Explaining the abundance of ants in lowland tropical rainforest canopies

The extraordinary abundance of ants in tropical rainforest canopies has led to speculation that numerous arboreal ant taxa feed principally as "herbivores" of plant and insect exudates. Based on nitrogen (N) isotope ratios of plants, known herbivores, arthropod predators, and ants from Amazonia and Borneo, we find that many arboreal ant species obtain little N through predation and scavenging. Microsymbionts of ants and their hemipteran trophobionts might play key roles in the nutrition of taxa specializing on N-poor exudates. For plants, the combined costs of biotic defenses and herbivory by ants and tended Hemiptera are substantial, and forest losses to insect herbivores vastly exceed current estimates.     

Breakdown of an ant-plant mutualism follows the loss of large herbivores from an African savanna

Mutualisms are key components of biodiversity and ecosystem function, yet the forces maintaining them are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of removing large mammals on an ant-Acacia mutualism in an African savanna. Ten years of large-herbivore exclusion reduced the nectar and housing provided by plants to ants, increasing antagonistic behavior by a mutualistic ant associate and shifting competitive dominance within the plant-ant community from this nectar-dependent mutualist to an antagonistic species that does not depend on plant rewards. Trees occupied by this antagonist suffered increased attack by stem-boring beetles, grew more slowly, and experienced doubled mortality relative to trees occupied by the mutualistic ant. These results show that large mammals maintain cooperation within a widespread symbiosis and suggest complex cascading effects of megafaunal extinction.     

广东红火蚁多个生境中诱饵对蚂蚁诱集作用比较

研究了荔枝园、荒草地和绿化带3种红火蚁Solenopsis invicta入侵生境中火腿肠、沙丁鱼、黄粉虫和蜂蜜4种诱饵及其组合对蚂蚁的引诱作用.结果表明,火腿肠、火腿肠 蜂蜜、沙丁鱼 蜂蜜这3种诱饵不仅能诱到较多的蚂蚁种类,也能诱到较多的蚂蚁数量;红火蚁对火腿肠的趋性最强,而火腿肠诱集其他蚂蚁的数量最少;通过对3种生境中不同诱饵诱集其他蚂蚁数量占所诱蚂蚁总数的百分比的分析发现,蜂蜜和加蜂蜜的诱饵诱集其他蚂蚁的数量最多;综合多方面的因素,在红火蚁发生区进行蚂蚁群落调查,火腿肠 蜂蜜和沙丁鱼 蜂蜜是最好的诱饵选择.     

基于认知程度评估的红火蚁 管理策略与方式探讨

采用问卷调查的方法对南沙区132 个社区/村当地居民对红火蚁认知程度进行调查。结果发现、南沙区 居民对红火蚁的了解程度较高、其中65.2%居民知道红火蚁;对红火蚁的了解途径中、野亲眼所见冶所占比例最高、为 57.78%、其次是从电视上得知、为14.43%;86.84%居民所在地区发现有红火蚁、90.93%居民周围有人知道红火蚁。在 发现红火蚁后、52.35%居民会向相关部门反映、38.01%居民会使用工具进行破坏;68.78%居民3 年前就已经听说当 地有红火蚁发生;48.08%居民认为红火蚁入侵对人身健康产生影响;59.59%居民被红火蚁叮咬过、且86.32%居民会 有痛痒、红肿、脓包的症状;69.50%居民在被叮咬后知道处理方法、其中53.88%居民会涂抹药膏、30.53%会去医;就 医;62.09%居民会关心入侵生物相关的信息;56.37%居民了解红火蚁相关工作内容;89.95%居民对红火蚁的宣传、防 治工作感到基本满意;在红火蚁相关工作中、37.47%居民建议应该加强防控力度、21.98%居民认为应该加强宣传。通 过调查所反映的问题、提出解决的方法和建议。     

Code of ant-plant mutualism broken by parasite

Newly discovered Phyllobaenus beetles are parasites of a mutualism. Piper ant-plants in tropical forests provide lipid and protein-rich food cells and shelter for Pheidok bicornis ants while the ants remove small herbivores and vines from the foliage. In contrast to all other ant-plants, Piper ant-plants produce food bodies only when Pheidole bicornis is present in the plant. However, Phyllobaenus beetles can stimulate the plants to produce food bodies as if ants were present. The beetles then inhabit the plant, exploiting nest sites and food produced by the plants for ants. These beetles may also prey on ant brood, depriving the plants of resources and services provided by the ants.     

藏东南色季拉山蚂蚁物种的分布格局

为了揭示藏东南地区蚂蚁的生态学规律,采用样地调查法和搜索调查法首次研究了色季拉山蚂蚁物种的分布格局。在色季拉山记载蚁科昆虫3亚科14属31种,其中,猛蚁亚科2属3种,切叶蚁亚科7属17种,蚁亚科5属11种。在色季拉山地区,大多数蚂蚁物种（大约2/3）对高山环境的适应性较弱,仅分布于3000m以下的低海拔区域;分布于30...     

Traditional knowledge and rationale for weaver ant husbandry in the Mekong delta of Vietnam

The weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), has long been known as perhaps the first example of human manipulation of a natural predator population to enhance the natural biological control of insect pests. The practice of ant husbandry in Vietnamese citrus orchards and the knowledge associated with the use of weaver ants in the Mekong delta are described. In contrast to other regions of Asia, where weaver ants are noted for their role in the protection of citrus from insect damage, citrus farmers in the Mekong delta explain the benefits of ant husbandry in terms of an improvement in fruit quality, likened to the influence of fertilizers, that occurs in direct response to excretory products deposited by the weaver ants as they patrol the fruit. A series of tests, carried out in 1993–94, rated the external shine, sweetness, juiciness, and overall appeal, as characteristics of fruit quality, for paired comparisons of sweet orange, mandarin, and pummelo fruit that had been grown in the presence of weaver ants or from which ants had been excluded. The tests indicate a strong influence of the presence of the weaver ant on external shine, juiciness, and overall appeal for each of the citrus fruits, but particularly for mandarin. The significance of these results and ant husbandry practices in the Mekong delta are discussed in relation to the development of citrus production in Vietnam.     

秦岭地区2种蚂蚁巢内土壤理化性质和微生物量的相关性研究

研究了秦岭牛背梁自然保护区森林生态系统中2种优势蚂蚁(日本弓背蚁Camponotus japonicus和敏捷扁头猛蚁Pachycondyla astuta)的营巢活动对林地土壤理化性质及其微生物量的影响。结果表明:3种不同微生境(日本弓背蚁巢内、敏捷扁头猛蚁巢内及蚁巢外对照)土壤的有机质、全氮、速效氮和速效钾含量均存在显著差异(p<0.05),表现为敏捷扁头猛蚁巢内>日本弓背蚁巢内>巢外土壤;全磷和速效磷的含量虽然无显著差异(p>0.05),但与蚁巢外土壤相比,日本弓背蚁巢内速效磷含量下降了31.41%,敏捷扁头猛蚁巢内速效磷含量下降了15.09%;三者间含水量差异亦存在显著差异(p<0.05),且蚁巢内土壤均较巢外潮湿;pH值差异不显著,但蚁巢内土壤比巢外土壤略显酸性。营巢活动对土壤微生物量也产生明显影响(p<0.05),2种蚂蚁蚁巢内细菌、放线菌及真菌的cfu/g数量均显著大于巢外土壤(p<0.05),而敏捷扁头猛蚁巢内3类微生物cfu/g数量又显著大于日本弓背蚁巢内(p<0.05)。土壤理化性质和微生物量的相关性分析表明:日本弓背蚁和敏捷扁头猛蚁巢内土壤有机质、全氮、速效氮、速效钾含量与其土壤中细菌、放线菌、真菌的cfu/g数量呈显著或极显著正相关;全磷含量与土壤微生物量呈不同程度的正相关;但2种蚂蚁巢内的土壤速效磷含量及pH值则与土壤微生物cfu/g数量呈显著负相关。以上结果表明,蚂蚁的筑巢活动可显著影响其巢内土壤的养分含量和微生物量,致使土壤异质性增强,从而对维持森林生态系统中物质能量循环产生重要的影响作用。     

Tournaments and slavery in a desert ant

Many species of ants engage in physical fighting when territorial borders are challenged. In contrast, colonies of the honeypot ant species Myrmecocystus mimicus conduct ritualized tournaments, in which hundreds of ants perform highly stereotyped display fights. Opposing colonies summon their worker forces to the tournament area by means of an alarm-recruitment system. When one colony is considerably stronger than the other, the tournament quickly ends, and the weaker colony is raided and its ants "enslaved." This is the first example of intraspecific slavery recorded in ants.     

太白山蚂蚁及其生态分布的研究

对太白山蚂蚁种群及生态分布的调查研究结果表明:分布于太白山的蚂蚁目前发现有43种,隶属于4亚科18属;各植被带所分布的蚁种与植被组成的丰富程度成正相关,与海拔高度成负相关,即海拔越高,植被种类减少,组成趋于简单,所分布的蚁种随之递减.     

The evolution of agriculture in ants

Cultivation of fungi for food by fungus-growing ants (Attini: Formicidae) originated about 50 million years ago. The subsequent evolutionary history of this agricultural symbiosis was inferred from phylogenetic and population-genetic patterns of 553 cultivars isolated from gardens of "primitive" fungus-growing ants. These patterns indicate that fungus-growing ants succeeded at domesticating multiple cultivars, that the ants are capable of switching to novel cultivars, that single ant species farm a diversity of cultivars, and that cultivars are shared occasionally between distantly related ant species, probably by lateral transfer between ant colonies.     

太谷地区耕作土壤转化酶活性的研究初报

土壤酶参与了土壤中许多重要的生物化学过程,对土壤中营养元素的生物循环,有机质的转化和积累以及腐植质的合成与分解等,都起着十分重要的作用,与土壤其他性状相比,能较综合地反映土壤状况。由于转化酶广泛存在于高等植物,微生物中以及以孢外酶的形式存在于土壤中,因此,国内外许多学者如 Woksman,Hofman,周礼恺等均主张以转化酶活性作为土壤肥力的量度。本项研究通过对太谷地区耕作土壤转化酶活性的测定,应用太谷县土壤地力评价资料,对土壤转化酶活性及其与有关因子的相关性进行了分析探讨,结果表明,土壤转化酶活性与土壤有机质含量以及土壤全氮含量均有较好的正相关,而与土壤 pH 值有一定的负相关;以土壤转化酶的活性作为土壤肥力水平的量度是可靠的。     

瑞丽市 3 种类型柠檬园地表蚂蚁群落多样性研究

为探讨覆膜对柠檬园地表蚂蚁群落的影响,于2016年4月和7月采用陷阱法对云南省瑞丽市覆膜种植和常规种植模式下3种类型柠檬园地表蚂蚁群落进行调查。结果表明,柠檬园RG采集地表蚂蚁17种276头;柠檬园RH采集地表蚂蚁22种527头;柠檬园RI采集地表蚂蚁16种273头。3种类型柠檬园间地表蚂蚁相对多度和物种丰富度均有显著差异,柠檬园RH中地表蚂蚁的相对多度和物种丰富度均显著高于柠檬园RG和柠檬园RI。3种类型柠檬园间地表蚂蚁群落结构互不相似。覆膜降低了柠檬园地表蚂蚁群落的相对多度和物种丰富度,除草剂对柠檬园地表蚂蚁的相对多度和物种丰富度无影响,但可以改变地表蚂蚁群落结构。     

Fungus-growing ants

Fungus-growing ants (Attini) are in reality unique fungus-culturing insects.There are several hundred species in some dozen genera, of which Acromyrmex and Atta are the conspicuous leaf-cutters. The center of their activities is the fungus garden, which is also the site of the queen and brood. The garden, in most species, is made from fresh green leaves or other vegetal material. The ants forage for this, forming distinct trails to the vegetation that is being harvested. The cut leaves or other substrate are brought into the nest and prepared for the fungus. Fresh leaves and flowers are cut into pieces a millimeter or two in diameter; the ants form them into a pulpy mass by pinching them with the mandibles and adding saliva. Anal droplets are deposited on the pieces, which are then forced into place in the garden. Planting of the fungus is accomplished by an ant's picking up tufts of the adjacent mycelium and dotting the surface of the new substrate with it. The combination of salivary and anal secretions, together with the constant care given by the ants, facilitates the growth of the ant fungus only, despite constant possibilities for contamination. When the ants are removed, alien fungi and other organisms flourish. A mature nest of Atta Sexdens may consist of 2000 chambers, some temporarily empty, some with refuse, and the remainder with fungus gardens. Thousands of kilograms of fresh leaves will have been used. A young laboratory colony of Atta cephalotes will use 1 kilogram of fresh leaves for one garden. The attines are the chief agents for introducing organic matter into the soil in tropical rain forests; this matter becomes the nucleus for a host of other organisms, including nematodes and arthropods, after it is discarded by the ants. One ant species cultures a yeast; all others grow a mycelium. In the higher species the mycelium forms clusters of inflated hyphae. Mycologists accept as valid two names for confirmed fruiting stages: Leucocoprinus ( or Leucoagaricus) gongylophora (Moeller 1893) and Lepiota n. sp.     

高等植物中蔗糖转化酶的研究进展

蔗糖是高等植物光合作用的主要产物之一,也是糖类在植物中运输的主要方式,在植物的生长发育过程中起重要的作用.蔗糖转化酶（Sucrose invertase,INV）可以不可逆地催化蔗糖水解成葡萄糖和果糖,对于蔗糖的利用和运输起重要的作用.很多研究表明,在植物组织中存在多种形式的蔗糖转化酶的同工酶.蔗糖转化酶基因在环境压力和进化过程中不断进化,最终形成人们现在看到的蔗糖转化酶基因家族.蔗糖转化酶的调控主要体现在mRNA水平的调控和抑制蛋白在翻译后的调控2个方面.抑制蛋白在翻译后的调控中有一类小20 kD的蔗糖转化酶抑制蛋白（Sucrose invertase inhibitor,INVINH）,可以通过抑制蔗糖转化酶活性,起到调节植物生理活动的作用.     

氟虫腈饵剂防控红火蚁的田间药效试验

以含0.05％氟虫腈为有效成分与多种天然物质配制饵剂,撒于红火蚁(SolenopsisinvatBuren)蚁巢上,药剂中的引诱剂吸引红火蚁取食,将饵剂带入巢内,并通过红火蚁在巢内交哺喂食行为将药剂传递给其它各品级个体,引起全巢红火蚁中毒死亡.结果表明,0.05％氟虫腈杀蚁饵剂对红火蚁具有良好的控制效果,药后15d开始进入防效高峰期,25～30d防效达到最佳.0.05％氟虫腈杀蚁饵剂药后30d对工蚁的防治效果达93.39％～100.00％;灭巢效果达95.84％～100.00％;药后50d,蚁群级别降低率达83.33％～100.00％,显著优于对照药剂.     

宁夏贺兰山蚂蚁及其生态分布研究

于2007～2008年对宁夏贺兰山蚂蚁的种类和生态分布进行了系统调查,结果表明：分布于宁夏贺兰山的蚂蚁目前共发现26种,分别隶属于2亚科,11属。各种生境所分布的蚁种与植被组成的丰富程度成正相关,与海拔高度成负相关,即海拔越高,植被种类减少,组成趋于简单,所分布的蚁种随之递减。荒漠草地、疏林草地和灌丛3种生境类型中蚂蚁种类最多,其次为典型草地、阔叶林、针阔叶混交林、人工植被、砾石荒滩,针叶林和高寒草甸则最少。根据蚂蚁生态分布特征,并结合植被、地形、地貌运用等级聚类将26种蚂蚁划分为4个生态种组。     

红火蚁不同虫态个体对辛硫磷的敏感性研究

用点滴法分别测定了红火蚁不同虫态个体对辛硫磷的敏感性。处理后24 h的毒力测定结果为:小工蚁、大工蚁、雄蚁、有翅雌蚁和蚁后的LC50分别为1.04,2.06,7.38,9.39和7.81μg/mL,表明不同虫态个体对药剂的敏感性差异很大,毒力相差9.0倍之多。     

Evolution of the gene network underlying wing polyphenism in ants

Wing polyphenism in ants evolved once, 125 million years ago, and has been a key to their amazing evolutionary success. We characterized the expression of several genes within the network underlying the wing primordia of reproductive (winged) and sterile (wingless) ant castes. We show that the expression of several genes within the network is conserved in the winged castes of four ant species, whereas points of interruption within the network in the wingless castes are evolutionarily labile. The simultaneous evolutionary lability and conservation of the network underlying wing development in ants may have played an important role in the morphological diversification of this group and may be a general feature of polyphenic development and evolution in plants and animals.     

Effects on Sucrose Metabolism,Dry Matter Distribution and Fruit Quality of Tomato Under Water Deficit

Four irrigation treatments were designed with 2, 4, 6 and 8 d intervals to irrigate, respectively. Watering was stopped when the reading of the moisture tension sensor reached zero. The results indicated that glucose and fructose content of tomato's fruit were increased but sucrose content was decreased with fruit growth and development. In different stages, carbohydrate content of tomato fruit in the treatment 3 was the highest, in the treatment 2 was higher, and in the other treatments was the lowest. SS(sucrose synthase) activity was decreased but SPS(sucrose phosphate synthase) activity was increased with development of tomato. SS and SPS activity were increased but acid invertase and neutral invertase activity of ripe stage were decreased under deficit irrigation. Glucose and fructose content were increased in leaves of tomato under water deficit.Soluble sugars, organic acid and the ratio of sugar/acid in tomato fruits were increased and dry matter accumulation of plant was enhanced under water deficit. But the growth of fruits upside the plant and its dry matter accumulation were badly affected under water stress.