Cidália Gabriela S. Marinho, marinho@insecta.ufv.br, Terezinha Maria C. Della Lucia, tdlucia@ufv.br, Raul Narciso C. Guedes, guedes@ufv.br, Myriam Marques R. Ribeiro, myrianribeiro@ig.com.br, and Eraldo R. Lima, mothman@insecta.ufv.br. Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Leaf-cutting ants are highly polyphagous insects but some plants escape their attack due to the presence of secondary metabolites that are toxic to the ant-fungus symbiosis. Previous studies demonstrated that the terpenoid beta–eudesmol extracted from Eucalyptus is responsible for a deleterious behavior in colonies of leaf-cutting ants species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of beta–eudesmol on workers of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa. This chemical caused behavioral modification in the colonies leading to workers mutilation and death. It is suggested that beta–eudesmol interferes on colony nestmate recognition. As a consequence, colony cohesion may be disrupted and it could be used as an additional control tactic for this important pest ant.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Formicidae
Atta sexdens rubropilosa (leaf-cutting ant)
Keywords: aggressive behavior, ant behavioral changes
Poster (.pdf format, 678.0 kb)