Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine whether worker self-grooming, allogrooming, and direct contact promotes the dispersal of substances among members of the colony. For this purpose, a tracer (Sudan III dye) was applied topically to a worker ant and the social interactions between the worker with the tracer and workers without the tracer were studied. Additionally, the worker heads were dissected to visualize whether or not the post-pharyngeal gland was stained. The post-pharyngeal glands from 50% to 70% of workers were stained depending on the size of the group. With the increase in the experimental group size, the frequency of interactions between workers increased, with touching being the most frequent behavior. The tracer dye was probably passed on by direct contact between workers, followed by self-grooming and allogrooming. These behaviors are responsible for the rapid dispersal of substances among colony members as observed in our experiment. The results therefore support the hypothesis that contact with substances promotes the contamination of nestmates, even in the absence of feeding, serving as a model for further studies on the contamination of workers with the active ingredients of insecticides.
Highlights
Insecticides are commonly used to control leaf cutting ants, the distribution of baits between colony members is poorly understood
An efficient way to disperse the active ingredient of an insecticide is the use of baits composed of citrus pulp, which is highly attractive to foragers
This bait is processed for growth of the fungus garden and it is postulated that workers are contaminated with the insecticide on that occasion [2]
Summary
Insecticides are commonly used to control leaf cutting ants, the distribution of baits between colony members is poorly understood. An efficient way to disperse the active ingredient of an insecticide is the use of baits composed of citrus pulp, which is highly attractive to foragers. Inside the nest, this bait is processed for growth of the fungus garden and it is postulated that workers are contaminated with the insecticide on that occasion [2]. After the baits become hydrated, they are deposited on the fungus garden surface and workers begin to cut in small pieces that are incorporated into the fungus garden This process of incorporation starts 6 h after offering the baits and continues up to 18 h thereafter [2]. The authors suggested that contaminated ants disperse sulfluramid insecticide through trophallaxis among adults as a chain reaction [2].Astrophallaxis is characterized by marked dilution, and it is important that the insecticide is potent enough to kill at low concentrations
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