Open AccessFIRST RECORD OF Crematogaster carinata (FORMICIDAE) NESTING IN THE FRUITS OF Macropsychanthus (LEGUMINOSAE: PAPILIONOIDEAE)
Author(s) -
Andrés Fonseca-Cortés,
Esteban Sanabria-Baquero
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta biológica colombiana/acta biológica colombiana
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.184
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1900-1649
pISSN - 0120-548X
DOI - 10.15446/abc.v27n2.90924
Subject(s) - biology , insect , nest (protein structural motif) , botany , hymenoptera , ecology , biochemistry
Most of the ants that are associated with plants usually nests in vegetative organs such as stems, leaves o petioles. Aiming to contribute to the plant-insect interactions, we report the first record of Crematogaster carinata nesting inside the fruits of Macropsychanthus comosus. We did fieldwork in two localities of department of Antioquia and one of the Bolivar department, we opened 32 pods and determined the insects inside them. We found Crematogaster carinata and a beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) inside. 15 of the 32 pods had ants (47 %), but only seven of them had queens (22 %). The ants left the falling pods. The beetle larvae drilled 15 seeds (14 %). This report points the importance of the research in legume-insect interactions, ant-behavior, trophic webs, and trade-off relationships research.