Abstract
The fungus gardens of fungus-growing ants are a potentially valuable resource for exploitation by natural enemies, but few of these antagonistic interactions have been studied. Here we describe key aspects of the behavioral ecology of Gnamptogenys hartmani (Ponerinae: Ectatommini), a specialized “agro-predator” of Trachymyrmex and Sericomyrmex fungus-growing ants in Panama. Raiding columns of G. hartmani attack and usurp nests with remarkably little effort: a few intruding workers are sufficient to cause panic among the attine ants and make them abscond from the nest. Both G. hartmani larvae and adults consume the fungus and the host brood, after which the colony migrates to a new fungus-growing ant nest discovered by scouting workers. The morphology of the G. hartmani larval mouthparts is similar to that of Gnamptogenys species with a non-fungal diet. However, we suggest that the presence of long spinules on the larval mandibles in the genus Gnamptogenys, comparable to those found in attine larvae, may have pre-adapted G. hartmani to fungus eating. G. hartmani workers do not actively maintain or modify fungus gardens, which makes them less efficient exploiters than Megalomyrmex, the only other agro-predatory ant species known so far.
References
Adams RMM, Mueller UG, Schultz TR, Norden B (2000) Agro-predation: usurpation of attine fungus gardens by Megalomyrmex ants. Naturwissenschaften 87:549–554
Bekkevold D, Boomsma JJ (2000) Evolutionary transition to a semelparous life history in the socially parasitic ant Acromyrmex insinuator. J Evol Biol 13:615–623
Brown WL (1961) A note on the ant Gnamptogenys hartmani Wheeler. Psyche 68:69
Currie CR, Mueller UG, Malloch D (1999) The agricultural pathology of ant fungus gardens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96:7998–8002
Currie CR, Wong B, Stuart AE, Schultz TR, Rehner SA, Mueller UG, Sung GH, Spatafora JW, Straus NA (2003) Ancient tripartite coevolution in the attine ant-microbe symbiosis. Science 299:386–388
Echols HW (1964) Gnamptogenys hartmani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) discovered in Louisiana. Ann Entomol Soc Am 57:137
Kermarrec A, Decharme M, Febvay G (1986) Leaf-cutting ant symbiotic fungi: a synthesis of recent research. In: Lofgren CS, Vander Meer RK (eds) Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants: biology and management. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo., pp 231–246
Lattke JE (1995) Revision of the ant genus Gnamptogenys in the New World (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J Hym Res 4:137–193
Lenoir A, D’Ettorre P, Errard C, Hefetz A (2001) Chemical ecology and social parasitism in ants. Annu Rev Entomol 46:573–599
Schultz TR, Meier R (1995) A phylogenetic analysis of the fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) based on morphological characters of the larvae. Syst Entomol 20:337–370
Wheeler GC, Wheeler J (1976) Ant larvae: review and synthesis. Mem Entomol Soc Wash 7
Acknowledgements
We thank B. Bolton for identifying the species, U.G. Mueller and R.M.M. Adams for fruitful discussions, and B.C. Baer for help with Fig. 1. We thank J.S. Pedersen, D.R. Nash, M. Poulsen, S.M. Cremer, U.G. Mueller, and one anonymous referee for suggestions on the manuscript. We thank J.T. Høeg, B. Bisballe, and F. Ekelund for help with the microscopy work. This work was supported by a short-term fellowship from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). We thank the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente y el Mar for collection and export permits. We are indebted to E.A. Herre and STRI for hosting our research in Panama. This study complies with the laws of Panama and Denmark.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dijkstra, M.B., Boomsma, J.J. Gnamptogenys hartmani Wheeler (Ponerinae: Ectatommini): an agro-predator of Trachymyrmex and Sericomyrmex fungus-growing ants. Naturwissenschaften 90, 568–571 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0478-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0478-4