Phorid species from Acromyrmex ’s hosts and effect on their survival of two fungi proposed for the control of leafcutter ants

2019 ◽  
Vol 167 (11) ◽  
pp. 939-949
Author(s):  
Daniela Goffre ◽  
Patricia J. Folgarait
Keyword(s):  
Leafcutter Ants

Historicity of Ecocriticism and Ecocritical History: An Introductory Overview

IJOHMN ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-52
Author(s):  
Jalal Uddin Khan
Keyword(s):  
Extended Family ◽  
Nobel Laureate ◽  
Amazon Rainforest ◽  
Sixth Grader ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Biological Phenomena ◽  
Science Story ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
Popular Magazine ◽  
Living Organisms

Overlapping and interconnected, interdisciplinary and heterogeneous, amorphous and multi-layered, and deep and broad as it is, countless topics on ecoliterature make ecocriticism a comprehensive catchall term that proposes to look at a text--be it social, cultural, political, religious, or scientific--from naturalist perspectives and moves us from “the community of literature to the larger biospheric community which […] we belong to even as we are destroying it” (William Rueckert). As I was in the middle of writing and researching for this article, I was struck by a piece of nature writing by an eleven year old sixth grader born to his (South Asian and American) mixed parents, both affiliated with Johns Hopkins and already proud to belong to the extended family of a Nobel Laureate in Physics. The young boy, Rizwan Thorne-Lyman, wrote, as his science story project, an incredibly beautiful essay, “A Day in the Life of the Amazon Rainforest.” Reading about the rainforest was one of his interests, I was told. In describing the day-long activities of birds and animals among the tall trees and small plants, the 2 pp.-long narrative actually captures the eternally continuing natural cycle of the Amazon. The budding naturalist’s neat classification of the wild life into producers (leafy fruit and flowering plants and trees), consumers (caimans/crocodiles, leafcutter ants, capuchin monkey), predators (macaws, harpy eagles, jaguars, green anaconda), decomposers (worms, fungi and bacteria), parasites (phorid flies) and scavengers (millipedes) was found to be unforgettably impressive. Also the organization of the essay into the Amazon’s mutually benefitting and organically functioning flora and fauna during the day--sunrise, midday, and sunset--was unmistakably striking. I congratulated him as an aspiring environmentalist specializing in rain forest. I encouraged him that he should try to get his essay published in a popular magazine like Reader’s Digest (published did he get in no time indeed![i]) and that he should also read about (and visit) Borneo in Southeast Asia, home to other great biodiverse rainforests of the world. I called him “soft names” as a future Greenpeace and Environmental Protection leader and theorist, a soon-to-be close friend of Al Gore’s. The promising boy’s understanding, however short, of the Amazon ecology and ecosystem and the biological phenomena of its living organisms was really amazing. His essay reminded me of other famous nature writings, especially those by Fiona Macleod (see below), that are the pleasure of those interested in the ecocriticism of the literature of place--dooryards, backyards, outdoors, open fields, parks and farms, fields and pastures, and different kinds of other wildernesses.   [i] https://stonesoup.com/post/a-day-in-the-life-in-the-amazon-rainforest/

scholarly journals Disentangling nutritional pathways linking leafcutter ants and their co-evolved fungal symbionts using stable isotopes

Ecology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (9) ◽  
pp. 1999-2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Z. Shik ◽  
Winnie Rytter ◽  
Xavier Arnan ◽  
Anders Michelsen
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Leafcutter Ants

Phylogeny of leafcutter ants in the genus Atta Fabricius (Formicidae: Attini) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurício Bacci ◽  
Scott E. Solomon ◽  
Ulrich G. Mueller ◽  
Vanderlei G. Martins ◽  
Alfredo O.R. Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Leafcutter Ants

Are workers of Atta leafcutter ants capable of reproduction?

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Dijkstra ◽  
J. J. Boomsma
Keyword(s):  
Leafcutter Ants

The ejaculatory biology of leafcutter ants

2015 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 56-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne P.A. den Boer ◽  
Marlene Stürup ◽  
Jacobus J. Boomsma ◽  
Boris Baer
Keyword(s):  
Leafcutter Ants

scholarly journals Comparative FISH-mapping of TTAGG telomeric sequences to the chromosomes of leafcutter ants (Formicidae, Myrmicinae): is the insect canonical sequence conserved?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-385
Author(s):  
Carini Picardi Moraes de Castro ◽  
Danon Clemes Cardoso ◽  
Ricardo Micolino ◽  
Maykon Passos Cristiano
Keyword(s):  
High Homology ◽  
Atta Sexdens ◽  
Telomeric Sequences ◽  
Molecular Cytogenetic ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Karyotypic Formula ◽  
Cytogenetic Characterization ◽  
Common Sequence

Telomeric sequences are conserved across species. The most common sequence reported among insects is (TTAGG)n, but its universal occurrence is not a consensus because other canonical motifs have been reported. In the present study, we used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using telomeric probes with (TTAGG)6 repeats to describe the telomere composition of leafcutter ants. We performed the molecular cytogenetic characterization of six Acromyrmex Mayr, 1865 and one Atta Fabricius, 1804 species (Acromyrmex ambiguus (Emery, 1888), Ac. crassispinus (Forel, 1909), Ac. lundii (Guérin-Mèneville, 1838), Ac. nigrosetosus (Forel, 1908), Ac. rugosus (Smith, 1858), Ac. subterraneus subterraneus (Forel, 1893), and Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758)) and described it using a karyomorphometric approach on their chromosomes. The diploid chromosome number 2n = 38 was found in all Acromyrmex species, and the karyotypic formulas were as follows: Ac. ambiguus 2K = 14M + 12SM + 8ST + 4A, Ac. crassispinus 2K = 12M + 20SM + 4ST + 2A, Ac. lundii 2K = 10M + 14SM + 10ST + 4A, Ac. nigrosetosus 2K = 12M + 14SM + 10ST + 2A, and Ac. subterraneus subterraneus 2K = 14M + 18SM + 4ST + 2A. The exact karyotypic formula was not established for Ac. rugosus. FISH analyses revealed the telomeric regions in all the chromosomes of the species studied in the present work were marked by the (TTAGG)6 sequence. These results reinforce the premise that Formicidae presents high homology between their genera for the presence of the canonical sequence (TTAGG)n.

scholarly journals Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction and localization of the (TTAGG)n telomeric repeats in the chromosomes of Acromyrmex striatus (Roger, 1863) suggests a lower ancestral karyotype for leafcutter ants (Hymenoptera)

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tássia Tatiane Pontes Pereira ◽  
Ana Caroline Coelho Corrêa dos Reis ◽  
Danon Clemes Cardoso ◽  
Maykon Passos Cristiano
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Number ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral Karyotype ◽  
Chromosome Counts ◽  
Genome Chromosome ◽  
Ancestral Chromosome ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Karyotype Analyses

Chromosome counts and karyotype characterization have proved to be important features of a genome. Chromosome changes during the diversification of ants might play an important role, given the diversity and success of Formicidae. Comparative karyotype analyses on ants have enriched and helped ant systematics. Among leafcutter ants, two major chromosome counts have been described, one frequent in Atta Fabricius, 1804 (2n = 22 in all Atta spp. whose karyotype is known) and the other frequent in Acromyrmex Mayr, 1865 (2n = 38 in the majority of species whose karyotype is known). The main exception is Acromyrmexstriatus (Roger, 1863), which harbors a diploid chromosome set of 22. Here we describe the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with telomeric probes with (TTAGG)6 repeats to describe the telomere composition of A.striatus and to recover potential interstitial non-telomeric signals that may reflect fusion events during the evolution of leafcutter lineage from 38 to 22 chromosomes. Further, we reconstruct the ancestral chromosome numbers of the leafcutter clade based on a recently proposed molecular phylogenetic hypothesis and phylogenomic tree. Distinct signals have been observed in both extremities on the telomere chromosomes of A.striatus. Non-telomeric signals have not been retrieved in our analysis. It could be supposed that the low-numbered karyotype indeed represents the ancestral chromosome number of leafcutters. The phylogenetic reconstruction also recovered a low chromosome number from the diverse approaches implemented, suggesting that n = 11 is the most likely ancestral karyotype of the leafcutter ants and is a plesiomorphic feature shared between A.striatus and Atta spp.

scholarly journals The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus-cultivar provisioning in free-ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonin J.J. Crumière ◽  
Aidan James ◽  
Pol Lannes ◽  
Sophie Mallett ◽  
Anders Michelsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Generalist Herbivore ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Microbial Symbiont ◽  
Foraging Niche ◽  
Generalist Insect ◽  
Atta Colombica ◽  
Free Ranging

AbstractThe foraging trails of Atta leafcutter colonies are among the most iconic scenes in Neotropical ecosystems, with thousands of ants carrying freshly cut plant fragments back to their nests where they are used to provision a fungal food crop. We tested a hypothesis that the fungal cultivar’s multidimensional requirements for macronutrients (protein and carbohydrates) and minerals (Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P and Zn) govern the foraging breadth of Atta colombica leafcutter ants in a Panamanian rainforest. Analyses of freshly cut plant fragments carried by leafcutter foragers showed that the combination of fruits, flowers, and leaves provide for a broad realized nutritional niche that can maximize cultivar’s performance. And, while the leaves that comprised the most harvested resource also delivered an intake target containing protein in excess of the amounts that can maximize cultivar growth, in vitro experiments showed that the minerals P, Al, and Fe can enhance the cultivar’s tolerance to protein-biased substrates, and potentially expand the ants’ foraging niche. Yet, the cultivar also exhibits narrow margins between mineral limitation and toxicity that may render plant fragments with seemingly optimal blends of macronutrients unsuitable for provisioning. Our approach highlights that optimal foraging is inherently multidimensional and links the foraging behavior of a generalist insect herbivore to the fundamental nutritional niche of its microbial symbiont.Significance StatementColonies of Atta colombica leafcutter ants can contain millions of specialized workers exhibiting large-scale generalist herbivory. Yet, this generalist foraging niche also depends on the poorly understood physiological needs of the ants’ domesticated fungal cultivar. We show the cultivar’s fundamental nutritional niche is broad for carbohydrates but narrower for protein and a suite of minerals, but that the cultivar’s sensitivity to excess protein is also mediated by Al, Fe, and P. More generally, this study decouples the multidimensional foraging strategies that enable a generalist herbivore to navigate a complex nutritional landscape and mix many imbalanced foods to achieve balanced cultivar provisioning.

scholarly journals Leaf processing behaviour in Atta leafcutter ants: 90% of leaf cutting takes place inside the nest, and ants select pieces that require less cutting

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 150111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan W. Garrett ◽  
Katherine A. Carlson ◽  
Matthew Scott Goggans ◽  
Michael H. Nesson ◽  
Christopher A. Shepard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Cost ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Leaf Material ◽  
Leafcutter Ants ◽  
Leaf Processing ◽  
Laboratory Colony ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Atta Colombica ◽  
Foraging Energetics

Leafcutter ants cut trimmings from plants, carry them to their underground nests and cut them into smaller pieces before inoculating them with a fungus that serves as a primary food source for the colony. Cutting is energetically costly, so the amount of cutting is important in understanding foraging energetics. Estimates of the cutting density, metres of cutting per square metre of leaf, were made from samples of transported leaf cuttings and of fungal substrate from field colonies of Atta cephalotes and Atta colombica . To investigate cutting inside the nest, we made leaf-processing observations of our laboratory colony, A. cephalotes . We did not observe the commonly reported reduction of the leaf fragments into a pulp, which would greatly increase the energy cost of processing. Video clips of processing behaviours, including behaviours that have not previously been described, are linked. An estimated 2.9 (±0.3) km of cutting with mandibles was required to reduce a square metre of leaf to fungal substrate. Only about 12% (±1%) of this cutting took place outside of the nest. The cutting density and energy cost is lower for leaf material with higher ratios of perimeter to area, so we tested for, and found that the laboratory ants had a preference for leaves that were pre-cut into smaller pieces. Estimates suggest that the energy required to transport and cut up the leaf material is comparable to the metabolic energy available from the fungus grown on the leaves, and so conservation of energy is likely to be a particularly strong selective pressure for leafcutter ants.

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