| [egg laying by worker ants, atta laevigata fred. smith 1858 (hym.form.)]. | | 1970 | 4986352 |
| inter-population differences in the essential oils of pinus caribaea needles. | differences in volatile terpene content of pinus caribaea needles and soil qualities between two pine plantations (uverito and sartenejas) in venezuela were analyzed. soils in the uverito pine plantation were sandy, low in nutritional quality, and deficient in available nitrogen and phosphorus content. pines grown on these soils presented in their needles higher concentrations of alpha-pinene, camphene, sabinene, myrcene+alpha-phellandrene mixture, beta-phellandrene, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-hu ... | 2000 | 10996258 |
| the use of alarm pheromones to enhance bait harvest by grass-cutting ants. | the enhancement of bait for the control of grass-cutting ants was investigated using two species of grass-cutting ant, atta bisphaerica (forel) and atta capiguara (gonçalves) (hymenoptera: formicidae). bait was applied in loose piles to obtain a direct relationship between ant attraction and bait harvest. enhancement with alarm pheromone compounds significantly increased the attractiveness and harvest of bait under certain conditions. a large proportion of the ants attracted to the enhanced bait ... | 2002 | 12088538 |
| nestmate recognition signals of the leaf-cutting ant atta laevigata. | behavioral tests with field colonies of atta laevigata were performed in order to identify the source of the odors used in nestmate recognition. we tested the postpharyngeal (ppg) and mandibular glands (mg) as putative organs producing chemical signals for nestmate recognition. chemical analyses of ppg were also undertaken. with a series of bioassays, we confirmed that nestmate recognition is based on cephalic odors and that these odors come mainly from the mandibular gland secretion. we show ch ... | 2002 | 12770102 |
| fat body in some genera of leaf-cutting ants (hymenoptera: formicidae). proteins, lipids and polysaccharides detection. | the comparative histochemical analysis of the fat body of workers belonging to the basal species cyphomyrmex rimosus and mycetarotes parallelus and to derived species acromyrmex disciger and atta laevigata revealed that this tissue is constituted mainly by cells denominated trophocytes and oenocytes. the trophocytes of all species studied here were characterized mainly by the proteins and lipids synthesis and storage, being the derived species the ones who have presented higher quantity of lipid ... | 2006 | 16388950 |
| plants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests. | leaf-cutting ants (atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry. however, the large accumulation of nutrients and changes in soil properties near their nests might benefit plants growing near them. here, we test whether trees use nutrients that accumulate in debris piles near, or refuse chambers within, leaf ... | 2007 | 17164194 |
| survey of neodohrniphora spp. (diptera: phoridae) at colonies of atta sexdens rubropilosa (forel) and specificity of attack behaviour in relation to their hosts. | atta sexdens rubropilosa is a leaf-cutting ant that is a significant agricultural and forestry pest in the neotropical region. this ant is parasitized by flies from the genera neodohrniphora spp., apocephalus spp. and myrmosicarius spp. this study was carried out to determine which species of neodohrniphora spp. are found near foraging trails of atta sexdens rubropilosa and to evaluate the specificity of attack behaviour of these parasitoids. from may 2002 to april 2004, we sampled neodohrniphor ... | 2008 | 18257954 |
| chemical detection of the proteins and lipids in the fat body cells from workers of attini ants (hymenoptera: formicidae). | the ultrastructural cytochemistry study and the chemical analysis carried out to examine the fat body of workers of the basal attini cyphomyrmex rimosus and mycetarotes parallelus and the derived acromyrmex disciger and atta laevigata revealed very electrondense protein granules of varied sizes and shapes distributed throughout the cytoplasm of parietal and perivisceral trophocytes and oenocytes. lipids were present in the cytoplasm of trophocytes as very electrondense granules. in m. parallelus ... | 2008 | 18272411 |
| geometry explains the benefits of division of labour in a leafcutter ant. | many ant species have morphologically distinct worker sub-castes. this presumably increases colony efficiency and is thought to be optimized by natural selection. optimality arguments are, however, often lacking in detail. in ants, the benefits of having workers in a range of sizes have rarely been explained mechanistically. in atta leafcutter ants, large workers specialize in defence and also cut fruit. fruit is soft and can be cut by smaller workers. why, therefore, are large workers involved? ... | 2008 | 18319212 |
| [occurrence and biological characteristics of parasitoid phorids (diptera: phoridae) of the leaf-cutting ant atta laevigata (smith) (hymenoptera: formicidae) in porto nacional, to, brazil]. | the purpose of this study was to verify the occurrence of parasitism in atta laevigata (smith) by phorids in porto nacional, tocantins, brazil and to evaluate some biological characteristics of those flies. from october/2002 to september/2003, at 15-day intervals, 22 samplings were carried out (149.5 +/- 82.9 workers each) comprising 3,704 ants. in the laboratory, the ants were distributed in groups of five individuals per petri dish and maintained at temperature of 25 +/- 1 masculinec and 80 +/ ... | 2006 | 18575704 |
| yeasts and filamentous fungi carried by the gynes of leaf-cutting ants. | insect-associated microbes exhibit a wide range of interactions with their hosts. one example of such interactions is the insect-driven dispersal of microorganisms, which plays an essential role in the ecology of several microbes. to study dispersal of microorganisms by leaf-cutting ants (formicidae: attini), we applied culture-dependent methods to identify the filamentous fungi and yeasts found in two different body parts of leaf-cutting ant gynes: the exoskeleton and the infrabuccal pocket. th ... | 2008 | 18665453 |
| the functional morphology of the metapleural gland of the leaf-cutting ant atta laevigata (formicidae: attini). | given the importance of the metapleural gland in ants, the present study aimed at describing it in minor, media, and major workers of atta laevigata, focusing their physiology using scanning electron microscopy (sem), histologic, and histochemical techniques. the results revealed that this gland is paired and located in the metathoracic region, consisted of two portions: secretory and the storage ones. both portions are connected by extracytoplasmic canaliculi that drain the secretion of each se ... | 2010 | 19926295 |
| expressed sequence tags from atta laevigata and identification of candidate genes for the control of pest leaf-cutting ants. | | 2011 | 21682882 |
| selective isolation of dematiaceous fungi from the workers of atta laevigata (formicidae: attini). | leaf-cutting ants (formicidae: attini) are considered pests in agriculture for their impact in human crops, as they utilize leaf fragments to raise their fungal mutualist (agaricales: lepiotaceae). basically, the basidiomycetous fungus is cultivated to supply food to adult workers and broads; in return, the ants protect it against natural enemies. however, recent studies have claimed that other microorganisms are associated to ant nests where a wide range of interactions may take place. to inves ... | 2011 | 22160859 |
| prevalence of the genus cladosporium on the integument of leaf-cutting ants characterized by 454 pyrosequencing. | the relationship of attine ants with their mutualistic fungus and other microorganisms has been studied during the last two centuries. however, previous studies about the diversity of fungi in the ants' microenvironment are based mostly on culture-dependent approaches, lacking a broad characterization of the fungal ant-associated community. here, we analysed the fungal diversity found on the integument of atta capiguara and atta laevigata alate ants using 454 pyrosequencing. we obtained 35,453 i ... | 2016 | 27307255 |
| seed dispersal and predation of buchenavia tomentosa eichler (combretaceae) in a cerrado sensu stricto, midwest brazil. | the ecology of seed dispersal is critical to understand the patterns of distribution and abundance of plant species. we investigated seed dispersal aspects associated with the high abundance of buchenavia tomentosa in the serra azul state park (pesa). we estimated fruit production and conducted fruit removal experiments. we carried out diurnal and nocturnal observations on frugivory as well as germination tests. fruiting occurred in the dry season and totaled 1,365,015 ± 762,670 fruits.ha-1. b. ... | 2015 | 26602355 |
| leaf-cutting ants: an unexpected microenvironment holding human opportunistic black fungi. | fungus-growing ants of the genus atta are known for their leaf-cutting habit, a lifestyle they have maintained since their 50-million-year-old co-evolution with a mutualistic fungus, cultivated as food. recent studies have highlighted that, in addition to the mutualistic fungus, nests of ants harbor a great diversity of microbial communities. such microorganisms include the dematiaceous fungi, which are characterized by their melanized cell walls. in order to contribute to the knowledge of funga ... | 2014 | 24969946 |
| intramandibular glands in different castes of leaf-cutting ant, atta laevigata (fr. smith, 1858) (formicidae: attini). | intramandibular glands have been poorly studied in polymorphic ants, where the differences between castes were unsufficiently scrutinized. leaf-cutting ants possess one of the most complex systems of communication and labor division, which is polymorphic well as age polyethism, and makes them an ideal model for the study of intramandibular glands. this study has investigated the occurrence of intramandibular glands in female castes and subcastes of atta laevigata. the mandibles of the queen, med ... | 2015 | 25951610 |
| the mitochondrial genome of the leaf-cutter ant atta laevigata: a mitogenome with a large number of intergenic spacers. | in this paper we describe the nearly complete mitochondrial genome of the leaf-cutter ant atta laevigata, assembled using transcriptomic libraries from sanger and illumina next generation sequencing (ngs), and pcr products. this mitogenome was found to be very large (18,729 bp), given the presence of 30 non-coding intergenic spacers (igs) spanning 3,808 bp. a portion of the putative control region remained unsequenced. the gene content and organization correspond to that inferred for the ancestr ... | 2014 | 24828084 |
| microsatellite loci characterized in the leaf-cutter ant atta laevigata. | the leaf-cutter ant atta laevigata (formicidae: attini) is an agricultural pest largely distributed in the neotropics and a model organism for studies of evolution, speciation and population genetics. microsatellites are a very powerful tool for these kind of studies, but such markers are not available for studies on a. laevigata. in the present report, we describe the isolation and characterization of nine microsatellite loci in a. laevigata and the testing of these markers across other species ... | 2013 | 23958064 |
| chemical composition of metapleural gland secretions of fungus-growing and non-fungus-growing ants. | the metapleural gland is exclusive to ants, and unusual among exocrine glands in having no mechanism for closure and retention of secretion. as yet, no clear conclusion has been reached as to the function of metapleural gland secretion. metapleural gland secretions were investigated for fungus-growing ants representing the derived attines trachymyrmex fuscus, atta laevigata, and acromyrmex coronatus, the basal attines apterostigma pilosum and mycetarotes parallelus, and non-fungus-growing ants o ... | 2012 | 22983660 |
| foraging activity of an amazonian leaf-cutting ant: responses to changes in the availability of woody plants and to previous plant damage. | this study investigates some factors affecting the foraging activity of the leaf-cutting ant atta laevigata. the study was conducted on an abandoned farm near manaus, in brazilian amazonia, where forest was beginning to regenerate. i determined how temporal changes in the structure of the woody plant community (linked to the regeneration process) affected the leaf harvesting activity of this neotropical ant. a 0.39-ha plot was established, and woody plants existing and emerging in this plot were ... | 1997 | 28307486 |