Abstract
The farming system practiced by non-leaf-cutting ants Sericomyrmex mayri (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) involves a mutualistic interaction with symbiotic fungi. Their colonies’ success depends on several factors, such as the fungus garden protection against pathogens. Garden contamination may depend on the aspects involved in waste management. However, specific local conditions, including nest and dump sizes, nest-dump distances and abiotic conditions are relevant and overlooked, especially for non-leaf-cutting ants. We aimed to explore the natural history involved in Sericomyrmex mayri waste management. Hence, we documented the relationships between 1) the foraging rate and waste removal activities with dump size, 2) the size of refuse dumps and their distance from nest entrances, and 3) the foraging activity and the rate of waste disposal with climatic conditions. The study was developed in the Atlantic Forest, Southeastern Brazil, wherein 33 colonies’ activities were monitored for three consecutive days, during different day-periods. More prominent dumps received less waste and were located at further distances from the nest. Additionally, daily temperature and humidity positively influenced waste disposal and foraging activities, respectively. These findings provide information on how dump size and distance from the nest may define the investment of waste management of non-leaf-cutting ants.
Highlights
The farming system practiced by Attini ants involves a mutualistic interaction with symbiotic fungi (Chapela et al 1994)
We observed reduced waste disposal activities in larger dumps (GLMM, estimate: -0.0846, z-value: -19.734, P
Humidity positively affected the activity of midden workers (GLMM, estimate: 3.92, zvalue: 6.1, P
Summary
The farming system practiced by Attini ants involves a mutualistic interaction with symbiotic fungi (Chapela et al 1994). These ants have been traditionally considered to maintain their fungal gardens as pure cultures in almost total isolation from other organisms (Müeller et al 2001). The majority of Attini genera (17 out of 19) cultivate fungus on dead organic material (e.g., dried leaves, flowers, insect frass), while the evolutionarily derived genera, Atta and Acromyrmex, so-called leaf-cutting ants, use freshly cut vegetation as substrate (Schultz and Brady 2008). Most studies on fungus-growing ants are focused on leaf-cutting species (Atta and Acromyrmex), involving its control and agricultural importance (Cherrett 1986; Leal et al 2014). Non-leaf-cutting species represent the majority of Attini diversity (Mehdiabadi and Schultz 2010), their natural history still is overlooked
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