Intruders in the Nest: Interaction of Attaphila paucisetosa (Blattodea: Blaberoidea) with Atta cephalotes Workers (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Ospina-Jara, Bryan; Rodríguez, Jonathan; Lerma, James Montoya

doi:10.1007/s10905-022-09794-4

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…In our behavioral trials, we also observed that the isopods avoided the ants. This is a simple and wide-spread strategy to avoid attacks of enemies (Parmentier et al 2018;Ospina et al 2022). It was also documented that Porcellio species make use of avoidance behaviour when confronted with other adverse conditions, such as the presence of toxins (Zidar et al 2019) or predator cues (Hegarty and Kight 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because P. scaber is unable to hide its two antennae under its hard exoskeleton they may have been ripped off during an ant attack. We used this measure as a proxy for the frequency and/or severity of non-lethal attacks as frequently used in ecological studies (Schoener 1979;Ernsting and Fokkema 1983;Ospina et al 2022) For the 2019 dataset, we did not have info on fitness correlates such as body size, sex, state of pregnancy and number of remaining antennae of P. scaber.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To assess if a female was pregnant, we checked for a brood pouch or a so-called marsupium holding the eggs (Sutton 1980). To determine if the isopods suffered from an ant attack, their antennae were counted (Ospina et al 2022). Because P. scaber is unable to hide its two antennae under its hard exoskeleton they may have been ripped off during an ant attack.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissecting the costs of a facultative symbiosis in an isopod living with ants

et al. 2022

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The balance of costs and benefits is expected to drive facultative associations. Here, we assessed the costs of living in a facultative association, by studying the effect of red wood ants on different fitness correlates of the facultatively associated isopod Porcellio scaber.We demonstrated that P. scaber frequently occurs in and near hostile red wood ant nests and may even outnumber obligate nest associates. However, the facultative association involved different costs for the isopod. We found that the density of the isopod decreases near the nest with higher ant traffic. Individuals in and near the nest were smaller than individuals further away from the nest. Smaller individuals were also found at sites with higher ant traffic. In addition, a higher proportion of wounded individuals was found closer to the nest and with higher ant traffic. We recorded pregnant females and juveniles in the nest suggesting that the life cycle can be completed inside the nests. Lab experiments showed that females died sooner and invested less in reproduction in presence of red wood ants. Although P. scaber rarely provoked a strong aggression response, large numbers of the isopod were carried by the ants as prey to the nest. These preyed isopods were mainly dried out corpses.Our results showed that the ant association involves several costs for a facultative associate.Consequently, red wood ant nests and their surrounding territory may act as an alternative habitat where demographic costs are balanced with stable resource provisioning and protection against enemies.

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