Lasius fuliginosus Nest Carton as a Source of New Promising Bioactive Extracts with Chemopreventive Potential

Six new water extracts (E1–E6) were obtained from nest carton produced by jet black ants Lasius fuliginosus and tested for their biochemical and bioactive properties, including antioxidative and anticancer effects. The present study demonstrated significant qualitative and quantitative differences in the content of individual biochemical constituents, as well as bioactive properties between the investigated samples. All tested extracts demonstrated antioxidant properties (determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) methods), and the highest antioxidative potential was recorded in extracts E1 and E2 (188.96 and 313.67 μg/mL of ascorbic acid equivalent for ABTS and 176.42 and 202.66 μg/mL for DPPH reagent). Furthermore the six extracts exhibited strong inhibitory activity towards human melanoma cells of the A-375 CRL-1619 line in a dose-dependent manner. The most interesting chemopreventive activity was exhibited by extract E2, which inhibited the proliferation of A-375 cells to the greatest extent, while having a minimal effect on Vero cells. The effect on cancer cells has been confirmed using the Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS) technique. Significant impedance changes have been detected in A-375 and Vero cells following the administration of extract E2. The obtained results are really promising and constitute the basis for further research on the nest carton of jet black ant.

Preventing Transmission of Lethal Disease: Removal Behaviour of Lasius fuliginosus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Towards Fungus Contaminated Aphids

The ability of ants to detect and remove conidia-contaminated aphids, aimed at limiting contacts with potentially dangerous entities, is an effective antifungal mechanism to prevent the spread of infection among both their nestmates and aphids, their main suppliers of carbohydrates. However, the spread and the scale of this quarantining behaviour among ants are still scarcely studied. Among seven ant species studied, active usage of quarantining behaviour was found only in Formica ants. The behaviour of Lasius fuliginosus (Latreille) aphid milkers towards Chaitophorus populeti (Panzer) aphids covered with conidia of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo-Crivelli) Vuillemin was studied in the field. Most aggressive milkers quickly detected and removed conidia-contaminated aphids from the plant, carrying them down and placing them some distance away from the experimental aspen trees. In general, active usage of quarantining behaviour towards conidia-contaminated aphids was found to be not limited to the genus Formica, but typical of L. fuliginosus as well. The response of milkers of L. fuliginosus and Formica s. str. ants to living aphids covered with conidia is quite similar. Removal of most fungus-contaminated aphids from the plant enables these ants to reduce the risk of infection transmission among both their nestmates and aphids.

A new myrmecophilous mite species of the genus Cosmolaelaps Berlese, 1903 (Acari, Mesostigmata, Laelapidae) from Central Europe (Slovakia)

A new laelapid mite of the genus Cosmolaelaps Berlese, 1903, C. ekaterinae sp. n., is described based on female and male adults found in a mixed ant colony of Lasius umbratus (Nylander, 1846) infiltrated by another congeneric species, Lasius fuliginosus (Latreille, 1798). The new species is unusual for Cosmolaelaps in having dorsal setae that are particularly elongate and tapered. In addition to the new species description, we comment on the classification of some species that were recently included in Cosmolaelaps.

Ants biting amphibians: a review and new observations

Antagonistic interactions between insects and amphibians are the subject of many scientific articles, mostly concerning amphibian predation on insect, but many fewer examples exist of the opposite situation. In this article we review available information from the literature and add our own observations collected during amphibian pitfall trap monitoring in 2012–2016 in Western Poland, as well as discuss potential conservation implications of observed behavior. We identified a total of 29 cases involving 94 individual ants attacking four species of Anura, Rana temporaria, Pelophylax esculentus complex, Bufo bufo, and Pelobates fuscus, and biting their back, cloaca, armpits, or hind legs. Bites were inflicted by three ant species: Myrmica rubra, Lasius fuliginosus, and Formica polyctena. The number of ants found on an amphibian was positively and significantly correlated with its body length. To date, direct damage by ants on amphibians was reported mainly from the tropics in general predation accident. However, as we document here, it is probably a more common phenomenon, especially in some ecological traps or during pitfall trapping, which is a common method to mitigate road mortality of frogs and toads.

Unveiling community patterns and trophic niches of tropical and temperate ants using an integrative framework of field data, stable isotopes and fatty acids

Background The use and partitioning of trophic resources is a central aspect of community function. On the ground of tropical forests, dozens of ant species may be found together and ecological mechanisms should act to allow such coexistence. One hypothesis states that niche specialization is higher in the tropics, compared to temperate regions. However, trophic niches of most species are virtually unknown. Several techniques might be combined to study trophic niche, such as field observations, fatty acid analysis (FAA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA). In this work, we combine these three techniques to unveil partitioning of trophic resources in a tropical and a temperate community. We describe patterns of resource use, compare them between communities, and test correlation and complementarity of methods to unveil both community patterns and species’ niches. Methods Resource use was assessed with seven kinds of bait representing natural resources available to ants. Neutral lipid fatty acid (NLFA) profiles, and δ15N and δ13C isotope signatures of the species were also obtained. Community patterns and comparisons were analyzed with clustering, correlations, multivariate analyses and interaction networks. Results Resource use structure was similar in both communities. Niche breadths (H′) and network metrics (Q and H2′) indicated similar levels of generalization between communities. A few species presented more specialized niches, such as Wasmannia auropunctata and Lasius fuliginosus. Stable isotope signatures and NLFA profiles also indicated high generalization, although the latter differed between communities, with temperate species having higher amounts of fat and proportions of C18:1n9. Bait use and NLFA profile similarities were correlated, as well as species’ specialization indices (d′) for the two methods. Similarities in δ15N and bait use, and in δ13C and NLFA profiles, were also correlated. Discussion Our results agree with the recent view that specialization levels do not change with latitude or species richness. Partition of trophic resources alone does not explain species coexistence in these communities, and might act together with behavioral and environmental mechanisms. Temperate species presented NLFA patterns distinct from tropical ones, which may be related to environmental factors. All methods corresponded in their characterization of species’ niches to some extent, and were robust enough to detect differences even in highly generalized communities. However, their combination provides a more comprehensive picture of resource use, and it is particularly important to understand individual niches of species. FAA was applied here for the first time in ant ecology, and proved to be a valuable tool due to its combination of specificity and temporal representativeness. We propose that a framework combining field observations with chemical analysis is valuable to understand resource use in ant communities.

A new species of Formicomotes Sevastianov (Acari: Heterostigmata: Dolichocybidae) associated with termites (Isoptera: Termitidae) from Brazil, with redescription of Formicomotes octipes Sevastianov, 1980

The new species Formicomotes brasiliensis sp. nov. (Acari: Heterostigmata: Dolichocybidae), phoretic on the termite genus Nasutitermes Dudley (Insecta: Isoptera) from Brazil, is described. The genus Formicomotes Sevastianov, 1980 is recorded from the Neotropical region for the first time. Formicomotes octipes Sevastianov, 1980 is redescribed based on type material collected on the ant species Lasius fuliginosus and new specimens from Crimea collected from forest litter.