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Quality control by leaf-cutting ants: evidence from communities of endophytic fungi in foraged and rejected vegetation

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Abstract

Leaf-cutting ants of the genera Acromyrmex and Atta forage vegetation for incorporation into their mutualistic fungal gardens. However, the presence of certain endophytic fungi in this predominantly leaf-based material could affect the fungal garden and thus the choice of material by the ants. The present study was conducted to document the endophytic fungal communities occurring in the vegetation being transported by workers of Atta laevigata into their nests and to compare this community structure with that of the vegetative material subsequently rejected from the nests. We found considerable diversity in the fungi isolated. Acremonium, Cylindrocladium, Drechslera, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Trichoderma, Ulocladium and two unidentified morphospecies were significantly more common in rejected compared with foraged material, and some of these genera include mycoparasites, which could represent a threat to the fungal gardens. Conversely, Colletotrichum, Pestalotiopsis, Phomopsis, Xylaria and an unidentified morphospecies were more common in carried compared with rejected material. The possibility that ants have a ‘quality-control’ mechanism based on the presence of antagonistic fungal endophytes is discussed, as is the potential use of these fungi as biocontrol agents against Attini pests.

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Acknowledgments

The work was funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and the Centro Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We would like to thank Manoel José Ferreira for help with collecting, Antônio Manoel de Freitas (Sítio BonSucesso) for permission to access his property and Olinto Liparini Pereira for assistance with fungal identification. SLE is in receipt of a grant from CNPq and HCE is a visiting scientist in the Postgraduate Programme in Entomology and in Phytopathology (UFV) funded by CNPq (Grant no. 311787/2011-8). Permits to collect material for herbarium deposit were obtained by SLE from the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente (IBAMA).

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  1. Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570–900, Brazil

    Silma L. Rocha, Vanessa L. Jorge, Harry C. Evans & Simon L. Elliot

  2. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570–900, Brazil

    Terezinha M. C. Della Lucia

  3. Departamento de Fitopatologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570–900, Brazil

    Robert W. Barreto & Harry C. Evans

  4. CAB International E-UK, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK

    Harry C. Evans

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  1. Silma L. Rocha
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Rocha, S.L., Jorge, V.L., Della Lucia, T.M.C. et al. Quality control by leaf-cutting ants: evidence from communities of endophytic fungi in foraged and rejected vegetation. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 8, 485–493 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-014-9329-9

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