Co-evolution of Attina cuticular hydrocarbons and chemical compounds of their symbiotic fungi

• Grant number: 17/18974-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: February 15, 2018
• End date: December 19, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Santos do Nascimento
• Grantee: Diego Santana Assis
• Supervisor: Theodore Robert Schultz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/17358-0 - Diversity and evolution of chemical composition of cuticle in leaf-cutter ants (Formicidae: Attini: Atta-Genus group), BP.DR

Abstract

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can provide information about castes, age, reproductive status, and colony membership of social insects. In ants, CHCs seem to be useful to understand several social traits. These patterns can shed some light on social behavior and speciation in some groups of ants. Attina ants provide a good model of these evolutionary processes. In addition, the coevolution between Attina ants and their symbiotic fungi is a successful example of evolution. In this project, we will use phylogenetic, chemical and ecological approaches to understand the processes underlying speciation and evolution in ants. In order to investigate this relationship, we will use phylogenetic tools to analyze how ants and their symbiotic fungi influence each other through CHCs. (AU)