蚂蚁DNA提取方法的研究

针对不同体型的蚂蚁,提出了一套实用的总DNA提取方法.该方法依照虫体大小,分别采用冰冻固定后捣碎和剪刀剪碎两种方法破碎虫体,使材料利用充分,提高了提取效率.探讨了组织匀浆、DNA沉淀及溶解等实验中常见问题.结果表明,采用盐析法提取DNA,较传统的酚-氯仿抽提法简单、高效.     

昆明松花坝水源保护区云南松林地表蚂蚁多样性

 运用陷阱法调查了昆明市松花坝水源保护区无干扰及干扰云南松林地表蚂蚁群落.无干扰样地蚂蚁群落由3亚科13种组成,亮毛蚁Lasius fuliginosus最常见;干扰样地由4亚科21种组成,细胸蚁2 Leptothorax sp.2和玉米毛蚁Lasius alienus最常见;2个样地的蚂蚁物种丰富度ACE估计值分别为24.76和26.27,样地间多度及物种丰富度估计值没有显著差异;无干扰样地蚂蚁群落物种组成不同于干扰样地,但部分样带与干扰样地接近;亮毛蚁是无干扰样地的指示物种(IndVal=0.9787,P=0.001),邵氏厚结猛蚁Pachycondyla sauteri是干扰样地的指示物种(IndVal=0.6667,P=0.001);地表蚂蚁多样性与植物多样性具有显著相关性.研究显示:云南松林地表蚂蚁多样性能够指示植物多样性;松花坝水源保护区云南松林地表蚂蚁多样性相对较低;干扰已经改变了云南松林的地表蚂蚁群落组成;保护区的建立对当地生物多样性有积极作用,但保护力度仍然不够.     

Nest architecture in polydomous grass-cutting ants (Acromyrmex balzani)

Acromyrmex balzani is a grass-cutting ant species frequently found in Cerrado areas. However, little is known about the architecture of the polydomous nests of this ant. Fifteen A. balzani nests located in a cerrado region in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, were studied. The polydomous nests were studied in three ways. First, we investigated the architecture in nests moulded with cement and without moulding. Second, we performed an aggressiveness test among workers in different subnests and nests. Third, we excavated the nest and collected the colony to measure the population, verifying the existence or not of a queen in all nests. A cement mould was made of seven nests to permit better visualization of internal structures such as chambers and tunnels. Eight nests were excavated without moulding and white neutral talc was used to highlight the parts of the nests. After excavation, the depth and dimensions (length, width and height) of the chambers were measured. The results showed that the nests had a single entrance hole whose structure consisted of straw and other plant residues in winter. Mounds of loose soil, if present, were found 6–48 cm from the hole. The number of chambers containing fungus ranged from one to five, with the first being found a few centimetres beneath the ground surface (4 cm) and the last up to a maximum depth of 160 cm. The length of the tunnels ranged from 12 to 28 cm. These tunnels were built in a vertical or inclined position, leading to the chambers. No waste chambers were found, with the waste being deposited externally. Additionally, the polydomous nests contained one to eight subnests. In the aggressiveness test, when concolonial workers were confronted, no aggressiveness was observed. In contrast, when allocolonial workers were confronted, there was a high incidence of aggression among them. Excavation of polydomous nests showed only one queen for each polydomous nest, i.e. subnests with a single queen. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the so far unknown nest architecture of the polydomous grass-cutting ant A. balzani.     

The first Leptanilloides species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Leptanilloidinae) from eastern South America

We describe a species of the exclusively Neotropical dorylomorph ant genus Leptanilloides (Leptanilloidinae), Leptanilloides atlantica sp. nov., based on workers collected in the Atlantic Forest, São Paulo, south-eastern Brazil. The 11 species of Leptanilloides described are known from relatively high altitudes in western America (from the Andes foothills in Bolivia to Sierra Morena in Mexico). The discovery of a Leptanilloides species in south-eastern Brazil represents a significant range extension for the genus; this new species shares characters with Leptanilloides biconstricta (Bolivia), Leptanilloides femoralis (Venezuela) and Leptanilloides gracilis (Mexico) and may be distinguished based on a combination of traits. The hypogaeic habits of Leptanilloidinae combined with inefficient collecting techniques may explain the paucity of information and of specimens of this group in most museum collections as well as its present apparent disjunct distribution. We compare Leptanilloides distribution to that of other organisms that show similar disjunct patterns in the Andes and montane sites in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E7E334AA-58C0-455D-A0A6-724D29226DD0     

Oxygen consumption and the evolution of order: negentropy criteria applied to the evolution of ants

Optimization of energy use by evolving organisms, predicted by theoretical extensions of the neo-Darwinian theory, i. contrasted with that of irreversible thermodynamics, which predicts an increase in orderliness and thus an increase in energy consumption per unit of biomass. We compared this index with estimates of social complexity among ant genera and species. Our results show that simple optimization models cannot explain experimental data, and that social complexity correlates differently with negentropy at different levels of analysis. Comparing the genera among Formicidae, workers (not colonies) from genera with highly social species are less negentropic than those of socially primitive ones. At the sub-generic level, social complexity correlated positively with negentropy among species, for major workers inAcromyrmex and for minor workers inAtta. The results illustrate the complexity of thermodynamic criteria in the study of evolution but also hint at their usefulness. In this case, they show that two different evolutionary routes to the complex Attini ant societies may exist.     

蚂蚁觅食模型及其行为

提出一个描述蚂蚁觅食行为的计算机模拟模型,并对此模型展示的倍周期分岔行为进行解释,即由于觅食行为中个体之间信息传递和收到信息之后采取行动需要时间而引起的“信息滞后”,这是一种新观点,可以称为“信息滞后打破均衡”。     

Three new species of Laelaspis Berlese from Iran (Acari: Laelapidae), with a review of the species occurring in the Western Palaearctic Region

This paper reports on five species of mites of the genus Laelaspis associated with ants in Iran – Laelaspis astronomicus (Koch) from Tapinoma simrothi, Laelaspis equitans (Michael) from Messor sp. and Camponotus sp., Laelaspis kamalii Joharchi and Halliday sp. nov. from Tapinoma sp., Laelaspis pennatus Joharchi and Halliday sp. nov. from Tetramorium caespitum, and Laelaspis persicus Joharchi and Halliday sp. nov. from Pheidole pallidula. Laelaspis imitatus Reitblat has also been reported from Iran, in association with an unknown insect. A key to species of Laelaspis occurring in the Western Palaearctic Region is presented, with a summary of their host associations and biology.     

Revision of the Traumatomutilla juvenilis species group (Hymenoptera,Mutillidae)

ABSTRACT

Traumatomutilla duplicata duplicata (Gerstaecker, 1874), T. duplicata feia Casal, 1969, T. bruchi André, 1908, T. cristata (Gerstaecker, 1874), T. aterrima (Gerstaecker, 1874) and T. lorena (Cresson, 1902) are proposed as junior synonyms of Traumatomutilla bivittata (Gerstaecker, 1874). Traumatomutilla immaculiceps André, 1901, T. bivittata rubroguttata André, 1901 and T. estrella (Cresson, 1902) are proposed as junior synonyms of T. juvenilis (Gerstaecker, 1874). Traumatomutilla bispiculata (André, 1907) is proposed as a junior synonym of T. miniata (Gerstaecker, 1874). The previously unknown males of T. guarata Casal, 1969 and T. juvenilis are described and illustrated. All species of the T. juvenilis species group are redescribed and illustrated. A new species, Traumatomutilla juvenindica Bartholomay & Williams sp. nov., is described based on males and females from northern South America. Additionally, identification keys to the species and known colour forms of the T. juvenilis species group are provided.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3563B9EE-A45B-4939-8436-7A808D4F8996     

Control of the behaviour of leaf-cutting ants by their ‘symbiotic’ fungus

There is an obligatory relationship between leaf-cutting ants of the generaAtta andAcromyrmex (Hymenoptera; Attini) and the fungus,Attamyces bromatificus Kreisel, for which they provide a substrate of cut plant material. We show that the ants learn to reject plant material that contains chemicals injurious to the fungus. After an initial period of acceptance, ants from laboratory nests stopped harvesting granular bait containing a fungicidal agent (cycloheximide) and orange peel. This rejection was maintained for many weeks. These colonies also rejected control bait containing no cycloheximide. Some generalisation of the response was observed; colonies rejecting orange granules also rejected grapefruit granules, although they still accepted blackcurrant granules. Rejection of fungicidal bait by colonies in the field was restricted to ants on foraging trails exposed to experimental bait. We conclude that a semiochemical from the fungus, circulated by trophallaxis and grooming, regulates the selection of plant material by foragers. The fungus gains more advantages from the symbiotic relationship than is often realised. The ants provide the fungus with housing, sanitation, defence against disease and predators, pre-selected food, and a means of dissemination, at the cost to itself of providing food for the ant brood.     

Host trail following by the guest antFormicoxenus provancheri

Formicoxenus provancheri, a guest ant ofMyrmica incompleta, is able to follow artificial trails made with the poison gland secretion of its host. The trail-following response is elicited at the same range of concentrations as for the host species. The performance ofFormicoxenus is enhanced by the presence of the host. The adaptive value of these phenomena is discussed.