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Antagonistic interactions between garden yeasts and microfungal garden pathogens of leaf-cutting ants
(Springer, 2009-10-01)
We investigate the diversity of yeasts isolated in gardens of the leafcutter ant Atta texana. Repeated sampling of gardens from four nests over a 1-year time period showed that gardens contain a diverse assemblage of yeasts. ...
Growth of populations and the fungus garden of Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) response to foraged substrates
(California State University, 2008-01-01)
The leaf-cutting ants forage diverse plants for cultivation of symbiotic fungus, which is a primary food source for larvae in the colony. Previous studies have suggested that continuous offering of a single vegetal species ...
Planting of fungus onto hibernating workers of the fungus-growing ant Mycetosoritis clorindae (Attini, Formicidae)
(Birkhauser Verlag Ag, 2010-05-01)
We describe a peculiar fungus-coating behavior of the attine ant Mycetosoritis clorindae, where workers plant fungal mycelium on hibernating nestmates. Hibernating nestmates become ultimately enveloped in a live mycelial ...
The effect of plant diversity on fungus garden development and foraging behavior of leaf-cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
(2003-08-18)
The leaf-cutting ants forage a wide variety of plant species, used for symbiotic fungus cultivation. To better understand this tripartite complex interaction, 24 colonies of Acromyrmex subterraneus brunneus were conditioned ...
Leaf-cutting ant faecal fluid and mandibular gland secretion: effects on microfungi spore germination
(Soc Brasileira Microbiologia, 2008-01-01)
The mandibular gland secretion (MGS) and the faecal fluid (FF) of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel affected the spore germination of selected microfungi isolated from nests of this insect. MGS was more ...
Fungal communities in the garden chamber soils of leaf-cutting ants
(2013-05-27)
Leaf-cutting ants modify the properties of the soil adjacent to their nests. Here, we examined whether such an ant-altered environment impacts the belowground fungal communities. Fungal diversity and community structure ...
Starch metabolism in Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, the symbiotic fungus of leaf-cutting ants
(Elsevier B.V., 2006-01-01)
Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, the symbiotic fungus of the leaf-cutting ants, degrades starch, this degradation being supposed to occur in the plant material which leafcutters forage to the nests, generating most of the ...
Ecology of microfungal communities in gardens of fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a year-long survey of three species of attine ants in Central Texas
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2011-11-01)
We profiled the microfungal communities in gardens of fungus-growing ants to evaluate possible species-specific ant-microfungal associations and to assess the potential dependencies of microfungal diversity on ant foraging ...
Sex allocation in the polydomous leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex balzani
(Springer, 2007-03-01)
Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse sex allocation in a population of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex balzani occurring in a pasture in southern Brazil. The field sample consisted of 151 fungus-garden chambers ...
Survival of Atta sexdens workers on different food sources
(Elsevier B.V., 2003-04-01)
Leaf-cutting ants belonging to the tribe Attini are major herbivores and important agriculture pests in the neotropics, these ants being thought to feed on the sap which exudes from the plant material which they cut and ...