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Biology and oviposition behavior of the phorid Apocephalus attophilus and the response of its host, the leaf‐cutting ant Atta laevigata
Author(s) -
Erthal Milton,
Tonhasca Athayde
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1046/j.1570-7458.2000.00643.x
Subject(s) - phoridae , biology , parasitoid , atta , parasitism , hymenoptera , host (biology) , foraging , brood , attraction , ecology , biological pest control , zoology , botany , linguistics , philosophy
Atta laevigata (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) foragers collected in the field and parasitized by Apocephalus attophilus Borgmeier (Diptera: Phoridae) (1.2% of sampled ants) were larger and had lower survival rates than similar non‐parasitized foragers. Moreover, the size of parasitized ants was significantly correlated with the number of A . attophilus puparia and percentage of adult emergence. These results suggest that host size is important for the reproductive success of A . attophilus . Different from most ant‐parasitizing phorids, A . attophilus exhibits a pre‐oviposition behavior that involves walking towards the host and inspecting it, and this careful approach may be responsible for a relatively low percentage of parasitoid detection by A . laevigata . When an exotic resource ( Acalypha sp. leaves) was placed on ants' foraging trails, more foragers were recruited, which resulted in the attraction of A . attophilus . The number and recruiting rates of small workers (minima) were significantly higher on leaves visited by A . attophilus , but larger foragers showed no response to phorids. These results demonstrated that minima react to the presence of A . attophilus and suggest a defensive role of these ants against phorid parasitism.