Chemical strategies of myrmecophiles to deal with ants: a multidisciplinary approach

• Grant number: 21/00984-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Santos do Nascimento
• Grantee: Luan Dias Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/11082-7 - Deciphering the chemical, morphological, and behavioral mechanism of the symbiosis between the beetle Lomechusa emarginata (Paykull, 1789) and its host ant, Formica fusca Linnaeus, 1758, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are ecologically dominant insects that use chemical cues and signals for recognition and communication. Despite their elaborated recognition system, several organisms called myrmecophiles, including agricultural pests, have relationships with ants ranging from beneficial interactions such as mutualism to exploitation and parasitism. These relationships are common in the Cerrado that is an ideal site to test and understand the impact of ants on myrmecophile survival. Myrmecophiles use chemical strategies such as chemical insignificance, chemical camouflage, and chemical mimicry to deal with ants. However, there is an inconsistency regarding the terminology of these strategies and a gap of knowledge on how they might be dependent on the diet, behavior, and kind of relationship with ants. Thus, we intend to comparatively study complex multitrophic systems involving myrmecophiles, ants, and plants, as well as their diets and behavior in a multidisciplinary approach. This project proposes to (1) demonstrate the occurrence of chemical camouflage in more than a trophic level; (2) use stable isotope analysis as a tool to indirectly identify cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in the diet of insects; (3) review the published studies regarding interactions between lepidopterans and ants that evaluated the chemical strategies mediated by CHCs and propose a standard terminology regarding the chemical strategies and the influence of diet and behavior in the evolutionary-ecological role of the cuticular compounds on insect interactions. Therefore, we hope to unveil how the chemical strategies depend on the diet considering the ecology and evolution of insect interactions in multitrophic systems.

Scientific publications

(7)

(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)

DE SOUZA, ANDRE RODRIGUES; PRATO, AMANDA; FRANCA, WILSON; SANTOS, SIRCIO; LIMA, LUAN DIAS; ALVES, DENISE ARAUJO; BERNARDES, RODRIGO CUPERTINO; SANTOS, EDUARDO FERNANDO; DO NASCIMENTO, FABIO SANTOS; LIMA, MARIA AUGUSTA PEREIRA. A predatory social wasp does not avoid nestmates contaminated with a fungal biopesticide. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, v. 30, n. 47, p. 11-pg., 2023-09-11. (18/10996-0, 19/08029-4, 20/14464-2, 20/06632-2, 21/00984-7, 22/07997-0)

LIMA, LUAN DIAS; MICHELUTTI, KAMYLLA BALBUENA; CARDOSO, CLAUDIA ANDREA LIMA; LIMA-JUNIOR, SIDNEI EDUARDO; GRACIOLLI, GUSTAVO; ANTONIALLI-JUNIOR, WILLIAM FERNANDO. Low Intraspecific Aggression Level, Cuticular Hydrocarbons, and Polydomy in the Bullet Ant. Journal of Chemical Ecology, v. 50, n. 7-8, p. 13-pg., 2024-05-07. (21/00984-7)

DRESCH, FLORA; LIMA, LUAN DIAS; ROMANOWSKI, HELENA PICCOLI; KAMINSKI, LUCAS AUGUSTO. Immature stages of the Zebra Hairstreak butterfly, Arawacus separata (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): a model organism for studies on mimicry and mutualism. Zootaxa, v. 5569, n. 1, p. 21-pg., 2025-01-13. (21/00984-7)

LIMA, LUAN DIAS; CEBALLOS-GONZALEZ, AMALIA VICTORIA; PRATO, AMANDA; CAVALLERI, ADRIANO; TRIGO, JOSE ROBERTO; DO NASCIMENTO, FABIO SANTOS. Chemical Camouflage Induced by Diet in a Pest Treehopper on Host Plants. PLANTS-BASEL, v. 13, n. 2, p. 12-pg., 2024-01-01. (21/00984-7, 11/17708-0, 21/05598-8, 18/10996-0)

LIMA, LUAN DIAS; ANTONIALLI-JUNIOR, WILLIAM FERNANDO. Foraging Behavior of the Neotropical Ant Ectatomma vizottoi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, v. 38, n. 1, p. 10-pg., 2025-03-01. (21/00984-7)

LIMA, LUAN DIAS; ASSIS, DIEGO SANTANA; DO NASCIMENTO, FABIO SANTOS; KAMINSKI, LUCAS AUGUSTO. Chemical conspicuousness, ant organs, and specificity in myrmecophilous caterpillars partitioning ant-plant systems. Insect Science, v. N/A, p. 14-pg., 2024-11-27. (15/17358-0, 21/05598-8, 18/10996-0, 21/00984-7)

LIMA, LUAN DIAS; CEBALLOS-GONZALEZ, AMALIA VICTORIA; PRATO, AMANDA; KAMINSKI, LUCAS AUGUSTO; DO NASCIMENTO, FABIO SANTOS. Plant-treehopper convergence may trick butterflies into trophic oviposition mistakes. Biotropica, v. N/A, p. 7-pg., 2023-01-18. (18/10996-0, 21/05598-8, 21/00984-7)