Biology of Blepharidatta Ants, the Sister Group of the Attini: A Possible Origin of Fungus-Ant Symbiosis

Diniz, J. L. M.; Brandão, Carlos Roberto Ferreira; Yamamoto, Christiane Izumi

doi:10.1007/s001140050497

Cited by 17 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, none of these visitors was ambushed by Blepharidatta sp. workers, contrary to what was observed in B. conops, whose workers, concealed inside the nest entrance, frequently ambush visitors (Diniz et al, 1998).…”

Section: Diet and Foraging Behaviorcontrasting

confidence: 63%

“…Frontal disk diameter in queens, head width in workers and body length in queens and workers are almost identical in both species (Table 1) (Diniz et al, 1998;Silva, 2007). On the other hand, body length in queens and workers of B. conops and Blepharidatta sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…conops and Blepharidatta sp. are soil-dwelling species with nest opening surrounded by a carcasses ring (Diniz et al, 1998), while B. brasiliensis and Blepharidatta sp-ba nest in leaf-litter, and do not form carcasses ring (Rabeling et al, 2006;Silva, 2007). B. conops and Blepharidatta sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The best studied species is B. conops (Diniz & Brandão, 1997;Diniz et al, 1998;Brandão et al, 2001Brandão et al, , 2008. B. conops colonies (up to 250 workers) live in simple nests with a single opening and a vertical tunnel with 2 cm of diameter and 20 cm deep that ends in a cone-shaped widening at the bottom.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the bottom area of the nest, prey is dismembered, chewed and fed to larvae via trophallaxis. The discarded remains are arranged in a ring around the nest opening and workers concealed in the nest entrance ambush arthropods, including other ants, attracted by the carcasses ring (Diniz et al, 1998).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Studies on an Enigmatic Blepharidatta Wheeler Population (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Brazilian Caatinga

Pereira¹,

Delabie²,

Zanette³

et al. 2014

Sociobiology

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Blepharidatta is a rare Neotropical ant genus formed by predatory species whose small colonies nest in soil or leaf-litter. A population of Blepharidatta that presents affinities with the Cerrado species, Blepharidatta conops Kempf, was found in the Caatinga biome, at the “Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Serra das Almas” (RPPNSA), in Crateús (State of Ceará, northeastern Brazil). The aim of our study was to obtain information on nest architecture, size and composition of colonies, foraging behavior, and female castes morphology in this newly found population, and to compare it with other Blepharidatta species, particularly B. conops. The results show that Blepharidatta sp. and B. conops share key features of their biology like basic nest architecture, diet and foraging behavior, monogyny, and ergatoid queens with a phragmotic head. However, marked differences were also found in queen head and mesosoma morphology, nest architecture, colony size, and queen location in the nest. Two mutually exclusive hypotheses are discussed. The Blepharidatta population found in the RPPNSA would represent a new species, possibly endemic to the Caatinga biome or this population would represent one extreme of the phenotypic variations observed in populations forming B. conops species.

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Section: Diet and Foraging Behaviorcontrasting

confidence: 63%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Studies on an Enigmatic Blepharidatta Wheeler Population (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Brazilian Caatinga

Pereira¹,

Delabie²,

Zanette³

et al. 2014

Sociobiology

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The first case of intranidal phragmosis in ants. The ergatoid queen of Blepharidatta conops (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) blocks the entrance of the brood chamber

Brandão¹,

Diniz²,

Silva³

et al. 2001

Insectes soc.

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Mature nests of the Neotropical myrmicine ant Blepharidatta conops are short blind vertical cylinders, in general excavated directly in the ground. Nurse workers hold the larvae in their mandibles while resting along the nest's walls. When nests are visited or inhabited by myrmecophiles and/or predators, especially Histeridae beetles (adults and larvae), ant workers hide their brood in the nest's subsidiary chamber, the entrance of which is then blocked by the peculiar phragmotic disk of the single ergatoid queen in the colony. The extremely modified head and anterior slope of the pronotum of the queen, that jointly form the almost circular frontal disk, represent a new kind of cryptic phragmosis in ants; exceptional modifications of these structures, which are covered with intricate sculpture, enables the queen to behave as a living gate to the brood chamber, yielding entering nestmates when tapped by them on the disk. Workers use fine grained debris to build a wall at the beginning of the brood's chamber, such that the entrance opening matches the diameter of the queen's frontal disk. Observations in several different Brazilian localities revealed that the queens' frontal disk bear unique locality-specific sculpturing patterns, possibly due to viscous population structures caused by the limited dispersal by virgin queens, whose wing buds never develop.

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Behavioral ecology and natural history of Blepharidatta brasiliensis (Formicidae, Blepharidattini)

2006

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Fungus-growing ants (Attini, Formicidae) originated about 45-65 million years ago when forging a mutualistic association with basidiomycete fungi (Lepiotaceae). Here we use information on the biology of the non-leafcutting fungus-growing ants and their close relatives in the genus Blepharidatta to evaluate hypotheses for the evolutionary origin of fungus-growing behavior in attine ants. Observations on the natural history, ecology, and behavior of the Amazonian species Blepharidatta brasiliensis are reported here for the first time. Like most attine species, B. brasiliensis and the great majority of species in the tribe Blepharidattini are inhabitants of moist tropical rainforest, suggesting a rainforest habitat also for the ancestral attine ant. The ancestral attine was probably a leaf litter dweller, building small to medium sized nests (e.g., 20-200 workers) either between leaves in the litter or in decaying wood on the rainforest floor.

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Biology of Blepharidatta Ants, the Sister Group of the Attini: A Possible Origin of Fungus-Ant Symbiosis

Cited by 17 publications

References 7 publications

Studies on an Enigmatic Blepharidatta Wheeler Population (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Brazilian Caatinga

Studies on an Enigmatic Blepharidatta Wheeler Population (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Brazilian Caatinga

The first case of intranidal phragmosis in ants. The ergatoid queen of Blepharidatta conops (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) blocks the entrance of the brood chamber

Behavioral ecology and natural history of Blepharidatta brasiliensis (Formicidae, Blepharidattini)

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