Abstract
The nuptial flight and nest digging are high intensity activities which consume body reserves. The flight and digging effort was quantified by measuring the carbohydrate and total lipids content in males and females before and after the nuptial flight, and the queen’s digging effort during the foundation. The digging effort was quantified by experimentally stimulating the queens to dig a nest – one, two or three consecutive times – compared to the queens that did not dig. The colorimetric method was used to determine the soluble carbohydrates and extraction method of immersion was used to determine the total lipids. The results showed significant loss of carbohydrates and total lipids in males and females after the flight. On average the males contained 0.027 mg of soluble carbohydrates before the nuptial flight, and 0.005 mg after the nuptial flight, and the females contained 0.129 mg of soluble carbohydrates before the nuptial flight, and 0.079 mg after the nuptial flight. For the males the percentage of lipids decreased from 5.27±1.07% to 2.60±0.63% and for females from 36.46±4.86% to 32.62% after the nuptial flight. The digging effort of the queen caused a slight reduction in total carbohydrates, it was without digging 0.054 mg, normal digging 0.055 mg, double digging 0.045 mg (decrease of 20,22 %), and triple digging 0.044 mg (decrease of 20 %) per queen. Based on our results we conclude that the carbohydrate content is the main energetic resource used for the nuptial flight and nest digging, for males and gynes of leaf-cutting ants.
Highlights
Mature Atta colonies produce male and female winged ants that leave the colony to form new colonies and thereby, continue and perpetuate the species (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990)
For males and females we verified a significant loss of soluble carbohydrate after the flight
Significant differences were detected in the percentage of lipids of males before and after the nuptial flight (ANOVA, F1;19=89.051, P
Summary
Mature Atta colonies produce male and female winged ants that leave the colony to form new colonies and thereby, continue and perpetuate the species (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990). The nest digging takes on average about 6 to 10 hours (Autuori, 1942), with about 300 trips to stack the excavated soil by the queen, each trip lasting from 30 seconds to 30 minutes (Ribeiro, 1972). Because this activity is very intense, it is assumed that the energetic cost of the excavation is high. There is a few data available in the literature regarding the amount of energy required by the queen for digging the nests (Camargo & Forti, 2013 A). The energy required is removed from carbohydrate reserves, because the lipid content is spared when queen dug the nest (Camargo & Forti, 2013 B)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.