Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T07:15:40.521Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Foraging activity of the attine ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on resistant and susceptible yam varieties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Y. Rahbé ,
G. Febvay  and
A. Kermarrec
Y. Rahbé
Affiliation:
INRA Antilles-Guyane, Station de Zoologie et Lutte Biologique, BP 1232, F-97184 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadelope
G. Febvay
Affiliation:
INRA Antilles-Guyane, Station de Zoologie et Lutte Biologique, BP 1232, F-97184 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadelope
A. Kermarrec
Affiliation:
INRA Antilles-Guyane, Station de Zoologie et Lutte Biologique, BP 1232, F-97184 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadelope
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A quantitative analysis of the foraging behaviour of Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) from three nests on 27 yam varieties of nine species was undertaken in Guadeloupe using a video-microcomputer device. In ants with no previous experience of the variety, foraging inhibition appeared only after at least a whole day of contact with resistant yam leaves. There was a negative correlation between leaf saponin content of the yam species and foraging intensity; however, the main yam sapogenin, the steroid diosgenin, had no effect on foraging behaviour, and tomatin, a steroid-alkaloidal saponin, induced only long-term deterioration of the fungus garden when incorporated in the nest. The saponins tested are thus not detected by the ants and are therefore unable to initiate the strong and rapid foraging inhibition observed with resistant yams.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 78 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 329 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blanche, D. (1961). La fourmi-manioc.—Paris, Minist. Agric., Serv. Protec. Vég., SEP.Google Scholar
Cherrett, J. M. (1972). Some factors involved in the selection of vegetable substrate by Atta cephalotes (L.) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in tropical rain forest.—J. Anim. Ecol. 41, 647–660.Google Scholar
Cherrett, J. M. (1986). History of the leaf-cutting ant problem.—pp. 10–17 in Lofgren, C. S. & Vander Meer, R. K. (Eds). Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants.—435 pp. Boulder, USA, Westview Press.Google Scholar
Febvay, G., Hostachy, B. & Kermarrec, A. (1985 a). La lutte chimique contre la fourmi Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich): test standardisé d'évaluation de l'effet retard de matières actives et nouvelle stratégie de lutte.—Meded. Fac. Landbouww. Rijksuniv. Gent 50, 723–734.Google Scholar
Febvay, G., Bourgeois, P. & Kermarrec, A. (1985 b). Antiappétants pour la fourmi attine, Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hymenoptera - Formicidae), chez certaines esprèces d'ignames (Dioscoreaceae) cultivées aux Antilles.—Agronomie 5, 439–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Febvay, G., Rahbé, Y. & Kermarrec, A. (1986). Analyse par digitalisation d'images du comportement d'affouragement d'une fourmi attine: application aux tests de choix.—Agronomie 6, 743–749.Google Scholar
Fowler, H. G., Pereira-da-Silva, V., Forti, L. C. & Saes, N. B. (1986). Population dynamics of leaf-cutting ants: a brief review.—pp. 123–145 in Lofgren, C. S. & Vander Meer, R. K. (Eds). Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants.—435 pp. Boulder, USA, Westview Press.Google Scholar
Kermarrec, A., Febvay, G. & Decharme, M. (1986). Protection of leaf-cutting ants from biohazards:is there a future for microbiological control?—pp. 339–356 in Lofgren, C. S. & Vander Meer, R. K. (Eds). Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants.—435 pp. Boulder, USA, Westview Press.Google Scholar
Morris, M. P., Roark, B. A. & Cancel, B. (1958). Simple procedure for the routine assay of Dioscorea tubers.—J. Agric. Fd Chem. 6, 856–858.Google Scholar
Pham, M. H., Fonta, C. & Masson, C. (1983). L'apprentissage olfactif chez l'abeille et le bourdon:une étude comparée par comportement associatif.—C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 296, 501–506.Google Scholar
Schoonhoven, L. M. (1981). Chemical mediators between plants and phytophagous insects.—pp. 31–50 in Nordlund, D. A., Jones, R. L. & Lewis, W. J. (Eds). Semiochemicals: their roles in pest control.—306 pp. New York, J. Wiley.Google Scholar
Sofowora, E. A. & Hardman, R. (1974). Chromatographic detection and spectrophotometric determination of diosgenin and other D5-sapogenins in crude plant extracts.—Planta med. 26, 385–390.Google Scholar
Szentesi, Á. & Bernays, E. A. (1984). A study of behavioural habituation to a feeding deterrent in nymphs of Schistocerca gregaria.—Physiol. Entomol. 9, 329–340.Google Scholar
Therrien, P., McNeil, J. N., Wellington, W. G. & Febvay, G. (1986). Ecological studies of the leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus, in Guadeloupe.—pp. 172–183 in Lofgren, C. S. & Vander Meer, R. K. (Eds). Fire ants and leaf-cutting ants.—435 pp. Boulder, USA, Westview Press.Google Scholar
Therrien, P. (1986). Behavioural ecology of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich), in Guadeloupe, F.W.I.—166 pp. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. British Columbia.Google Scholar