The emergence of functional nest architecture in the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata

• Grant number: 10/00204-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: September 16, 2010
• End date: September 30, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Carlos Forti
• Grantee: Luiz Carlos Forti
• Visiting researcher: Flavio Roces
• Visiting researcher institution: Universität Würzburg, Germany
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the present co-operative project is to understand the dynamics of nest growth in the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata, and so the emergence of a functional nests architecture. Functional architecture is defined as the spatial arrangement of the nest chambers, both for fungus gardens and refuse, and the establishment of the underground foraging tunnels. It is expected that the combination of field and laboratory research will highlight some mechanisms underlying the ontogeny of the nest architecture in leaf-cutting ant nests, and will help understand the growth dynamics of a nest as a collective structure. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BOLLAZZI, M.; FORTI, L. C.; ROCES, F.. Ventilation of the giant nests of Atta leaf-cutting ants: does underground circulating air enter the fungus chambers?. Insectes Sociaux, v. 59, n. 4, p. 487-498, NOV 2012. (10/00204-7)

VIEIRA, ALEXSANDRO SANTANA; CAMARGO-MATHIAS, MARIA IZABEL; ROCES, FLAVIO. Comparative morpho-physiology of the metapleural glands of two Atta leaf-cutting ant queens nesting in clayish and organic soils. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT, v. 44, n. 5, SI, p. 444-454, SEP 2015. (10/00204-7)

BOLLAZZI, M.; FORTI, L. C.; MOREIRA, S.; ROCES, F.. Efficiency and soil contamination during underground application of insecticides: control of leaf-cutting ants with thermal foggers. JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE, v. 87, n. 1, p. 181-189, MAR 2014. (10/00204-7)

VIEIRA, ALEXSANDRO SANTANA; CAMARGO-MATHIAS, MARIA IZABEL; ROCES, FLAVIO. Comparative morpho-physiology of the metapleural glands of two Atta leaf-cutting ant queens nesting in clayish and organic soils. ARTHROPOD STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT, v. 44, n. 5, p. 11-pg., 2015-09-01. (10/00204-7)