Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)

Sociobiology

Carolina Tavares Bernardo¹  Flavio Antonio Maës dos santos³  Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves² 

[1] Universidade de Brasília;Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais;Universidade Estadual de Campinas

关键词: mutualism;    myrmecophytism;    Nasutitermes ephratae;    Azteca sp;    Cecropia pachystachya;   

DOI  :  

来源: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brazil

【 摘 要 】

Individuals ofCecropia pachystachyaTrécul (Urticaceae) hostAzteca(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) colonies in their hollow internodes and feed them with glycogen bodies produced in modified petiole bases (trichilia). In turn, ants keep trees free from herbivores and lianas. Here, we report for the first time the association of nests ofNasutitermes ephrataeRambur (Isoptera: Termitidae) with these trees, in South-Pantanal (Brazil). We aimed to describe theCecropia -ant-termite system and to investigate how their coexistence is made possible. For this we compared the frequency of termitaria betweenC. pachystachyaand another tree species, and the patrol activity of ants between individuals ofC. pachystachyawith and without termite nests. We verified how long ants took to find and remove live termite baits inC. pachystachyatrees and we described the architecture ofC. pachystachyaindividuals with and without termite nests. Termitaria occurred inC. pachystachyaat the same frequency as in other tree species. There was no relationship between ant patrol activity and the occurrence of termite nests inC. pachystachia.These results suggest that there is no effect of ant patroling activity on termitaria frequency. However, they occurred mainly in the tallest and more branched individuals, and generally were set in the lower portion of the trees, associated with the trunk, fork or basal branches. There,N. ephrataefind the opportunity to establish their nests, because ants remain close to young-active trichilia at the tip of branches, leaving the bottom of the tree almost free of patrol. The physical segregation of termite and ant life-areas may represent a escape strategy of termites in relation to ants inhabitingC. pachystachya .

【 授权许可】

Unknown