MyMedR

Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 68 in total

Abstract:

Sort:

Fulltext Experimentally testing and assessing the predictive power of species assembly rules for tropical canopy ants

Fayle TM, Eggleton P, Manica A, Yusah KM, Foster WA

Ecol Lett, 2015 Mar;18(3):254-62.
PMID: 25622647 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12403

Understanding how species assemble into communities is a key goal in ecology. However, assembly rules are rarely tested experimentally, and their ability to shape real communities is poorly known. We surveyed a diverse community of epiphyte-dwelling ants and found that similar-sized species co-occurred less often than expected. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that invasion was discouraged by the presence of similarly sized resident species. The size difference for which invasion was less likely was the same as that for which wild species exhibited reduced co-occurrence. Finally we explored whether our experimentally derived assembly rules could simulate realistic communities. Communities simulated using size-based species assembly exhibited diversities closer to wild communities than those simulated using size-independent assembly, with results being sensitive to the combination of rules employed. Hence, species segregation in the wild can be driven by competitive species assembly, and this process is sufficient to generate observed species abundance distributions for tropical epiphyte-dwelling ants.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants*
Fulltext Effect of tropical forest disturbance on the competitive interactions within a diverse ant community

Gray REJ, Ewers RM, Boyle MJW, Chung AYC, Gill RJ

Sci Rep, 2018 03 23;8(1):5131.
PMID: 29572517 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23272-y

Understanding how anthropogenic disturbance influences patterns of community composition and the reinforcing interactive processes that structure communities is important to mitigate threats to biodiversity. Competition is considered a primary reinforcing process, yet little is known concerning disturbance effects on competitive interaction networks. We examined how differences in ant community composition between undisturbed and disturbed Bornean rainforest, is potentially reflected by changes in competitive interactions over a food resource. Comparing 10 primary forest sites to 10 in selectively-logged forest, we found higher genus richness and diversity in the primary forest, with 18.5% and 13.0% of genera endemic to primary and logged respectively. From 180 hours of filming bait cards, we assessed ant-ant interactions, finding that despite considered aggression over food sources, the majority of ant interactions were neutral. Proportion of competitive interactions at bait cards did not differ between forest type, however, the rate and per capita number of competitive interactions was significantly lower in logged forest. Furthermore, the majority of genera showed large changes in aggression-score with often inverse relationships to their occupancy rank. This provides evidence of a shuffled competitive network, and these unexpected changes in aggressive relationships could be considered a type of competitive network re-wiring after disturbance.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Fulltext The effects of forest conversion to oil palm on ground-foraging ant communities depend on beta diversity and sampling grain

Wang WY, Foster WA

Ecol Evol, 2015 Aug;5(15):3159-70.
PMID: 26356831 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1592

Beta diversity - the variation in species composition among spatially discrete communities - and sampling grain - the size of samples being compared - may alter our perspectives of diversity within and between landscapes before and after agricultural conversion. Such assumptions are usually based on point comparisons, which do not accurately capture actual differences in total diversity. Beta diversity is often not rigorously examined. We investigated the beta diversity of ground-foraging ant communities in fragmented oil palm and forest landscapes in Sabah, Malaysia, using diversity metrics transformed from Hill number equivalents to remove dependences on alpha diversity. We compared the beta diversities of oil palm and forest, across three hierarchically nested sampling grains. We found that oil palm and forest communities had a greater percentage of total shared species when larger samples were compared. Across all grains and disregarding relative abundances, there was higher beta diversity of all species among forest communities. However, there were higher beta diversities of common and very abundant (dominant) species in oil palm as compared to forests. Differences in beta diversities between oil palm and forest were greatest at the largest sampling grain. Larger sampling grains in oil palm may generate bigger species pools, increasing the probability of shared species with forest samples. Greater beta diversity of all species in forest may be attributed to rare species. Oil palm communities may be more heterogeneous in common and dominant species because of variable community assembly events. Rare and also common species are better captured at larger grains, boosting differences in beta diversity between larger samples of forest and oil palm communities. Although agricultural landscapes support a lower total diversity than natural forests, diversity especially of abundant species is still important for maintaining ecosystem stability. Diversity in agricultural landscapes may be greater than expected when beta diversity is accounted for at large spatial scales.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Fulltext Introduction to metodology framework in research study: a literature review

Ang, Kean Hua

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2016;1(2):17-24.
MyJurnal

Research study is an academic methods applied in real world in solving problems associated with the
society. The research process in achieving objectives of study will have a complete framework
including methodology. Methodology can be defined as method used to collec and compile data
through effective procedures in resulting the study problems. Methodology is divided into three stages,
namely the planning process, application process, and analysis process. This literature review of
methodology framework prioritizes on the planning process that involve with research study design,
which can be divided into an experimental and non-experimental. Experimental methods can be
categorized into real-experimental studies and quasi-experimental studies. Meanwhile, nonexperimental
can be divided into experimental survey, field studies, case studies, action studies and
historical studies. Mostly experimental methods are used in pure science and non-experimental methods used in social sciences. However, both methods are still relevant to be applied into certain
areas of study in order to achieve the objectives and hypothesis. Therefore, the methodology are
compulsory to be designed and applied properly, precisely and accurately so that the process of
collecting data in the period of before, during and after collection will not involve with ant errors,
mistakes and carelessness that may affect the research study.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Insects of Tasik Chini with special emphasis on Ichneumonid wasps

Idris A, Ismail S, Haron Y, Suhana Y

Sains Malaysiana, 2009;38.

A preliminary study on selected insect communities of Tasik Chini was conducted from 27th May to 2nd June 2004 along three trails namely trail to Sg. Gumum, trail to Kampung Melai and trail to old tin mining area. A total of eight Malaise traps were installed along the trail to Sg. Gumum while sweeping net and 10 yellow pan traps per trail were used to sample insects along the other two trails. A total of 502 insect individuals consisting of eight orders and 46 families were successfully collected. Of these, the hymenopterans (ants and wasps) had the most number (298 individuals and 11 families) while the Blattaria was the least number (six individuals and two families). Of the hymenopterans, the ichneumonids had the most individuals collected (52) followed by evaniid (50) and vespid wasps (41). For the Coleopterans, Cleridae were the most collected (26) during this short study followed by Anthribidae (13). There were 62 of individuals Odonata consisting of 9 species identified.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Fulltext A five-year retrospective review of snakebite patients admitted to a tertiary university hospital in Malaysia

Chew KS, Khor HW, Ahmad R, Rahman NH

Int J Emerg Med, 2011;4:41.
PMID: 21752254 DOI: 10.1186/1865-1380-4-41

Although the majority of the snakebite cases in Malaysia are due to non-venomous snakes, venomous bites cause significant morbidity and mortality if treatment measures, especially ant-venom therapy, are delayed.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Ant-gardens of tropical Asian rainforests

Kaufmann E, Maschwitz U

Naturwissenschaften, 2006 May;93(5):216-27.
PMID: 16544124

Ant-garden (AG) associations are systems of epiphytic plants and arboricolous (i.e., tree-living) ants, in which the ants build fragile carton nests containing organic material. They collect and incorporate seeds or fruits of epiphytes that then germinate and grow on the nest [sensu Corbara et al. (1999) 38:73-89]. The plant roots stabilize the nest carton. AGs have been well-known in the neotropics for more than 100 years. In contrast, reports on similar associations in the paleotropics are scarce so far. After discovering a first common AG system on giant bamboo [Kaufmann et al. (2001) 48:125-133], we started a large-scale survey for AGs in Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Java, and southern Thailand. A great variety of AG systems (altogether including 18 ant species and 51 plant species) was discovered and is described in the present paper. The high number of species participating in AG associations was reflected by a great variability in the specific appearances of the nest gardens. Frequently, further groups of organisms (e.g., hemipteran trophobionts, fungi) were also involved. Preference patterns of particular ant and epiphyte species for each other and for particular phorophytes (carrier trees) were detected. We integrate domatia-producing, so-called ant-house epiphytes in our study and compare their phases of establishment, as well as other characteristics, to "classical" AGs, coming to the conclusion that they should be regarded only as a special type of AG epiphyte and not as a separate ecological category.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Fulltext Ants are the major agents of resource removal from tropical rainforests

Griffiths HM, Ashton LA, Walker AE, Hasan F, Evans TA, Eggleton P, et al.

J Anim Ecol, 2018 Jan;87(1):293-300.
PMID: 28791685 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12728

Ants are diverse and abundant, especially in tropical ecosystems. They are often cited as the agents of key ecological processes, but their precise contributions compared with other organisms have rarely been quantified. Through the removal of food resources from the forest floor and subsequent transport to nests, ants play an important role in the redistribution of nutrients in rainforests. This is an essential ecosystem process and a key energetic link between higher trophic levels, decomposers and primary producers. We used the removal of carbohydrate, protein and seed baits as a proxy to quantify the contribution that ants, other invertebrates and vertebrates make to the redistribution of nutrients around the forest floor, and determined to what extent there is functional redundancy across ants, other invertebrate and vertebrate groups. Using a large-scale, field-based manipulation experiment, we suppressed ants from c. 1 ha plots in a lowland tropical rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia. Using a combination of treatment and control plots, and cages to exclude vertebrates, we made food resources available to: (i) the whole foraging community, (ii) only invertebrates and (iii) only non-ant invertebrates. This allowed us to partition bait removal into that taken by vertebrates, non-ant invertebrates and ants. Additionally, we examined how the non-ant invertebrate community responded to ant exclusion. When the whole foraging community had access to food resources, we found that ants were responsible for 52% of total bait removal whilst vertebrates and non-ant invertebrates removed the remaining 48%. Where vertebrates were excluded, ants carried out 61% of invertebrate-mediated bait removal, with all other invertebrates removing the remaining 39%. Vertebrates were responsible for just 24% of bait removal and invertebrates (including ants) collectively removed the remaining 76%. There was no compensation in bait removal rate when ants and vertebrates were excluded, indicating low functional redundancy between these groups. This study is the first to quantify the contribution of ants to the removal of food resources from rainforest floors and thus nutrient redistribution. We demonstrate that ants are functionally unique in this role because no other organisms compensated to maintain bait removal rate in their absence. As such, we strengthen a growing body of evidence establishing ants as ecosystem engineers, and provide new insights into the role of ants in maintaining key ecosystem processes. In this way, we further our basic understanding of the functioning of tropical rainforest ecosystems.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Fulltext Daily foraging pattern and proteinaceous food preferences of Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera:Formicidae)

Norasmah B, Abu Hassan A, Che Salmah MR, Nurita AT, Nur Aida H

Trop Biomed, 2006 Dec;23(2):134-9.
PMID: 17322814

A field study on foraging activity and proteinacous food preference was performed on the tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata) (Fabricius) at the School of Biological Sciences and Desasiswa Bakti Permai, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. Foraging activity studies of 4 colonies of S. geminata were conducted in the field for 24 hours. Foraging activity significantly increased 4 hours before sunset and maximum foraging occurred at midnight until early morning. Three types of proteinacous food; anchovy, meat and egg yolk were tested among the five colonies of S. geminata in the field. The egg yolk was the most preferred food (100%) followed by meat (31%) and anchovy (15%).

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Novel black yeast-like species in chaetothyriales with ant-associated life styles

Quan Y, Ahmed SA, Menezes da Silva N, Al-Hatmi AMS, Mayer VE, Deng S, et al.

Fungal Biol, 2021 04;125(4):276-284.
PMID: 33766306 DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2020.11.006

Among ancestral fungi in Chaetothyriales, several groups have a life style in association with tropical ants, either in domatia or in carton-nests. In the present study, two strains collected from ant carton in Thailand and Malaysia were found to represent hitherto undescribed species. Morphological, physiological, phylogenetic data and basic genome information are provided for their classification. Because of the relatively large phylogenetic distances with known species confirmed by overall genome data, large subunit (LSU) and Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA sequences were sufficient for taxonomic circumscription of the species. The analyzed strains clustered with high statistical support as a clade in the family Trichomeriaceae. Morphologically they were rather similar, lacking sporulation in vitro. In conclusion, Incumbomyces delicatus and Incumbomyces lentus were described as new species based on morphological, physiological and phylogenetic analysis.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants*
Ant diversity as a direct and indirect driver of pselaphine rove beetle (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) functional diversity in tropical rainforests, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Psomas E, Holdsworth S, Eggleton P

J. Morphol., 2018 07;279(7):981-996.
PMID: 29676002 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.20828

Pselaphinae is a species-rich beetle subfamily found globally, with many exhibiting myrmecophily-a symbiotic association with ants. Pselaphine-ant associations vary from facultative to obligate, but direct behavioral observations still remain scarce. Pselaphines are speciose and ecologically abundant within tropical leaf litter invertebrate communities where ants dominate, implying a potentially important ecological role that may be affected by habitat disturbances that impact ants. In this study, we measured and analyzed putative functional traits of leaf litter pselaphines associated with myrmecophily through morphometric analysis. We calculated "myrmecophile functional diversity" of pselaphines at different sites and examined this measure's relationship with ant abundance, in both old growth and logged rainforest sites in Sabah, Borneo. We show that myrmecophile functional diversity of pselaphine beetles increases as ant abundance increases. Old growth rainforest sites support a high abundance of ants, which is associated with a high abundance of probable myrmecophilous pselaphines. These results suggest a potential link between adult morphological characters and the functional role these beetles play in rainforest litter as ecological interaction partners with ants.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Ants Do Not Traverse the Silk of Adult Female Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus) Webs

Knowlton ED, Kamath A

Neotrop. Entomol., 2018 Dec;47(6):780-785.
PMID: 30191403 DOI: 10.1007/s13744-018-0631-6

Many organisms use chemicals to deter enemies. Some spiders can modify the composition of their silk to deter predators from climbing onto their webs. The Malaysian golden orb-weaver Nephila antipodiana (Walckenaer) produces silk containing an alkaloid (2-pyrrolidinone) that functions as a defense against ant invasion-ants avoid silk containing this chemical. In the present study, we test the generality of ants' silk avoidance behavior in the field. We introduced three ant species to the orb webs of Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus) in the tropical rainforest of La Selva, Costa Rica. We found that predatory army ants (Eciton burchellii Westwood) as well as non-predatory leaf-cutting ants (Atta cephalotes Linnaeus and Acromyrmex volcanus Wheeler) avoided adult N. clavipes silk, suggesting that an additional species within genus Nephila may possess ant-deterring silk. Our field assay also suggests that silk avoidance behavior is found in multiple ant species.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Evaluation of liquid baits against field populations of the longlegged ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Chong KF, Lee CY

J Econ Entomol, 2009 Aug;102(4):1586-90.
PMID: 19736772

An evaluation of several insecticides, namely, 0.01% fipronil, 0.05% indoxacarb, and 2% boric acid in liquid bait formulations were carried out against field populations of the longlegged ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Fr. Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The baits were formulated in brown cane sugar solution (50%, wt:wt) and placed in an experimental bait station. Each bait was evaluated against populations of A. gracilipes at four buildings. Fipronil, indoxacarb, and boric acid were effective against A. gracilipes, with > 90% reduction of workers within 3 d posttreatment. Total reduction (100%) was achieved within 7 d for fipronil, 14 d for indoxacarb, and 56 d for boric acid. The performance of fipronil and indoxacarb baits did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) in all postbaiting sampling intervals. Reduction of A. gracilipes resulted in an increase in other ant species [Monomorium pharaonis (L.), Monomorium floricola (Jerdon), Monomorium orientale Mayr, Monomorium destructor (Jerdon), Tapinoma indicum Forel, Pheidole sp., and Camponotus sp.] at the baited locations.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants*
Effects of colony composition and food type on nutrient distribution in colonies of Monomorium orientale (Hymenoptera: formicidae)

Loke PY, Lee CY

J Econ Entomol, 2006 Feb;99(1):129-33.
PMID: 16573333

Monomorium orientale Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a common structure- and food-infesting ant in Asia. There is only limited information on the biology and habits of this species, especially on the preferred foods and distribution of nutrients in colonies. We conducted a laboratory study on the distribution of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, which were represented by respective food sources, in M. orientale colonies. Three colony conditions were applied: normal, with a balanced ratio of castes, queenless (only workers and brood), and broodless (only queens and workers). Food sources were stained to track the flow of the respective food in the colonies. Results revealed that carbohydrates had rapid distribution, with > 60% of the colony indicated in 24 h, in all colony conditions. Queens in all colonies did not feed on protein. Protein showed a more delayed distribution in the brood in all colony conditions; < 10% of the colony fed on protein by 24 h. Only queens in broodless colonies showed signs of feeding on lipid, with < 10% indicated in 24 h. Workers in all colonies fed on lipid as soon as it was delivered, whereas the brood only began to reveal feeding response after 24 h.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/physiology*
Fulltext Development and Characterization of Novel Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers for Tapinoma indicum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Lim LY, Ab Majid AH

J Insect Sci, 2021 Jul 01;21(4).
PMID: 34297812 DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieab047

Tapinoma indicum (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a nuisance pest in Asia countries. However, studies on T. indicum are limited, especially in the field of molecular biology, to investigate the species characteristic at the molecular level. This paper aims to provide valuable genetic markers as tools with which to study the T. indicum population. In this study, a total of 143,998 microsatellite markers were developed based on the 2.61 × 106 microsatellites isolated from T. indicum genomic DNA sequences. Fifty selected microsatellite markers were amplified with varying numbers of alleles ranging from 0 to 19. Seven out of fifty microsatellite markers were characterized for polymorphism with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis. All seven microsatellite markers demonstrated a high polymorphic information content (PIC) value ranging from 0.87 to 0.93, with a mean value of 0.90. There is no evidence of scoring errors caused by stutter peaks, no large allele dropout, and no linkage disequilibrium among the seven loci; although loci Ti-Tr04, Ti-Tr09, Ti-Te04, Ti-Te13, and Ti-Pe5 showed signs of null alleles and deviation from the HWE due to excessive homozygosity. In conclusion, a significant amount of microsatellite markers was developed from the data set of next-generation sequencing, and seven of microsatellite markers were validated as informative genetic markers that can be utilized to study the T. indicum population.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/genetics*
Pro-social behaviour of ants depends on their ecological niche-Rescue actions in species from tropical and temperate regions

Miler K, Yahya BE, Czarnoleski M

Behav Processes, 2017 Nov;144:1-4.
PMID: 28843392 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.08.010

Some ants display rescue behaviour, which is performed by nearby nestmates and directed at individuals in danger. Here, using several ant species, we demonstrate that rescue behaviour expression matches predicted occurrences based on certain aspects of species' ecological niches. Rescue occurred in sand-dwelling ants exposed both to co-occurring antlion larvae, representing the threat of being captured by a predator, and to nest cave-ins, representing the threat of being trapped in a collapsed nest chamber. Rescue also occurred in forest groundcover ants exposed to certain entrapment situations. However, rescue never occurred in species associated with open plains, which nest in hardened soils and forage largely on herbaceous plants, or in ants living in close mutualistic relationships with their host plants. In addition, because we tested each species in two types of tests, antlion larva capture tests and artificial entrapment tests, we highlight the importance of accounting for test context in studying rescue behaviour expression.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants*; Plants
Fulltext 16S rRNA metagenomic data of microbial diversity of Pheidole decarinata Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) workers

Ashigar MA, Ab Majid AH

Data Brief, 2020 Aug;31:106037.
PMID: 32728606 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106037

Metagenomic datasets of the microbial DNA of workers of a Pheidole decarinata Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) around houses with three replicates were presented. Next-generation sequencing of the microbial DNA was performed on an Illumina Miseq platform. QIIME (version 1.9.1) was used to analyze the raw fastq files. Metagenome of the three (3) samples consist of 333,708 sequences representing 137,359,149 bps with an average length of 413.67 bps. The sequence data is available at the NCBI SRA with the bioproject number PRJNA632430. Community analysis revealed Proteobacteria was the predominant (84.77%) microbial community present in the microbial DNA of workers of the P. decarinata.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Interspecific variation in prey capture behavior by co-occurring Nepenthes pitcher plants: evidence for resource partitioning or sampling-scheme artifacts?

Chin L, Chung AY, Clarke C

Plant Signal Behav, 2014;9(1):e27930.
PMID: 24481246

Pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes capture a wide range of arthropod prey for nutritional benefit, using complex combinations of visual and olfactory signals and gravity-driven pitfall trapping mechanisms. In many localities throughout Southeast Asia, several Nepenthes different species occur in mixed populations. Often, the species present at any given location have strongly divergent trap structures and preliminary surveys indicate that different species trap different combinations of arthropod prey, even when growing at the same locality. On this basis, it has been proposed that co-existing Nepenthes species may be engaged in niche segregation with regards to arthropod prey, avoiding direct competition with congeners by deploying traps that have modifications that enable them to target specific prey types. We examined prey capture among 3 multi-species Nepenthes populations in Borneo, finding that co-existing Nepenthes species do capture different combinations of prey, but that significant interspecific variations in arthropod prey combinations can often be detected only at sub-ordinal taxonomic ranks. In all lowland Nepenthes species examined, the dominant prey taxon is Formicidae, but montane Nepenthes trap few (or no) ants and 2 of the 3 species studied have evolved to target alternative sources of nutrition, such as tree shrew feces. Using similarity and null model analyses, we detected evidence for niche segregation with regards to formicid prey among 5 lowland, sympatric Nepenthes species in Sarawak. However, we were unable to determine whether these results provide support for the niche segregation hypothesis, or whether they simply reflect unquantified variation in heterogeneous habitats and/or ant communities in the study sites. These findings are used to propose improvements to the design of field experiments that seek to test hypotheses about targeted prey capture patterns in Nepenthes.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Fulltext Ant mosaics in Bornean primary rain forest high canopy depend on spatial scale, time of day, and sampling method

Yusah KM, Foster WA, Reynolds G, Fayle TM

PeerJ, 2018;6:e4231.
PMID: 29423344 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4231

Background: Competitive interactions in biological communities can be thought of as giving rise to "assembly rules" that dictate the species that are able to co-exist. Ant communities in tropical canopies often display a particular pattern, an "ant mosaic", in which competition between dominant ant species results in a patchwork of mutually exclusive territories. Although ant mosaics have been well-documented in plantation landscapes, their presence in pristine tropical forests remained contentious until recently. Here we assess presence of ant mosaics in a hitherto under-investigated forest stratum, the emergent trees of the high canopy in primary tropical rain forest, and explore how the strength of any ant mosaics is affected by spatial scale, time of day, and sampling method.
Methods: To test whether these factors might impact the detection of ant mosaics in pristine habitats, we sampled ant communities from emergent trees, which rise above the highest canopy layers in lowland dipterocarp rain forests in North Borneo (38.8-60.2 m), using both baiting and insecticide fogging. Critically, we restricted sampling to only the canopy of each focal tree. For baiting, we carried out sampling during both the day and the night. We used null models of species co-occurrence to assess patterns of segregation at within-tree and between-tree scales.
Results: The numerically dominant ant species on the emergent trees sampled formed a diverse community, with differences in the identity of dominant species between times of day and sampling methods. Between trees, we found patterns of ant species segregation consistent with the existence of ant mosaics using both methods. Within trees, fogged ants were segregated, while baited ants were segregated only at night.
Discussion: We conclude that ant mosaics are present within the emergent trees of the high canopy of tropical rain forest in Malaysian Borneo, and that sampling technique, spatial scale, and time of day interact to determine observed patterns of segregation. Restricting sampling to only emergent trees reveals segregatory patterns not observed in ground-based studies, confirming previous observations of stronger segregation with increasing height in the canopy.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants
Population structure and intraspecific aggression in the invasive ant species Anoplolepis gracilipes in Malaysian Borneo

Drescher J, Blüthgen N, Feldhaar H

Mol Ecol, 2007 Apr;16(7):1453-65.
PMID: 17391269

Invasive species are one of the main sources of the ongoing global loss of biodiversity. Invasive ants are known as particularly damaging invaders and their introductions are often accompanied by population-level behavioural and genetic changes that may contribute to their success. Anoplolepis gracilipes is an invasive ant that has just recently received increased attention due to its negative impact on native ecosystems. We examined the behaviour and population structure of A. gracilipes in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 475 individuals from 24 colonies were genotyped with eight microsatellite markers. Intracolonial relatedness was high, ranging from 0.37 to 1 (mean +/- SD: 0.82 +/- 0.04), while intercolonial relatedness was low (0.0 +/- 0.02, range -0.5-0.76). We compared five distinct sampling regions in Sabah and Brunei. A three-level hierarchical F-analysis revealed high genetic differentiation among colonies within the same region, but low genetic differentiation within colonies or across regions. Overall levels of heterozygosity were unusually high (mean H(O) = 0.95, mean H(E) = 0.71) with two loci being entirely heterozygous, indicating an unusual reproductive system in this species. Bioassays revealed a negative correlation between relatedness and aggression, suggesting kinship as one factor facilitating supercolony formation in this species. Furthermore, we genotyped one individual per nest from Sabah (22 nests), Sarawak (one nest), Brunei (three nests) and the Philippines (two nests) using two mitochondrial DNA markers. We found six haplotypes, two of which included 82.1% of all sequences. Our study shows that the sampled area in Sabah consists of a mosaic of differently interrelated nests in different stages of colony establishment. While some of the sampled colonies may belong to large supercolonies, others are more likely to represent recently introduced or dispersed propagules that are just beginning to expand.

Matched MeSH terms: Ants/genetics*; Ants/physiology*

Filters

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links