the nest protects the colony and provides appropriate microclimate conditions for the ants and the symbiotic fungus garden. In the present study we compared the internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans nests in an urban and a rural area. We excavated, molded and measured six nests in an urban area and five nests in a rural area. For each nest, we measured the total volume of fungus in the chambers and estimated the population by counting the workers, which were separated into four size classes. The nests of A. subterraneus molestans in the urban and rural areas were always found near the base of trees. In the urban area they were also found near the curb of sidewalks. Ants use old roots and debris to reinforce the structure of the nest tunnels and at the same time reduce the costs of excavation by taking advantage of pre-existing cavities. Nests from the rural area had only one chamber, whereas in the urban area they had up to four chambers. Fungus chambers showed non-defined shapes and were found near the soil surface, both in the urban and in the rural area. Closeness to the surface may pose a problem to the maintenance of the humidity levels required by the fungus garden. The accumulation of cut leaves over the nest, as observed for other species of leaf-cutting ants, in particular A. crassispinus, may be a strategy to solve this problem. Building superficial nests also helps reduce the costs of excavating, and saves energy in the transport of substrate to the fungus chamber. The nest tunnels were located in pre-existingcavities and almost always connected the external environment to the fungus chamber. There were also longer tunnels that opened at some distance from the nest. These tunnels allow an increase in the foraging area and reduce the risk of outside prédation. With respect to population size, we noted that the small workers represented on average 50% of the population, with no difference between the proportion of workers of each size class between urban and rural nests. No significant differences were found in the volume of fungus between nests of the urban and rural area. There were no significant correlations between the volume of fungus and the total population of workers or the number of workers of each size class.MirmecoLab Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Campus Universitário de Martelos, 36036-900, Juiz de Fora, MGLaboratório de Insetos Sociais-Praga Depto. Produção Vegetal - Defesa Fitossanitária Fazenda Experimental Lageado, Rua José Barbosa de Barros, 1780, 18610307, Botucatu, SPInstituto de Ciências BiológicasFazenda Experimental LageadoLopes, Juliane Floriano SantosRibeiro, Laila FietoBrugger, Mariana SilvaCamargo, Roberto Da SilvaCaldato, NádiaForti, Luiz Carlos2022-04-29T08:44:27Z2022-04-29T08:44:27Z2011-11-30info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/article593-605Sociobiology, v. 58, n. 3, p. 593-605, 2011.0361-6525http://hdl.handle.net/11449/2312742-s2.0-82155192220Scopusreponame:Repositório Institucional da UNESPinstname:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)instacron:UNESPengSociobiologyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess2024-04-30T15:57:12Zoai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/231274Repositório InstitucionalPUBhttp://repositorio.unesp.br/oai/requestopendoar:29462024-08-05T19:04:40.939264Repositório Institucional da UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)false
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
title Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
spellingShingle Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
Lopes, Juliane Floriano Santos
Acromyrmex
Leaf-cutting ants
Nest architecture
title_short Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
title_full Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
title_fullStr Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
title_full_unstemmed Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
title_sort Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
author Lopes, Juliane Floriano Santos
author_facet Lopes, Juliane Floriano Santos
Ribeiro, Laila Fieto
Brugger, Mariana Silva
Camargo, Roberto Da Silva
Caldato, Nádia
Forti, Luiz Carlos
author_role author
author2 Ribeiro, Laila Fieto
Brugger, Mariana Silva
Camargo, Roberto Da Silva
Caldato, Nádia
Forti, Luiz Carlos
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Instituto de Ciências Biológicas
Fazenda Experimental Lageado
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Lopes, Juliane Floriano Santos
Ribeiro, Laila Fieto
Brugger, Mariana Silva
Camargo, Roberto Da Silva
Caldato, Nádia
Forti, Luiz Carlos
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Acromyrmex
Leaf-cutting ants
Nest architecture
topic Acromyrmex
Leaf-cutting ants
Nest architecture
description Ant nests vary in their depth and internal complexity. They can be shallow or reach seven meters down into the soil, with many chambers connected by tunnels. In the case of leaf-cutting ants, the nest protects the colony and provides appropriate microclimate conditions for the ants and the symbiotic fungus garden. In the present study we compared the internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans nests in an urban and a rural area. We excavated, molded and measured six nests in an urban area and five nests in a rural area. For each nest, we measured the total volume of fungus in the chambers and estimated the population by counting the workers, which were separated into four size classes. The nests of A. subterraneus molestans in the urban and rural areas were always found near the base of trees. In the urban area they were also found near the curb of sidewalks. Ants use old roots and debris to reinforce the structure of the nest tunnels and at the same time reduce the costs of excavation by taking advantage of pre-existing cavities. Nests from the rural area had only one chamber, whereas in the urban area they had up to four chambers. Fungus chambers showed non-defined shapes and were found near the soil surface, both in the urban and in the rural area. Closeness to the surface may pose a problem to the maintenance of the humidity levels required by the fungus garden. The accumulation of cut leaves over the nest, as observed for other species of leaf-cutting ants, in particular A. crassispinus, may be a strategy to solve this problem. Building superficial nests also helps reduce the costs of excavating, and saves energy in the transport of substrate to the fungus chamber. The nest tunnels were located in pre-existingcavities and almost always connected the external environment to the fungus chamber. There were also longer tunnels that opened at some distance from the nest. These tunnels allow an increase in the foraging area and reduce the risk of outside prédation. With respect to population size, we noted that the small workers represented on average 50% of the population, with no difference between the proportion of workers of each size class between urban and rural nests. No significant differences were found in the volume of fungus between nests of the urban and rural area. There were no significant correlations between the volume of fungus and the total population of workers or the number of workers of each size class.
publishDate 2011
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2011-11-30
2022-04-29T08:44:27Z
2022-04-29T08:44:27Z
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv Sociobiology, v. 58, n. 3, p. 593-605, 2011.
0361-6525
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/231274
2-s2.0-82155192220
identifier_str_mv Sociobiology, v. 58, n. 3, p. 593-605, 2011.
0361-6525
2-s2.0-82155192220
url http://hdl.handle.net/11449/231274
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Sociobiology
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 593-605
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Scopus
reponame:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
instname:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
instacron:UNESP
instname_str Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
instacron_str UNESP
institution UNESP
reponame_str Repositório Institucional da UNESP
collection Repositório Institucional da UNESP
repository.name.fl_str_mv Repositório Institucional da UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
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