Ontogeny, maintenance, distribution and use of space-time in physical network of trails Atta capiguara

• Grant number: 11/00369-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2011
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Carlos Forti
• Grantee: Nadia Caldato
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Ants, especially the leaves of cutting, play an extremely important role in ecological systems. These insects can be considered as real engineers ecosystem, for actively modify the environment. Their foraging activity on the soil surface is impressive causing "damage" considerable vegetation, being able to actively compete with cattle, in the case of cutting grass species. In this project, we propose research in the field of ontogeny, maintenance, distribution and use of foraging trails network in Atta capiguara. Basically four hypotheses will be tested: i) There is a daily rhythm of foraging that is a function of the dry and wet seasons; ii) the integration of individual behavior of workers results in a self-organizing process that facilitates the formation and maintenance of foraging trails; iii) The ants deposit substances with herbicide function on the tracks in order to keep them without vegetation; iv) ants show a pattern in the use and construction of the network of physical tracks in time and space. This data will provide the modeling of collective structures that arise from individual insects actions (networks of foraging trails located above ground). Due to the pest status conferred on cutting ants, information that helps us better understand which mechanisms are involved in foraging could assist in the improvement of control methods, reducing the impact of chemicals used in chemical control. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CALDATO, Nadia. Ontogeny of physical trails in atta capiguara gonçalves 1944 (Hymenoptera: formicidae). 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas. Botucatu Botucatu.