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From Specialization in Spider Egg Predation to an Original Nesting Mode in a "Primitive" Ant: A New Kind of Lestobiosis

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Abstract

 Mature colonies of Discothyrea oculata were observed nesting in cribellatid spider oothecas where they found both shelter and food although these oothecas, installed in preexisting cavities, were protected with crimped silk. Workers of colonies bred in test tubes during laboratory experiments recuperated the silk from spider oothecas introduced into their foraging area, using their mandibles and forelegs, to operculate and line the test tubes. Also, colonies left the test tubes to shelter in the cribellatid spider oothecas. The term "arachnolesty" is proposed for this new kind of lestobiosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Ecologie Terrestre (UMR 5552), Université Toulouse III, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse cedex 4, France, , , , , , FR

    A. Dejean

  2. Laboratoire d'Ethologie et Psychologie Animale (UMR 5550), Université Toulouse III, F-31062 Toulouse, France, , , , , , FR

    A. Grimal

  3. Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée (UPRES-A 7025), Université Paris 13, Avenue J.-B. Clément, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France, , , , , , FR

    M.-C. Malherbe

  4. Laboratoire d'Ecologie Terrestre (UMR 5552), Université Toulouse III, F-31062 Toulouse, France, , , , , , FR

    J.-P. Suzzoni

Authors
  1. A. Dejean
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  2. A. Grimal
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  3. M.-C. Malherbe
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  4. J.-P. Suzzoni
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Received: 20 April 1998 / Accepted in revised form: 16 October 1998

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Dejean, A., Grimal, A., Malherbe, MC. et al. From Specialization in Spider Egg Predation to an Original Nesting Mode in a "Primitive" Ant: A New Kind of Lestobiosis. Naturwissenschaften 86, 133–137 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001140050585

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001140050585

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