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... Ants are expert navigators combining innate and learnt navigational strategies. Whereas we know that the ants’ feeding state segregates visual–navigational memories in ants navigating along a learnt route, it is an open question if the motivational state also affects the ants’ innate visual preferences. Wood ant foragers show an innate attraction to conspicuous visual cues. These foragers inhabit ...
... Ant species often have multiple morphologically distinct ‘castes’ within a single colony. Given that most of these castes are involved in non-reproductive tasks, and since such individuals thus never reproduce, the question of how ant castes can evolve is a non-trivial one. Over the years, several models have been proposed in order to explain the evolution of castes in ant colonies. Here, we attem ...
Formicidae, etc ; Aphididae; entomology; forests; host plants; Show all 5 Subjects
Abstract:
... This study aimed to investigate the interactions between ants and aphids on host plants in different habitats located in the northwestern part of Turkey. A total of 26 ant species belonging to 13 genera and 3 subfamilies from the family Formicidae (Hymenoptera) were found associated with 52 aphid species belonging to 22 genera from the family Aphididae (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea) on 66 host plant spec ...
Formicidae, etc ; Hemiptera; Neotropics; mutualism; new species; taxonomic keys; Show all 6 Subjects
Abstract:
... We describe five new Neotropical species of Ripersiella living in association with Acropyga ants in this article: R. campensis sp. nov., R. illicians sp. nov., R. montanae sp. nov., R. pediandensis sp. nov., and R. telalia sp. nov. Along with R. andensis and R. colombiensis, these species form a morphologically similar group that we informally refer to as the andensis-complex of Ripersiella. Every ...
Formicidae, etc ; Porcellio scaber; aggression; habitats; reproduction; symbiosis; traffic; wood; Show all 8 Subjects
Abstract:
... The balance between costs and benefits is expected to drive associations between species. While these balances are well understood for strict associations, we have no insights to which extent they determine facultative associations between species. Here, we quantified the costs of living in a facultative association, by studying the effects of red wood ants on the facultatively associated isopod P ...
Formicidae, etc ; Coleoptera; Diptera; arid zones; diet; habitats; lizards; Morocco; Show all 8 Subjects
Abstract:
... Diet of Quedenfeldtia moerens was studied from March 2018 to April 2019, in the Arid Anti-Atlas Mountain in Morocco. This study was carried by a repetitive sampling of available prey in the field using pitfall traps and prey consumed by 130 lizards from fecal pellets. Analysis shows that lizard's diet was composed exclusively of arthropods with four major taxonomic groups: Formicidae, Coleoptera, ...
Formicidae, etc ; females; gynandromorphs; males; sex determination; sexual dimorphism; teratology; viability; Show all 8 Subjects
Abstract:
... Originally viewed as monstrosities or scientific curiosities, developmental anomalies have been widely reported in arthropods since the nineteenth century. However, it was only after Wheeler’s studies on ants and Balazuc’s investigations on numerous other arthropods that anomalous individuals began to be systematically analyzed. Denominations for these individuals have varied greatly, generating a ...
Formicidae, etc ; Miocene epoch; amber; evolution; fossils; lighting; males; micro-computed tomography; Show all 8 Subjects
Abstract:
... Fossils are critical for understanding the evolutionary diversification, turnover, and morphological disparification of extant lineages. While fossils cannot be sequenced, phenome-scale data may be generated using micro-computed tomography (µ-CT), thus revealing hidden structures and internal anatomy, when preserved. Here, we adduce the male caste of a new fossil ant species from Miocene Ethiopian ...
Formicidae, etc ; Neotropics; diet; forests; lifestyle; natural history; rivers; symbionts; taxonomy; Amazonia; Show all 10 Subjects
Abstract:
... The ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel, 1885, has 45 valid species and is spread across the entire Neotropical region. Megalomyrmex species have been studied for decades and there are many rich natural history accounts that describe various details, including symbionts and unusual reproductive strategies. Natural history traits such as lifestyle have been used to help delimit Megalomyrmex species and th ...
Formicidae, etc ; biomass; canopy; climate change; insects; labor; phylogeny; plant litter; temperature; Show all 9 Subjects
Abstract:
... Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms—their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support ...
Formicidae, etc ; entomology; fauna; functional diversity; habitats; insects; species richness; wet season; Florida; Show all 9 Subjects
Abstract:
... Seasonal dynamics of diversity patterns are a key component to understand when assessing ecological communities across temporal scales given that long-term trends in diversity are often a product of the intricate dynamisms that occur at shorter temporal scales. However, seasonal trends in diversity are usually dependent on local-scale conditions, such as habitat types or the demographic characteri ...
Formicidae, etc ; Magnolia grandiflora; bifenthrin; deet; entomology; essential oils; fire ants; sand; solvents; toxicity; Show all 10 Subjects
Abstract:
... We tested Magnolia grandiflora L. (Magnoliales: Magnoliaceae) seed essential oil and its pure compounds for their repellency and toxicity against workers of hybrid imported fire ants. Series of dosages were tested starting from 156 µg/g to the dose where the treatment failed. Workers removed significantly less sand from the vials with M. grandiflora seed essential oil and 1-octanol treated sand at ...
Formicidae, etc ; Afrotropical region; agricultural research; holotypes; new species; ocelli; research institutions; Africa; India; Show all 9 Subjects
Abstract:
... The formicine ant genus Agraulomyrmex Prins, 1983 is recorded from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, India, and a new species Agraulomyrmex damohensis sp. nov. is described based on a single worker specimen. This genus is reported outside of the Afrotropical region for the first time. The new species is compared with the two described species of the genus from Africa and it differs from them by having nine s ...
Formicidae, etc ; DNA; adenine; cytotypes; genome; genome expansion; heterochromatin; insects; karyotyping; molecular biology; phylogeny; thymine; Show all 12 Subjects
Abstract:
... Heterochromatin is an important genome constituent comprised by a high density of repetitive DNA sequences that mediate chromosome structure and function. The species Mycetophylax morschi currently harbours three cytotypes: 2n = 26, 2n = 28 and 2n = 30 chromosomes. However, Mycetophylax conformis and Mycetophylax simplex harbour 2n = 30 and 2n = 36 chromosomes, respectively. None of the cytotypes ...
Tércio S. Melo; Elmo B. A. Koch; Matheus E. Trindade-Santos; Alessandra R. S. Andrade; Antonio D. Brescovit; Marcelo C. L. Peres; Jacques H. C. Delabie
Formicidae, etc ; Araneae; biodiversity; forests; humans; land use; occupations; population density; spiders; taxonomy; urbanization; Brazil; Show all 12 Subjects
Abstract:
... Demographic characteristics and length of land use occupation time are important factors in the evaluation of the influence of urbanization on biodiversity. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate how population density and human occupation history influence taxonomic and guild spider (Arachnida: Araneae) and ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) diversities in four distinct Administrative Regions (AR ...
Formicidae, etc ; agricultural landscapes; agriculture; agroecosystems; arable soils; environment; fauna; pests; predation; species diversity; wildlife; Show all 11 Subjects
Abstract:
... The role plant diversity has played in regulating insect communities has been of interest for decades. Recent syntheses from agroecosystems suggest increasing plant diversity can positively affect beneficial insects like predators, reducing pest pressure and increasing yield. However, the agricultural landscape of the Midwestern United States is dominated by just two crops—corn and soybean—which c ...
... Plants are often dispersal limited relying on passive or active agents to find suitable microhabitats for germination. Seeds of pioneer tree species, for example, require light gaps for growth but have short median dispersal distances and often do not provide a food reward to encourage animal dispersal. Zanthoxylum ekmanii seeds are frequently moved by ants but evaluating the effectiveness of ant‐ ...
... Lizards, especially skinks (Scincidae) occurring in arid environments constitute good study objects to test niche differentiation and other related issues of interspecific competition. Diet of five Trachylepis skink (T. punctulata, T. binotata, T. capensis, T. wahlbergii, T. damarana) was studied through stomach content analysis. Skinks were collected in savanna habitats in Namibia. In all these s ...
Formicidae, etc ; Eocene epoch; amber; computers; fossils; head; males; new species; petioles; phylogeny; thorax; Central America; Europe; Show all 13 Subjects
Abstract:
... A new species of ants, Dolichoderus jonasi sp. n., from a Late Eocene amber (Rovno and presumably Baltic ambers) of Europe is described from three workers and one male. The new species differs from all known fossil and recent species of the genus by the following set of characters: the presence of thorns on the pronotum, a head tapering to the back with pronounced occipital angles, a dimpled (with ...
... Social insects communicate by using chemical, visual, tactile, and acoustic signals, including stridulations. Ectatomma ruidum is a mainly Neotropical ant species complex that has faced strong divergence at the genetic level; the species have a highly variable blend of cuticular hydrocarbons and a relatively conserved morphology. Based on evidence for genetic and chemical differentiation, we teste ...