Ants nesting in dry fallen petioles of Cecropia obtusifolia Bertol. (Urticaceae): vertical stratification and nest site limitation

Novais, Samuel; Hernández‐Ortiz, Vicente; Hernández, Karla Rodríguez; Quesada, Maurício; Valenzuela, Jorge; Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson; Aguirre‐Jaimes, Armando

doi:10.1007/s00040-020-00763-8

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The rapid relocation, in less than four weeks, of large groups of adults and brood into artificial nests as occurred in one of our samples, suggests a remarkable capacity for rapid resettlement. Such a capacity would allow a major advantage for this species as cavity size and nest site availability are the most important limiting factors for arboreal cavity-dwelling ants ( Fonseca, 1999 ; Philpott & Foster, 2005 ; Sagata et al, 2010 ; Burns et al, 2019 ; Novais et al, 2020 ) which commonly need to distribute their population into several cavities. This polydomous nesting strategy is supposed to enhance the foraging capacity of the colonies ( Davidson, 1997 ; Cerdá, Dahbi & Retana, 2002 ; Debout et al, 2007 ; Stroeymeyt, Joye & Keller, 2017 ), an effect that would be reinforced by the generalist diet habits of C. rectangularis and the random distribution of its alimentary resources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-occurrence in ant primary parasitoids: a Camponotus rectangularis colony as host of two eucharitid wasp genera

Pérez‐Lachaud

Lachaud

2021

PeerJ

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Different assemblages of parasitoids may attack a given host species and non-random distribution patterns in parasitoid species assemblages have been reported on various occasions, resulting in co-occurrence at the population, colony, or even individual host levels. This is the case for different closely related species of eucharitid wasps (a family of specialized ant parasitoids) sharing similar niches and co-occurring on the same host at different levels. Here we reviewed all known associations between eucharitid wasps and the ant host genus Camponotus Mayr, 1861 and reported new ant-parasitoid associations. In addition, we report a new case of co-occurrence in eucharitid wasps, at the host colony level, involving a new undescribed species of Pseudochalcura Ashmead, 1904 and an unidentified species of Obeza Heraty, 1985, which attack the common but very poorly known neotropical arboreal ant Camponotus rectangularis Emery, 1890. Most attacks were solitary, but various cocoons were parasitized by two (16%) or three (8%) parasitoids. Globally, parasitism prevalence was very low (3.7%) but showed an important variability among samples. Low parasitism prevalence along with host exposure to parasitoid attack on host plants and overlapping reproductive periods of both parasitoid species may have allowed the evolution of co-occurrence. We also provided some additional data regarding the host ant nesting habits, the colony composition and new symbiotic associations with membracids and pseudococcids. The seemingly polydomous nesting habits of C. rectangularis could play a part in the reduction of parasitism pressure at the population level and, combined with occasionally important local parasitism rates, could also contribute to some parts of the colonies escaping from parasites, polydomy possibly representing an effective parasitism avoidance trait.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-occurrence in ant primary parasitoids: a Camponotus rectangularis colony as host of two eucharitid wasp genera

Pérez‐Lachaud

Lachaud

2021

PeerJ

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“…The majority of arboreal ant species nest in hollow cavities of different sizes, in live and dead wood, which can be highly persistent through time (Klimes, 2017; Novais et al., 2018; Powell, 2016). On the other hand, many tropical litter‐dwelling ants nest in more ephemeral, decaying materials such as fallen branches and other plant debris (Byrne, 1994; Fernandes et al, 2012; Kaspari, 1996; Macedo‐Reis et al., 2019; Novais et al., 2020; Sagata et al., 2010). The canopy is therefore likely to have more persistent shelter resources and a less drastic shift in microclimatic conditions across seasons than the litter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the ant community in a dry forest differ by vertical strata but not by successional stage

et al. 2021

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Ants are diverse and ecologically important organisms in tropical forests, where their spatiotemporal distribution can be highly complex. This complexity arises mainly from marked differences in microclimatic conditions and resource availability through space and time that is even more evident in highly seasonal environments, such as tropical dry forests. However, it is unclear how seasonality interacts with other factors that might shape temporal variation of ant composition (β-diversity), like vertical strata and habitat disturbance. Our goal was to examine the potential influence of vertical stratification and the successional stage on the spatiotemporal variation of a tropical dry forest's ant species composition. We assessed whether species turnover or nestedness was the main component determining the spatiotemporal β-diversity of ant communities across the canopy and litter strata. We sampled canopy and litter ants in ten plots, half in the early and half on the late stage of secondary succession at four times, twice in wet and twice in dry season. A high species turnover defined the spatiotemporal β-diversity of canopy and litter ant communities across years and seasons in our focal dry forests. Importantly, the temporal ant species composition was much more stable in the canopy than in the litter. Moreover, we found that the ant community's temporal dynamics was consistently high across successional stages, not differing in the temporal β-diversity between early and late succession. Our results provide valuable insights into the potential underlying causes of community assembly and spatiotemporal dynamics in seasonal habitats, like the highly threatened and diverse tropical dry forests.

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“…The availability of nesting sites represents a limiting resource for arboreal ants (Philpott and Foster 2005, Mottl et al 2019, Novais et al 2020). Previous studies have demonstrated an increase in arboreal ant abundance and distribution when the availability and diversity of nesting sites is increased (Sagata et al 2010, Powell et al 2011, Jiménez‐Soto and Philpott 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have demonstrated an increase in arboreal ant abundance and distribution when the availability and diversity of nesting sites is increased (Sagata et al 2010, Powell et al 2011, Jiménez‐Soto and Philpott 2015). In a recent study, Novais et al (2020) showed that dry fallen petioles of Cecropia trees represent an important nesting resource for arboreal twig‐nesting ants, and therefore, they suggested that Cecropia trees are key components of tropical forests that maintain arboreal ant diversity by promoting a substantial increase in the availability of nesting sites for arboreal twig‐nesting ants through dry fallen petioles. In the present study, we suggest that dead domatia of C. alliodora trees also represent an important nesting resource for arboreal twig‐nesting ants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, we suggest that dead domatia of C. alliodora trees also represent an important nesting resource for arboreal twig‐nesting ants. Compared with Cecropia trees that shed a few leaves each day and hundreds of leaves can accumulate on the vegetation below their canopy over time (see Novais et al 2020), domatia of C. alliodora trees do not seem to dry out as often. However, contrary to Cecropia petioles which their pith is the most voluminous portion and consists of soft, spongy parenchyma, C. alliodora stems consist of sound wood (Devall et al 1988, Wightman et al 2001), and therefore, the abandoned dry domatia are likely to remain available for colonization by twig‐nesting ants for a much longer period of time until their degradation compared with Cecropia petioles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Arthropod facilitation mediated by abandoned dead domatia

et al. 2021

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In ant-plant mutualistic interactions, plants provide shelter (domatia) and/or food to ants and in exchange, and ants provide protection against herbivores. After plant tissue senescence, ants are expected to abandon dead domatia, leaving these empty spaces available for other arthropods. In this study, we tested for the role of the mutualistic interaction between Cordia alliodora and Azteca pittieri in promoting new habitats for arthropods through abandoned dead domatia. We predicted that species richness, abundance, and colonization frequency of secondary arthropods would be greater in dead branch domatia (dead domatia) compared with live branch domatia (live domatia). During March 2019, we selected 38 C. alliodora trees in a Mexican tropical dry forest. For each tree, we collected five live and five dead domatia, for 380 domatia in total. We found six morphospecies of secondary arthropods colonizing live domatia, while 42 were present in dead domatia. Ants were the most species-rich group (10 species) in abandoned dead domatia and utilized them as nesting sites (25 nests). Secondary arthropod species richness, abundance, and colonization frequency were greater in dead domatia compared with live domatia. We concluded that the Azteca-Cordia mutualistic interaction is an important habitat facilitator by promoting new habitats for arthropods through abandoned dead domatia.

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Ants nesting in dry fallen petioles of Cecropia obtusifolia Bertol. (Urticaceae): vertical stratification and nest site limitation

Cited by 6 publications

References 26 publications

Co-occurrence in ant primary parasitoids: a Camponotus rectangularis colony as host of two eucharitid wasp genera

Co-occurrence in ant primary parasitoids: a Camponotus rectangularis colony as host of two eucharitid wasp genera

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the ant community in a dry forest differ by vertical strata but not by successional stage

Arthropod facilitation mediated by abandoned dead domatia

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