IMIBIO-SL   20937
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOLOGICAS DE SAN LUIS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Exposure to creosote bush phenolic resin causes avoidance in the leafcutting ant Acromyrmex lobicornis (Formicidae: Attini)
Autor/es:
MEDINA ANA; ANTONIO MARCELO MANGIONE; MATIAS GARCIA
Revista:
REVISTA CHILENA DE HISTORIA NATURAL
Editorial:
SOC BIOLGIA CHILE
Referencias:
Lugar: Santiago de Chile; Año: 2012 vol. 85 p. 209 - 218
ISSN:
0716-078X
Resumen:
We focused our study on the effects of Larrea cuneifolia phenolic resin on leaf-cutting ants from two populations
(Sierra de las Quijadas National Park and San Roque) of Acromyrmex lobicornis in San Luis, Argentina. We conducted
two bioassays of food choice (fi eld and laboratory) to compare the effects of phenolic resin on ant workers from these
two populations. Results of the fi eld experiment indicated that there were no differences in preference for either
leaves treated with resin or untreated leaves among colonies from both localities. However, results of the laboratory
experiments with individual ants indicated a signifi cant effect of population and treatment on the time spent in different
treatments. While leaf-cutting individual workers from Quijadas preferred the phenolic resin, workers from San Roque
avoided it. These results evidence that ants respond according to time of exposure to chemicals from plants (presence
or absence) and that the effects of resin among a population can be observed and measured on individual ant workers,
even in the absence of fungus garden infl uences in the nest