Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Verza, Sandra S. [UNESP]
Data de Publicação: 2017
Outros Autores: Diniz, Eduardo A., Chiarelli, Mara F. [UNESP], Mussury, Rosilda M., Bueno, Odair C. [UNESP]
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/174222
Resumo: Leaf-cutting ants produce large quantities of waste that harbor bacteria and fungi that are harmful to the colony. To be protected from these pathogens, the workers of Atta species present a sophisticated organization to manage harmful material, which can be deposited outside the nest or in internal chambers. However, little is known about the behavior of Acromyrmex species in handling and disposal of waste. Due to some observations, we assume that the same species of Acromyrmex can deposit waste outside the nest and into internal chambers and raise the following question: what determines the occurrence of internal waste chambers in Acromyrmex? To address this question, we verified whether nest depth influences the waste-chamber occurrence. We also verified the nest structure and the abiotic factors of soil beside each waste-chamber: pH and water content of the soil. For this, eight nests were excavated for Acromyrmex balzani and Acromyrmex rugosus rugosus. We verified that not only can the same leaf-cutting ant species deposit debris both outside and inside the nest but also the same nest can present internal chambers and external waste deposit. The soil beside the waste chamber always presented an acidic pH, while the humidity varied widely. Our results showed that the nest depth was highly correlated with the depth of the waste chamber (p = 0.0003) and probably has some influence on waste disposal. The characteristics of the nest and the role of depth in the choice of waste chamber location are discussed.
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spelling Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambersAcromyrmexDebris chambersGarbage disposalNest depthWaste managementLeaf-cutting ants produce large quantities of waste that harbor bacteria and fungi that are harmful to the colony. To be protected from these pathogens, the workers of Atta species present a sophisticated organization to manage harmful material, which can be deposited outside the nest or in internal chambers. However, little is known about the behavior of Acromyrmex species in handling and disposal of waste. Due to some observations, we assume that the same species of Acromyrmex can deposit waste outside the nest and into internal chambers and raise the following question: what determines the occurrence of internal waste chambers in Acromyrmex? To address this question, we verified whether nest depth influences the waste-chamber occurrence. We also verified the nest structure and the abiotic factors of soil beside each waste-chamber: pH and water content of the soil. For this, eight nests were excavated for Acromyrmex balzani and Acromyrmex rugosus rugosus. We verified that not only can the same leaf-cutting ant species deposit debris both outside and inside the nest but also the same nest can present internal chambers and external waste deposit. The soil beside the waste chamber always presented an acidic pH, while the humidity varied widely. Our results showed that the nest depth was highly correlated with the depth of the waste chamber (p = 0.0003) and probably has some influence on waste disposal. The characteristics of the nest and the role of depth in the choice of waste chamber location are discussed.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Centro de Estudo de Insetos Sociais Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP, Av. 24-A, n. 1515, Bela VistaGabinete da Presidência Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico CNPqFaculdade de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados UFGDCentro de Estudo de Insetos Sociais Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP, Av. 24-A, n. 1515, Bela VistaUniversidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)CNPqUFGDVerza, Sandra S. [UNESP]Diniz, Eduardo A.Chiarelli, Mara F. [UNESP]Mussury, Rosilda M.Bueno, Odair C. [UNESP]2018-12-11T17:09:54Z2018-12-11T17:09:54Z2017-06-01info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/article119-126application/pdfhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6Acta Ethologica, v. 20, n. 2, p. 119-126, 2017.0873-9749http://hdl.handle.net/11449/17422210.1007/s10211-017-0255-62-s2.0-850129185022-s2.0-85012918502.pdfScopusreponame:Repositório Institucional da UNESPinstname:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)instacron:UNESPengActa Ethologica0,769info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess2024-04-11T14:57:21Zoai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/174222Repositório InstitucionalPUBhttp://repositorio.unesp.br/oai/requestopendoar:29462024-08-05T20:18:56.613111Repositório Institucional da UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)false
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
title Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
spellingShingle Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
Verza, Sandra S. [UNESP]
Acromyrmex
Debris chambers
Garbage disposal
Nest depth
Waste management
title_short Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
title_full Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
title_fullStr Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
title_full_unstemmed Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
title_sort Waste of leaf-cutting ants: disposal, nest structure, and abiotic soil factors around internal waste chambers
author Verza, Sandra S. [UNESP]
author_facet Verza, Sandra S. [UNESP]
Diniz, Eduardo A.
Chiarelli, Mara F. [UNESP]
Mussury, Rosilda M.
Bueno, Odair C. [UNESP]
author_role author
author2 Diniz, Eduardo A.
Chiarelli, Mara F. [UNESP]
Mussury, Rosilda M.
Bueno, Odair C. [UNESP]
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
CNPq
UFGD
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Verza, Sandra S. [UNESP]
Diniz, Eduardo A.
Chiarelli, Mara F. [UNESP]
Mussury, Rosilda M.
Bueno, Odair C. [UNESP]
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Acromyrmex
Debris chambers
Garbage disposal
Nest depth
Waste management
topic Acromyrmex
Debris chambers
Garbage disposal
Nest depth
Waste management
description Leaf-cutting ants produce large quantities of waste that harbor bacteria and fungi that are harmful to the colony. To be protected from these pathogens, the workers of Atta species present a sophisticated organization to manage harmful material, which can be deposited outside the nest or in internal chambers. However, little is known about the behavior of Acromyrmex species in handling and disposal of waste. Due to some observations, we assume that the same species of Acromyrmex can deposit waste outside the nest and into internal chambers and raise the following question: what determines the occurrence of internal waste chambers in Acromyrmex? To address this question, we verified whether nest depth influences the waste-chamber occurrence. We also verified the nest structure and the abiotic factors of soil beside each waste-chamber: pH and water content of the soil. For this, eight nests were excavated for Acromyrmex balzani and Acromyrmex rugosus rugosus. We verified that not only can the same leaf-cutting ant species deposit debris both outside and inside the nest but also the same nest can present internal chambers and external waste deposit. The soil beside the waste chamber always presented an acidic pH, while the humidity varied widely. Our results showed that the nest depth was highly correlated with the depth of the waste chamber (p = 0.0003) and probably has some influence on waste disposal. The characteristics of the nest and the role of depth in the choice of waste chamber location are discussed.
publishDate 2017
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2017-06-01
2018-12-11T17:09:54Z
2018-12-11T17:09:54Z
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 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6
Acta Ethologica, v. 20, n. 2, p. 119-126, 2017.
0873-9749
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/174222
10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6
2-s2.0-85012918502
2-s2.0-85012918502.pdf
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/174222
identifier_str_mv Acta Ethologica, v. 20, n. 2, p. 119-126, 2017.
0873-9749
10.1007/s10211-017-0255-6
2-s2.0-85012918502
2-s2.0-85012918502.pdf
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Acta Ethologica
0,769
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 119-126
application/pdf
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
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