Nutrient regulation in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a review
As for all living organisms, the nutritional needs of ants change over time in response to
varying environmental conditions and demands for growth, health, and reproduction …
varying environmental conditions and demands for growth, health, and reproduction …
How do leaf-cutting ants recognize antagonistic microbes in their fungal crops?
Leaf-cutting ants employ diverse behavioral strategies for promoting the growth of fungal
cultivars in a structure known as fungus garden. As a nutritionally rich resource for the ants …
cultivars in a structure known as fungus garden. As a nutritionally rich resource for the ants …
Behavioral performance and division of labor influence brain mosaicism in the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes
Brain evolution is hypothesized to be driven by behavioral selection on neuroarchitecture.
We developed a novel metric of relative neuroanatomical investments involved in …
We developed a novel metric of relative neuroanatomical investments involved in …
From plants to ants: fungal modification of leaf lipids for nutrition and communication in the leaf-cutter ant fungal garden ecosystem
Lipids are essential to all living organisms, as an energy source, as an important cellular
structural component, and as a communication tool. In this study, we used global lipidomic …
structural component, and as a communication tool. In this study, we used global lipidomic …
Plant chemical mediation of ant behavior
Highlights•Ants occupy many trophic levels and roles in association with plants.•Plants
produce volatile and non-volatile chemicals that mediate ant behavior.•Ant responses to …
produce volatile and non-volatile chemicals that mediate ant behavior.•Ant responses to …
Reciprocal nutritional provisioning between leafcutter ants and their fungal cultivar mediates performance of symbiotic farming systems
M Bolander, JE Andersen, BH Conlon… - Functional …, 2023 - Wiley Online Library
Optimized food acquisition is challenging because foraged diet items are chemically
complex and often nutritionally imbalanced. These challenges are likely magnified when …
complex and often nutritionally imbalanced. These challenges are likely magnified when …
Transcriptomic analysis of mosaic brain differentiation underlying complex division of labor in a social insect
Concerted developmental programming may constrain changes in component structures of
the brain, thus limiting the ability of selection to form an adaptive mosaic of size‐variable …
the brain, thus limiting the ability of selection to form an adaptive mosaic of size‐variable …
Using nutritional geometry to explore how social insects navigate nutritional landscapes
Insects face many cognitive challenges as they navigate nutritional landscapes that
comprise their foraging environments with potential food items. The emerging field of …
comprise their foraging environments with potential food items. The emerging field of …
Appetitive and aversive learning of plants odors inside different nest compartments by foraging leaf-cutting ants
A Arenas, F Roces - Journal of insect physiology, 2018 - Elsevier
Cues inside the nest provide social insect foragers with information about resources
currently exploited that may influence their decisions outside. Leaf-cutting ants harvest leaf …
currently exploited that may influence their decisions outside. Leaf-cutting ants harvest leaf …
The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus‐cultivar provisioning in free‐ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant
Foraging trails of leafcutter colonies are iconic scenes in the Neotropics, with ants collecting
freshly cut plant fragments to provision a fungal food crop. We hypothesised that the fungus …
freshly cut plant fragments to provision a fungal food crop. We hypothesised that the fungus …