The effect of nest size and species identity on plant selection in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants

JOFRE, LAURA; ANA MEDINA; ALEJANDRO GUSTAVO FARJI BRENER; MOGLIA, M

SOCIOBIOLOGY

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIV

Lugar: California; Año: 2018

0361-6525

Leaf-cutting ants are key organisms because their role as primaryconsumers and potential agricultural pests. However, their foragingecology was mostly studied as response of extrinsic factors such asclimate and plant species traits. We evaluated the effects of intrinsicfactors (i. e., nest size and species identity) on the foraging behaviorin two species of Acromyrmex Mayr leaf-cutting ants. While large andsmall nests of A. lobicornis Emery showed similar feeding behavior,small nests of A. striatus Roger harvested a greater percent of theplant species available in their foraging area and showed a higher levelof selectivity than larger nests. We discussed some probable reasonsfor this pattern. Our results highlight the relevance of intrinsic factorsand species characteristics to explain changes in the foraging ecologyof leaf-cutting ants as colony growth.