Consumption of lipid-rich seed arils improves larval development in a Neotropical primarily carnivorous ant, Odontomachus chelifer (Ponerinae)

Abstract:Odontomachus chelifer ants collect fallen arillate seeds of Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae), a bird-dispersed tree of the Atlantic rain forest. In the nest the larvae are fed with the lipid-rich aril, and the viable seed is discarded. Benefits from secondary seed dispersal by ants are well documented for tropical plants, but benefits to ants from consuming vertebrate-dispersed diaspores are uncertain. Twelve captive colonies of O. chelifer were used to investigate the effect of aril consumption on larval development. Treatment colonies were supplemented with 1 g of C. canjerana arils, whereas control colonies were supplemented with 1 g of synthetic diet. Egg and larval production did not differ between experimental colonies after 5 mo. Aril-fed larvae, however, grew 3.5 times larger than those in control colonies. Essential fatty acids in the arils possibly account for improved larval development. Consumption of lipid-rich arils may be critical under scarcity of arthropod prey. Improved larval development through aril consumption confirms that this ant-seed interaction is facultatively mutualistic. This result is meaningful given the predominantly carnivorous diet of O. chelifer, and the generalized nature of ant-seed/fruit interactions in tropical forests. Whether or not benefits to larvae translate into significant gains for ant colonies is uncertain.

Download Full-text

Origin, adaptive radiation and diversification of the Hawaiian lobeliads (Asterales: Campanulaceae)

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2008.1204 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 276 (1656) ◽

pp. 407-416 ◽

Cited By ~ 220

Author(s):

Thomas J Givnish ◽

Kendra C Millam ◽

Austin R Mast ◽

Thomas B Paterson ◽

Terra J Theim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Phylogeny ◽

Tropical Forests ◽

Adaptive Radiation ◽

Growth Form ◽

Oceanic Island ◽

Tube Length ◽

Tropical Plants ◽

Limited Dispersal ◽

Adaptive Radiations ◽

Morphological Differences

The endemic Hawaiian lobeliads are exceptionally species rich and exhibit striking diversity in habitat, growth form, pollination biology and seed dispersal, but their origins and pattern of diversification remain shrouded in mystery. Up to five independent colonizations have been proposed based on morphological differences among extant taxa. We present a molecular phylogeny showing that the Hawaiian lobeliads are the product of one immigration event; that they are the largest plant clade on any single oceanic island or archipelago; that their ancestor arrived roughly 13 Myr ago; and that this ancestor was most likely woody, wind-dispersed, bird-pollinated, and adapted to open habitats at mid-elevations. Invasion of closed tropical forests is associated with evolution of fleshy fruits. Limited dispersal of such fruits in wet-forest understoreys appears to have accelerated speciation and led to a series of parallel adaptive radiations in Cyanea , with most species restricted to single islands. Consistency of Cyanea diversity across all tall islands except Hawai i suggests that diversification of Cyanea saturates in less than 1.5 Myr. Lobeliad diversity appears to reflect a hierarchical adaptive radiation in habitat, then elevation and flower-tube length, and provides important insights into the pattern and tempo of diversification in a species-rich clade of tropical plants.

Download Full-text

Interactions between ants, fruits and seeds in a restinga forest in south-eastern Brazil

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467403003298 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 261-270 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

Luciana Passos ◽

Paulo S. Oliveira

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forests ◽

Sandy Soil ◽

Considerable Part ◽

Ant Community ◽

Seed Biology ◽

South Eastern ◽

Ponerine Ants ◽

Eastern Brazil ◽

Germination Success ◽

Odontomachus Chelifer

Fleshy diaspores (fruits, seeds) comprise a large portion of the litter on the floor of tropical forests, and interactions involving litter-foraging ants and diaspores are common in these areas. In this study, the interactions between ants and non-myrmecochorous diaspores (i.e. not adapted to dispersal by ants) were surveyed along a 1.4-km transect in a restinga forest (sandy soil) on the coast of south-eastern Brazil. During 2 y of monthly samplings, 562 interactions involving 48 ant species and 44 species of diaspore (0.02–11.10 g) were recorded. Ant–diaspore associations involved a considerable part of the ground-dwelling ant community. Large ponerine ants individually removed the diaspores up to 13 m, whereas small ants (myrmicines) normally recruited workers and consumed the diaspore on the spot. Ant-derived benefits to diaspores of non-myrmecochorous plants included secondary dispersal (small to medium-sized diaspores), and increased germination success after seed cleaning by ants. Large ponerine ants such as Odontomachus chelifer and Pachycondyla striata were the main seed vectors. Seedlings of three species were associated with nests of O. chelifer. The results indicate that ants play an important role in fruit/seed biology in the restinga forest.

Download Full-text

Bioluminescent Coleoptera of Biological Station of Boracéia (Salesópolis, SP, Brazil): diversity, bioluminescence and habitat distribution

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/s1676-06032012000300001 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 21-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Vadim Ravara Viviani ◽

Raphael Machado dos Santos

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forests ◽

Rain Forest ◽

Sao Paulo ◽

Atlantic Rain Forest ◽

São Paulo ◽

Biological Station ◽

Paulo State ◽

The World ◽

São Paulo State ◽

Unique Species

Brazil hosts the richest biodiversity of bioluminescent beetles in the world. Several species are found in the Atlantic rain forest, one of the richest and most threatened tropical forests in the world. We have catalogued the biodiversity of bioluminescent species mainly of Elateroidea superfamily occurring in one of the last largest and most preserved remnants of Atlantic rain forest, located at the Biological Station of Boracéia of São Paulo University (Salesopolis, SP, Brazil). This site accounted with the largest diversity ever found for a single place in São Paulo State, with 39 species: Lampyridae (30), Phengodidae (5), Elateridae (3) and Staphylinidae (1). This fauna has unique species that were not found in any other places of Atlantic forest in São Paulo state, especially fireflies from the Lampyrinae tribes (Cratomorphini, Lamprocerini, Lucidotini), the subfamilies Amydetinae and Photurinae, and the phengodids Pseudophengodes and Brasilocerus sp.2. Most species are found in dense Ombrophyl forest or at their border, and a few ones are found dwelling in the few open fields around the forest. There is a predominance of glowing patterns in the green region among forest inhabiting species when compared with open field fireflies.

Download Full-text

The Habitat Affects the Ecological Interactions between Azteca Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Cecropia Loefl. (Urticaceae Juss.)

Sociobiology ◽

10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2044 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 65 (2) ◽

pp. 177

Author(s):

Marcos Augusto Ferraz Carneiro ◽

André Luiz Gaglioti ◽

Karine Santana Carvalho ◽

Ivan Cardoso Nascimento ◽

Juliana Zina

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forests ◽

Rain Forest ◽

Secondary Forest ◽

Human Impacts ◽

Behavioral Pattern ◽

Atlantic Rain Forest ◽

Ecological Interactions ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Plant Resource ◽

Forested Areas

In order to understand the effects of human impacts on structure and functioning of tropical forests, we should consider studies on animal-plant interactions such as antplant mutualistic interactions.We investigated the mutualistic interactions between ants (Azteca genera) and Cecropia plants in habitats of secondary forest and pasture used as cattle fields. We tested for the following hyphothesis: (i) Cecropia from pasture are more susceptible to foliar herbivory than the Cecropia from the forest, and (ii) the defense promoted by ants of Azteca genus is less efficient in the pasture when compared to the forested areas. We selected four areas inserted in Atlantic rain forest domain surrounded by secondary forest and by cattle pastures. The herbivory was more intense in the pasture than in the secondary forest. The presence of Azteca species diminished foliar herbivory only in the forested areas, where we observed a significant increase in herbivory after the removal of A. alfari colony. We argue that the greater herbivory in pasture occurs probably due the lack of other plant resource, being Cecropia paschystachya Trécul and C. glaziovii Snethl., isolated in a “sea of grass” without connection with other tree vegetation, opposite scenario observed in forested habitats. The defense of Azteca only in the secondary forest, leading us to suppose that: 1) not even the your aggressive behavior is able to reduce the intense herbivory in the pasture; 2) the your behavioral pattern in forest is not the same in deforested environments and / or 3) mutualism may be undergoing changes due to abiotic effects on pasture.

Download Full-text