Research Interests:
The purpose of this paper is to describe methods developed by generations of attinologists for locating, collecting, and maintaining in the laboratory live colonies of fungus-farming ants. Our goal is to accelerate the study of the poorly... more
The purpose of this paper is to describe methods developed by
generations of attinologists for locating, collecting, and maintaining
in the laboratory live colonies of fungus-farming ants. Our goal is to
accelerate the study of the poorly known and increasingly threatened
non-leaf-cutting species of this fascinating and biologically important
group because leaf-cutting ants have historically received the majority
of scientific attention. We describe standardized measurement and
data collection protocols in three sections: (i) locating fungusfarming
ants in the field; (ii) collecting whole colonies of fungusfarming
ants; and (iii) maintaining living colonies of fungusfarming
ants in the laboratory. We provide lists of necessary
equipment and materials, including information on where they
can be acquired.
generations of attinologists for locating, collecting, and maintaining
in the laboratory live colonies of fungus-farming ants. Our goal is to
accelerate the study of the poorly known and increasingly threatened
non-leaf-cutting species of this fascinating and biologically important
group because leaf-cutting ants have historically received the majority
of scientific attention. We describe standardized measurement and
data collection protocols in three sections: (i) locating fungusfarming
ants in the field; (ii) collecting whole colonies of fungusfarming
ants; and (iii) maintaining living colonies of fungusfarming
ants in the laboratory. We provide lists of necessary
equipment and materials, including information on where they
can be acquired.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Fungus-farming (attine) ant agriculture is made up of five known agricultural systems characterized by remarkable symbiont fi- delity in which five phylogenetic groups of ants faithfully cultivate five phylogenetic groups of fungi. Here... more
Fungus-farming (attine) ant agriculture is made up of five known agricultural systems characterized by remarkable symbiont fi- delity in which five phylogenetic groups of ants faithfully cultivate five phylogenetic groups of fungi. Here we describe the first case of a lower- attine ant cultivating a higher-attine fungus based on our discovery of a Brazilian population of the relictual fungus-farming ant Aptero- stigma megacephala, known previously from four stray specimens from Peru and Colombia. We find that A. megacephala is the sole sur- viving representative of an ancient lineage that diverged ∼39 million years ago, very early in the ∼55-million-year evolution of fungus- farming ants. Contrary to all previously known patterns of ant-fungus symbiont fidelity, A. megacephala cultivates Leucoagaricus gongylo- phorus, a highly domesticated fungal cultivar that originated only 2–8 million years ago in the gardens of the highly derived and recently evolved (∼12 million years ago) leaf-cutting ants. Because no other lower fungus-farming ant is known to cultivate any of the higher- attine fungi, let alone the leaf-cutter fungus, A. megacephala may pro- vide important clues about the biological mechanisms constraining the otherwise seemingly obligate ant-fungus associations that charac- terize attine ant agriculture.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Systematics (Taxonomy), Phylogenetics, Symbiosis, Taxonomy, Natural History, and 11 moreInsect Taxonomy, Phylogeny/phylogenetics, Phylogeny, New Species, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Ant Phylogeny, Molecular phylogenetics, Phylogenetic Systematics, Attine ants, Fungus-growing ant, and Molecular Phylogenetics and Divergence Times Estimates
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Peru and South America
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This study is divided into two parts: first, an inventory of the ant fauna of two plateaus in Eastern Suriname and, second, a series of taxonomical studies of ant genera belonging to the ant tribes Attini and Dacetini, and the ant... more
This study is divided into two parts: first, an inventory of the ant fauna of two plateaus in Eastern Suriname and, second, a series of taxonomical studies of ant genera belonging to the ant tribes Attini and Dacetini, and the ant subfamily Proceratiinae for the Neotropics. The first part ...