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

Individuals of Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae) host Azteca (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) colonies in their hollow internodes and feed them with glycogen bodies produced...

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Autores principales:	Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves, Carolina Tavares Bernardo, Flavio Antonio Maës dos santos
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2014
Materias:	mutualism myrmecophytism Nasutitermes ephratae Azteca sp Cecropia pachystachya Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d5ed2d8e14ab479e995fd84e2ce65630
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d5ed2d8e14ab479e995fd84e2ce656302021-12-02T11:27:54ZCo-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)0361-652510.13102/sociobiology.v61i1.88-94https://doaj.org/article/d5ed2d8e14ab479e995fd84e2ce656302014-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://periodicos.uefs.br/ojs/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/302https://doaj.org/toc/0361-6525<p align="center">Individuals of<strong> </strong><em>Cecropia pachystachya </em>Trécul<em> </em>(Urticaceae) host <em>Azteca</em> (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 of <em>Nasutitermes ephratae</em> Rambur (Isoptera: Termitidae) with these trees, in South-Pantanal (Brazil). We aimed to describe the <em>Cecropia</em>-ant-termite system and to investigate how their coexistence is made possible. For this we compared the frequency of termitaria between <em>C. pachystachya</em> and another tree species, and the patrol activity of ants between individuals of <em>C. pachystachya</em> with and without termite nests. We verified how long ants took to find and remove live termite baits in <em>C. pachystachya </em>trees and we described the architecture of <em>C. pachystachya</em> individuals with and without termite nests. Termitaria occurred in <em>C. pachystachya</em> at the same frequency as in other tree species. There was no relationship between ant patrol activity and the occurrence of termite nests in <em>C. pachystachia. </em>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, <em>N. ephratae</em> find 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 inhabiting <em>C. pachystachya</em>.</p>Ana Carolina de Oliveira NevesCarolina Tavares BernardoFlavio Antonio Maës dos santosUniversidade Estadual de Feira de SantanaarticlemutualismmyrmecophytismNasutitermes ephrataeAzteca spCecropia pachystachyaZoologyQL1-991EcologyQH540-549.5Natural history (General)QH1-278.5ENSociobiology, Vol 61, Iss 1, Pp 88-94 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	mutualism myrmecophytism Nasutitermes ephratae Azteca sp Cecropia pachystachya Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
spellingShingle	mutualism myrmecophytism Nasutitermes ephratae Azteca sp Cecropia pachystachya Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5 Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves Carolina Tavares Bernardo Flavio Antonio Maës dos santos Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
description	<p align="center">Individuals of<strong> </strong><em>Cecropia pachystachya </em>Trécul<em> </em>(Urticaceae) host <em>Azteca</em> (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 of <em>Nasutitermes ephratae</em> Rambur (Isoptera: Termitidae) with these trees, in South-Pantanal (Brazil). We aimed to describe the <em>Cecropia</em>-ant-termite system and to investigate how their coexistence is made possible. For this we compared the frequency of termitaria between <em>C. pachystachya</em> and another tree species, and the patrol activity of ants between individuals of <em>C. pachystachya</em> with and without termite nests. We verified how long ants took to find and remove live termite baits in <em>C. pachystachya </em>trees and we described the architecture of <em>C. pachystachya</em> individuals with and without termite nests. Termitaria occurred in <em>C. pachystachya</em> at the same frequency as in other tree species. There was no relationship between ant patrol activity and the occurrence of termite nests in <em>C. pachystachia. </em>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, <em>N. ephratae</em> find 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 inhabiting <em>C. pachystachya</em>.</p>
format	article
author	Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves Carolina Tavares Bernardo Flavio Antonio Maës dos santos
author_facet	Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves Carolina Tavares Bernardo Flavio Antonio Maës dos santos
author_sort	Ana Carolina de Oliveira Neves
title	Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
title_short	Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
title_full	Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
title_fullStr	Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
title_full_unstemmed	Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)
title_sort	co-existence of ants and termites in cecropia pachystachya trécul (urticaceae)
publisher	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/d5ed2d8e14ab479e995fd84e2ce65630
work_keys_str_mv	AT anacarolinadeoliveiraneves coexistenceofantsandtermitesincecropiapachystachyatreculurticaceae AT carolinatavaresbernardo coexistenceofantsandtermitesincecropiapachystachyatreculurticaceae AT flavioantoniomaesdossantos coexistenceofantsandtermitesincecropiapachystachyatreculurticaceae
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Co-existence of ants and termites in Cecropia pachystachya Trécul (Urticaceae)

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