Internal architecture and population size of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) nests: Comparison between a rural and an urban area
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2011 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , |
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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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) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
|
_version_ |
1808129015819534336 |