Deciphering the chemical phenotype in Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A relationship between polymorphism and cuticular hydrocarbons

Authors

  • Poliana Galvão dos Santos Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental. Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7753-7074
  • Elane Galvão dos Santos Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas e Ambientais (FCBA). Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0715-5585
  • Ingrid de Carvalho Guimarães Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental. Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8036-2703
  • Kamylla Balbuena Michelutti Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental. Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4264-0703
  • Claudia Andrea Lima Cardoso Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA). Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4907-0056
  • William Fernando Antonialli-Junior Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental. Dourados, MS, Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7977-9827

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2022.62.009

Keywords:

Myrmicinae, Subcastes, Cuticular hydrocarbons, Leaf-cutting ants

Abstract

In the Attina subtribe the division of labor among workers is based on different tasks performed by morphological subcastes. Considering that cuticular chemical compounds play important roles as protection against water loss and mediates interactions between nestmates, and that studies on the cuticular chemical profile of ants of the genus Atta are still scarce, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between morphological and chemical phenotypes in the subcastes of Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) workers. The cuticular chemical composition of the different subcastes was assessed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry technique. The compounds found in the cuticle of the different subcastes had carbon chain size between 18 and 31 atoms, with higher content of linear alkanes in workers and soldiers and higher content of branched alkanes in gardeners and generalists, probably related to the type of tasks they perform in their colonies, since some workers perform more intra- or extranidal tasks in relation to others. The results show significant qualitative differences in the cuticular composition of the different subcastes, with a greater relationship between them according to the environmental restrictions that each subcaste is more subjected to due to the role played in the colony.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Blomquist, G.J. & Bagnères, A.G. 2010. Insect hydrocarbons: biology, biochemistry, and chemical ecology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Bouchebti, S.; Jost, C.; Caldato, N.; Forti, L.C. & Fourcassié, V. 2015. Comparative study of resistance to heat in two species of leaf-cutting ants. Insectes Sociaux, 62: 97 99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-014-0378-y.

Bragança, M.A.L. 2007. Perspectiva da contribuição de forídeos parasitóides no manejo de formigas cortadeiras. O Biológico, 69(Supl. 2):177 181. (Simpósio de Mirmecologia, 18º. Palestras. São Paulo, Instituto Biológico). http://www.biologico.sp.gov.br/uploads/docs/bio/suplementos/v69_supl_2/p177-181.pdf.

Bragança, M.A.L. & Medeiros, Z.C.S. 2006. Ocorrência e características biológicas de forídeos parasitóides (Diptera: Phoridae) da saúva Atta laevigata (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em Porto Nacional, TO. Neotropical Entomology, 35(3): 408 411. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-566X2006000300018.

Bragança, M.A.L.; Tonhasca, J.A. & Moreira, D.D.O. 2002. Parasitism characteristics of two phorid fly species in relation to their host, the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Neotropical Entomology, 31(2): 241 244. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-566X2002000200010.

Conte, Y.L. & Hefetz, A. 2008. Primer pheromones in social Hymenoptera. Annual Review of Entomology, 53: 523 542. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091434.

Duarte, B.F.; Michelutti, K.B.; Antonialli Jr., W.F. & Cardoso, C.A.L. 2019. Effect of temperature on survival and cuticular composition of three different ant species. Journal of Thermal Biology, 80: 178 189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2019.02.005.

Erthal, M. & Tonhasca, A. 2000. Biology and oviposition behavior of the phorid Apocephalus attophilus and the response of its host, the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 95: 71 75. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003902402166.

Gordon, D.M. 2016. From division of labor to the collective behavior of social insects. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobioly, 70(7): 1101 1108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-2045-3.

Greene, M.J. & Gordon, D.M. 2003. Cuticular hydrocarbons inform task decisions. Nature, 423(6935): 32. https://doi.org/10.1038/423032a.

Hart, A.G. & Ratnielks, F.L.W. 2001. Task partitioning, division of labour and nest compartmentalisation collectively isolate hazardous waste in the leafcutting ant Atta cephalotes. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 49(5): 387 392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002650000312.

Hart, A.G. & Ratnielks, F.L.W. 2002. Waste management in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica. Behavioral Ecology, 13(2): 224 231. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/13.2.224.

Hernández, J.V.; López, H. & Jaffe, K. 2002. Nestmate recognition signals of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata. Journal of Insect Physiology, 48(3): 287 295. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1910(01)00173-1.

Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. 2010. The leaf cutter ants: civilization by instinct. London, WW Norton.

Martin, S. & Drijfhout, F. 2009. A review of ant cuticular hydrocarbons. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 35(10): 1151 1161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-009-9695-4.

Martin, S.J.; Helanterä, H. & Drijfhout, F.P. 2011. Is parasite pressure a driver of chemical cue diversity in ants? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1705): 496 503. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1047.

Menzel, F.; Zumbusch, M. & Feldmeyer, B. 2018. How ants acclimate: Impact of climatic conditions on the cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Functional Ecology, 32(3): 657 666. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13008.

Moreira, A.; Forti, L.C.; Andrade, A.P.; Boaretto, M.A. & Lopes, J. 2004. Nest architecture of Atta laevigata (F. Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 39(2): 109 116. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650520412331333756.

Rodriguez, M.J. 2014. The effects of wind on foraging strategies of Atta cephalotes leaf-cutter ants. Doctoral Thesis. University of Colorado at Boulder, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Sprenger, P.P. & Menzel, F. 2020. Cuticular hydrocarbons in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and other insects: How and why they differ among individuals, colonies, and species. Myrmecological News, 30: 1 26. https://doi.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_030:001.

The R Project for Statistical Computing (R Core Team). 2017. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available at: https://www.R-project.org.

Valadares, L. & Nascimento, F.S. 2016. Chemical cuticular signature of leafcutter ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) worker subcastes. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 60(4): 308 311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbe.2016.06.008.

Van den Dool, H. & Kratz, P. 1963. A generalization of the retention index system including linear temperature programmed gas-liquid partition chromatography. Journal of Chromatography, 11: 463 471. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(01)80947-X.

Wagner, D.; Brown, M.J.F.; Broun, P.; Cuevas, W.; Moses, L.E.; Chao, D.L. & Gordon, D.M. 1998. Task-related differences in the cuticular hydrocarbon composition of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 24(12): 2021 2037. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020781508889.

Wagner, D.; Tissot, M. & Gordon, D. 2001. Task-related environment alters the cuticular hydrocarbon composition of harvester ants. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 27(9): 1805 1819. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010408725464.

Wilson, E.O. 1980. Caste and division of labor in leaf-cutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Atta). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 7(2): 143 156.

Downloads

Published

2022-02-09

Issue

Vol. 62 (2022)

Section

Original Article

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Responsibility: The scientific content and the opinions expressed in the manuscript are the sole responsibility of the author(s).

Copyrights: Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. The journal is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type CC-BY.

How to Cite

Santos, P. G. dos, Santos, E. G. dos, Guimarães, I. de C., Michelutti, K. B., Cardoso, C. A. L., & Antonialli-Junior, W. F. (2022). Deciphering the chemical phenotype in Atta laevigata (Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A relationship between polymorphism and cuticular hydrocarbons. Papéis Avulsos De Zoologia, 62, e202262009. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2022.62.009

Funding data