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16 results for “ant feeding”
Can immune gene silencing via dsRNA feeding promote pathogenic viruses to control the globally invasive Argentine ant?
<p><span>Pest control methods that can target pest species with limited environmental impacts are a conservation and economic priority. Species-specific pest control using RNA interference is a challenging but promising avenue in developing the next generation of pest management. We investigate the feasibility of manipulating a biological invader's immune system using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in order to increase susceptibility to naturally occurring pathogens. We used the invasive Argentine ant as a model, targeting the immunity-associated genes <em>Spaetzle</em> and <em>Dicer-1</em> with dsRNA. We show that feeding of <em>Spaetzle</em> dsRNA can result in partial target gene silencing for up to 28 days in the laboratory and five days in the field. <em>Dicer-1</em> dsRNA only resulted in partial gene knockdown after two days in the laboratory. Double-stranded RNA treatments were associated with significant gene expression disruptions across immune pathways in the laboratory and to a lower extent in the field. We observed occasional changes in viral loads in dsRNA-treated groups. However, immune pathways disruption did not result in consistent increase in microbial infections, nor did they alter ant abundance in the field. Our study explores the feasibility of lowering a pest's immunity as a control tool. We demonstate that it is possible to alter immune gene expression of pest species and pathogen loads, though in our system the affected pathogens did not appear to influence pest abundance. We provide advice on future directions for dsRNA-mediated immune disruption in pest species, including potential avenues to improve dsRNA delivery as well as the importance of the biology of the pest system and its pathogens.</span></p>
Figure 4 in The feeding apparatus of ants: an overview of structure and function
Figure 4. Schematized drawings of an ant (a) and a dog (b) head, illustrating the path of food through the feeding apparatus (red arrows). In the ant, most food presumably passes the infrabuccal pouch first before ingestion, but liquids may also be unhindered by the filter apparatus and pass straight through the mouth opening. Location of the functional mouth opening marked by green dashed line in both. Cyan symbols represent different functions and their locations. Zigzag lines: mechanical food processing/chewing. Triangles: dorsal and ventral closure of the preoral/oral space. Drop: licking of liquids. Spiral: food manipulation in the preoral/oral space. Wavy arrow: ingestion into the digestive tract, sucking pump in ants, tongue and pharyngeal muscles in dog/mammals.
Figure 2 in The feeding apparatus of ants: an overview of structure and function
Figure 2. Micro-computed tomography (µCT)-based 3D reconstructions of the ant feeding apparatus anatomy. Formica rufa in (c) and Leptomyrmex unicolor elsewhere. (a) General ant mouthparts shown individually. Labium lateral, mandible dorsal, maxilla ventral, labrum frontal view. (b) Frontoventral view of closed mouthparts. Labrum covers part of maxillolabial complex and preoral space is sealed off. (c) The same view as figure 1b, but maxilla partly cut away to reveal points of fusion with labium (circles). (d) Musculature of maxillae seen from above, maxilla transparent in lower part. (e) Labium-associated muscles in side view, labium and hypopharynx transparent. (f) Head in sagittal section, focus on sucking pump and its muscles. Insert shows mouth opening with lacinial comb as filter. Colours: grey: head capsule and tentorium; light brown: mandibles; dark brown: labrum and labium; beige: maxilla; light blue: soft cuticle of preoral space; turquoise: hypopharynx; green: sucking pump; purple: salivary duct; red and orange: muscles. Interactive 3D models to further explore mouthpart anatomy are available here: mouthparts: https://skfb.ly/oHJoZ; maxilla: https://skfb.ly/oHJpp; labium: https://skfb.ly/oHJp7; sucking pump: https://skfb.ly/oHJpr.
Figure 1 in The feeding apparatus of ants: an overview of structure and function
Figure 1. Micro-computed tomography (µCT)-based 3D reconstructions of the ant feeding apparatus (Leptomyrmex unicolor), illustrating our current ideas of mouthpart movements. (a) Sagittal section through the head (position of section marked on upper right), highlighting the most likely path of food. Red arrows for solid food, cyan for fluids. Solids are first gripped and processed by the mandibles before transport into the oral cavity by labium and maxillae. Larger particles are filtered at the mouth opening (upper left insert) and stored in the infrabuccal pouch. Hairs of mouth filter not visible in rendering, indicated by drawing. Smaller particles and possibly pre-digested substrate from the pouch pass the filter and are taken up by the sucking pump. Fluids are licked up by the glossa and directly pass the filter. Some prominent movements based mostly on Paul et al. [30,31] are indicated by black arrows: galea is moved up and down, glossa is extended and retracted, whole maxillolabial complex can be rotated outwards or inwards, sucking pump can be extended and compressed. (b) Mouthparts in oblique side view. Maxillolabial complex is partly extended, the galea overhangs the labium. (c) Frontal view of mouthparts with mandibles cut at the base and left maxilla transparent. Sidewards arrows indicate potential outwards movement of maxilla, but maxillolabial fusion likely restricts this direction. Colours: beige: maxillae; blue: membranes of the oral cavity; brown: labrum; dark brown: labium; green: sucking pump; grey: head capsule; purple: salivary duct; turquoise: hypopharynx.
Can immune gene silencing via dsRNA feeding promote pathogenic viruses to control the globally invasive Argentine ant?
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Data from: Nutritional challenges of feeding a mutualist: testing for a nutrient-toxin tradeoff in fungus-farming leafcutter ants
<p>The biochemical heterogeneity of food items often yields tradeoffs as each bite of food tends to contain some nutrients in surplus and others in deficit, as well as other less palatable or even toxic compounds. These multidimensional nutritional challenges are likely compounded when foraged foods are used to provision others (<i>e.g</i>. offspring or symbionts) with different physiological needs and tolerances. We explored these challenges in free-ranging colonies of leafcutter ants that navigate a diverse tropical forest to collect plant fragments they use to provision a co-evolved fungal cultivar. We tested the prediction that leafcutter farmers face provisioning tradeoffs between the nutritional quality and concentration of toxic tannins in foraged plant fragments. Chemical analyses of plant fragments sampled from the mandibles of Panamanian <i>Atta colombica </i>leafcutter ants provided little support for a nutrient-tannin foraging tradeoff. First, colonies foraged for plant fragments ranging widely in tannin concentration. Second, high tannin levels did not appear to restrict colonies from selecting plant fragments with blends of protein and carbohydrates that maximized cultivar performance when measured with <i>in vitro </i>experiments. We also tested whether tannins expand the realized nutritional niche selected by leafcutter ants into high-protein dimensions since: 1) tannins can bind proteins and reduce their accessibility during digestion, and 2) <i>in vitro</i> experiments have shown that excess protein provisioning reduces cultivar performance. Contrary to this hypothesis, the most protein-rich plant fragments did not have highest tannin levels. More generally, the approach developed here can be used to test how multidimensional interactions between nutrients and toxins shape the costs and benefits of providing care to offspring or symbionts.</p>
Figure 4 in First observation of Myrmarachne species feeding on ants (Araneae: Salticidae: Myrmarachnini)
Figure 4. Adult female Siler semiglaucus (Simon 1901) feeding on an ant, Chiang Dao Province, Thailand (30 NOV 2018).
Figure 2 in First observation of Myrmarachne species feeding on ants (Araneae: Salticidae: Myrmarachnini)
Figure 2. Myrmarachne sp. A. from Chiang Dao Province, Thailand. 1-4, Female feeding on small ants, Tapinoma melanocephala (16 DEC 2018). 5-7, Second female which fed on T. melanocephala (19 DEC 2018). 8, Male found on Roselle plant that appears to be of the same species as the two females (2 JAN 2019).
Figure 3 in First observation of Myrmarachne species feeding on ants (Araneae: Salticidae: Myrmarachnini)
Figure 3. Myrmarachne sp. B. from Chiang Dao Province, Thailand. 1, Female feeding on small ant, Tapinoma melanocephala (26 DEC 2018). 2-3, Two more views of the same female Myrmarachne. 4, Roselle fruit (Hibiscus sabdariffa).
Figure 1. Ants from Chiang Dao Province, Thailand. 1 in First observation of Myrmarachne species feeding on ants (Araneae: Salticidae: Myrmarachnini)
Figure 1. Ants from Chiang Dao Province, Thailand. 1, Dolichoderus sp., a larger ant apparently mimicked by Myrmarachne sp. A. 2, Feeding group of smaller ants, Tapinoma melanocephala, taken as prey by Myrmarachne on a kitchen chopping board.
Data from: Nutritional challenges of feeding a mutualist: testing for a nutrient-toxin tradeoff in fungus-farming leafcutter ants
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Phytochemistry-mediated disruption of ant-aphid interactions by root-feeding nematodes
<p>Plants link interactions between aboveground and belowground organisms. Herbivore-induced changes in plant chemistry are hypothesized to impact entire food webs by changing the strength of trophic cascades. Yet few studies have explored how belowground herbivores affect the behaviors of generalist predators, nor how such changes may act through diverse changes to the plant metabolome. Using a factorial experiment, we tested whether herbivory by root-knot nematodes (<i>Meloidogyne incognita</i>) affected the aboveground interaction among milkweed plants (<i>Asclepias fascicularis</i> or <i>Asclepias speciosa</i>), oleander aphids (<i>Aphis nerii</i>),<i> </i>and aphid-tending ants (<i>Linepithema humile</i>). We quantified the behaviors of aphid-tending ants, and we measured the effects of herbivore treatments on aphid densities and on phytochemistry. Unexpectedly, ants tended aphids primarily on the leaves of uninfected plants, whereas ants tended aphids primarily at the base of the stem of nematode-infected plants. In nematode-infected plants, aphids excreted more sugar per capita in their ant-attracting honeydew. Additionally, although plant chemistry was species-specific, nematode infection generally decreased the richness of plant secondary metabolites while acting as a protein sink in the roots. Path analysis indicated that the ants' behavioral change was driven in part by indirect effects of nematodes acting through changes in plant chemistry. We conclude that belowground herbivores can affect the behaviors of aboveground generalist ant predators by multiple paths, including changes in phytochemistry, which may affect the attractiveness of aphid honeydew rewards.</p>
FIGURES 39–44. T. lomalarga-ants interactions. Scale 2 in Natural history of the mistletoe-feeding Thereus lomalarga (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Eumaeini) in Colombia
FIGURES 39–44. T. lomalarga-ants interactions. Scale 2mm; arrow points to DNO. 39. 4 th instar with Camponotus. 40. Idem, with Pheidole. 41. Idem, with Wasmannia. 42. Secretion droplet. 43. Crematogaster ants tending both early 3 rd instar of Th. lomalarga brown morph and scale insects. Larva of T. lomalarga is close to a stem at the base of the inflorescence; arrows point to larva and Coccidae. 44. 4 th instar with Crematogaster.
Phytochemistry-mediated disruption of ant-aphid interactions by root-feeding nematodes
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Figure 3 in The feeding apparatus of ants: an overview of structure and function
Figure 3. Impressions of cuticular hairs on mouthparts and preoral cavity of ants based on electron microscopy images. (a–c,f,g) Brachyponera luteipes, (d) Dolichoderus laminatus, (e) Leptomyrmex unicolor, (h) Formica rufa. (e) Overview of the mouthparts based on a 3D rendering (figure 1), positions of structures are circled, curves of connecting arrows indicate viewing direction. (a) Inner galea side with dense comb of hairs. (b) Brush of hairs in front of mouth. (c) Lacinia with dense comb of spines along margin. (d) Outer side of galea covered with hairs, different hair types on medial margin. (f) Side of the labium, showing the hypopharynx covered in tiny hairs, the thick brush behind the glossa and the salivary opening. (g) Glossa surface. (h) Maxillary palps covered in sensory hairs. Anterior always facing left, except (b) and (d), which are in anterior view, lateral to the left in (d). (d) Taken from Keller [40], accessed through www. Antweb.org, specimen number ANTWEB1008520.
Data for differential feeding responses of several bee species to sugar sources containing Iridomyrmecin, an Argentine ant trail pheromone component
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