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1. Mutualistic interactions between ants and fungi: A review

Author

Alain Dejean, Frédéric Azémar, Piotr Naskrecki, Maurice Tindo, Vivien Rossi, Christian Faucher, and Hervé Gryta

Subjects
ant constructions, ant fungiculture, composite materials, defoliation, fungi as food, Ecology, QH540-549.5
Abstract

Abstract The large amount of dead plant biomass caused by the final extinction events triggered a fungi proliferation that mostly differentiated into saprophytes degrading organic matter; others became parasites, predators, likely commensals, and mutualists. Among the last, many have relationships with ants, the most emblematic seen in the Neotropical myrmicine Attina that cultivate Basidiomycota for food. Among them, leaf‐cutting, fungus‐growing species illustrate an ecological innovation because they grow fungal gardens from fresh plant material rather than arthropod frass and plant debris. Myrmecophytes shelter “plant‐ants” in hollow structures, the domatia, whose inner walls are lined with thin‐walled Ascomycota hyphae that, in certain cases, are eaten by the ants, showing a form of convergence. Typically, these Ascomycota have antibacterial properties illustrating cases of farming for protection. Ant gardens, or mutualistic associations between certain ant species and epiphytes, shelter endophytic fungi that promote the growth of the epiphytes. Because the cell walls of certain Ascomycota hyphae remain sturdy after the death of the mycelium, they form resistant fibers used by ants to reinforce their constructions (e.g., galleries, shelters for tended hemipterans, and carton nests). Thus, we saw cases of “true” fungal agriculture involving planting, cultivating, and harvesting Basidiomycota for food with Attina. A convergence with “plant‐ants” feeding on Ascomycota whose antibacterial activity is generally exploited (i.e., farming for protection). The growth of epiphytes was promoted by endophytic fungi in ant gardens. Finally, farming for structural materials occurred with, in one case, a leaf‐cutting, fungus‐growing ant using Ascomycota fibers to reinforce its nests.

Published
2023
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2. Climate change impact on Amazonian ant gardens

Author

Alain Dejean, Frédéric Petitclerc, Arthur Compin, Frédéric Azémar, Stanislas Talaga, and Bruno Corbara

Subjects
Adaptation to dryness, Ant gardens, Drought frequency, Epiphytes, Global change, Neoponera goeldii, Ecology, QH540-549.5
Abstract

In Amazonia higher Atlantic sea surface temperatures, greenhouse gasses, deforestation and El Niño events result in the greater frequency of severe droughts, although total rainfall has increased due to wetter rainy seasons, something confirmed in French Guiana from available climatic data (1980–2017). Aiming to study the impact of rainfall on ant gardens (i.e., arboreal ant-epiphyte mutualisms that depend on the atmosphere for water; AGs) initiated by the ponerine ant Neoponera goeldii, we conducted surveys around the Petit Saut and Régina areas (mean annual rainfall: ≈3,000 mm and ≈4,000 mm, respectively). Each year, near the end of the dry season we recorded the number of these AGs in 10 × 5 m sections parallel to the roadsides. The Petit Saut survey (1993–2017) revealed that AG density along roadsides varied only slightly in ''wet zones'' situated along ditches, whereas in ''dry zones'' where the soil seasonally dries out it dropped sharply during the drastic 1997 dry season. Then, this density, low due to recurrent droughts, dropped again during the drastic successive 2015–2016 dry seasons. In the Régina survey (2006–2017), we had the opportunity to follow the establishment of AGs in a ''dry zone''. It was represented by a typical sigmoidal curve and then it stabilized with AG densities higher than at its peak in 1996 in dry zones of Petit Saut, showing the importance of rainfall. Here, too, the drastic 2016 dry season adversely affected the AGs. Finally, the epiphytic composition of the AGs was mainly represented by Aechmea mertensii (a tank bromeliad), Anthurium gracile (Araceae) and Codonanthe crassifolia (Gesneriaceae), but AGs with the tank bromeliad are more resistant to droughts. These AGs are at risk in dry zones if drastic successive dry seasons occur in the future as global warming intensifies while those developing in riparian areas might survive.

Published
2022
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3. Discovery of an Insect Neuroactive Helix Ring Peptide from Ant Venom

Author

Valentine Barassé, Laurence Jouvensal, Guillaume Boy, Arnaud Billet, Steven Ascoët, Benjamin Lefranc, Jérôme Leprince, Alain Dejean, Virginie Lacotte, Isabelle Rahioui, Catherine Sivignon, Karen Gaget, Mélanie Ribeiro Lopes, Federica Calevro, Pedro Da Silva, Karine Loth, Françoise Paquet, Michel Treilhou, Elsa Bonnafé, and Axel Touchard

Subjects
ant venoms, neurotoxins, Tetramorium bicarinatum, potassium channel, helix peptide, Medicine
Abstract

Ants are among the most abundant terrestrial invertebrate predators on Earth. To overwhelm their prey, they employ several remarkable behavioral, physiological, and biochemical innovations, including an effective paralytic venom. Ant venoms are thus cocktails of toxins finely tuned to disrupt the physiological systems of insect prey. They have received little attention yet hold great promise for the discovery of novel insecticidal molecules. To identify insect-neurotoxins from ant venoms, we screened the paralytic activity on blowflies of nine synthetic peptides previously characterized in the venom of Tetramorium bicarinatum. We selected peptide U11, a 34-amino acid peptide, for further insecticidal, structural, and pharmacological experiments. Insecticidal assays revealed that U11 is one of the most paralytic peptides ever reported from ant venoms against blowflies and is also capable of paralyzing honeybees. An NMR spectroscopy of U11 uncovered a unique scaffold, featuring a compact triangular ring helix structure stabilized by a single disulfide bond. Pharmacological assays using Drosophila S2 cells demonstrated that U11 is not cytotoxic, but suggest that it may modulate potassium conductance, which structural data seem to corroborate and will be confirmed in a future extended pharmacological investigation. The results described in this paper demonstrate that ant venom is a promising reservoir for the discovery of neuroactive insecticidal peptides.

Published
2023
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4. The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project

Author

Lawrence N. Hudson, Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha L. L. Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen R. P. Phillips, Tamera I. Alhusseini, Felicity E. Bedford, Dominic J. Bennett, Hollie Booth, Victoria J. Burton, Charlotte W. T. Chng, Argyrios Choimes, David L. P. Correia, Julie Day, Susy Echeverría‐Londoño, Susan R. Emerson, Di Gao, Morgan Garon, Michelle L. K. Harrison, Daniel J. Ingram, Martin Jung, Victoria Kemp, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Callum D. Martin, Yuan Pan, Gwilym D. Pask‐Hale, Edwin L. Pynegar, Alexandra N. Robinson, Katia Sanchez‐Ortiz, Rebecca A. Senior, Benno I. Simmons, Hannah J. White, Hanbin Zhang, Job Aben, Stefan Abrahamczyk, Gilbert B. Adum, Virginia Aguilar‐Barquero, Marcelo A. Aizen, Belén Albertos, E. L. Alcala, Maria delMar Alguacil, Audrey Alignier, Marc Ancrenaz, Alan N. Andersen, Enrique Arbeláez‐Cortés, Inge Armbrecht, Víctor Arroyo‐Rodríguez, Tom Aumann, Jan C. Axmacher, Badrul Azhar, Adrián B. Azpiroz, Lander Baeten, Adama Bakayoko, András Báldi, John E. Banks, Sharad K. Baral, Jos Barlow, Barbara I. P. Barratt, Lurdes Barrico, Paola Bartolommei, Diane M. Barton, Yves Basset, Péter Batáry, Adam J. Bates, Bruno Baur, Erin M. Bayne, Pedro Beja, Suzan Benedick, Åke Berg, Henry Bernard, Nicholas J. Berry, Dinesh Bhatt, Jake E. Bicknell, Jochen H. Bihn, Robin J. Blake, Kadiri S. Bobo, Roberto Bóçon, Teun Boekhout, Katrin Böhning‐Gaese, Kevin J. Bonham, Paulo A. V. Borges, Sérgio H. Borges, Céline Boutin, Jérémy Bouyer, Cibele Bragagnolo, Jodi S. Brandt, Francis Q. Brearley, Isabel Brito, Vicenç Bros, Jörg Brunet, Grzegorz Buczkowski, Christopher M. Buddle, Rob Bugter, Erika Buscardo, Jörn Buse, Jimmy Cabra‐García, Nilton C. Cáceres, Nicolette L. Cagle, María Calviño‐Cancela, Sydney A. Cameron, Eliana M. Cancello, Rut Caparrós, Pedro Cardoso, Dan Carpenter, Tiago F. Carrijo, Anelena L. Carvalho, Camila R. Cassano, Helena Castro, Alejandro A. Castro‐Luna, Cerda B. Rolando, Alexis Cerezo, Kim Alan Chapman, Matthieu Chauvat, Morten Christensen, Francis M. Clarke, Daniel F.R. Cleary, Giorgio Colombo, Stuart P. Connop, Michael D. Craig, Leopoldo Cruz‐López, Saul A. Cunningham, Biagio D'Aniello, Neil D'Cruze, Pedro Giovâni daSilva, Martin Dallimer, Emmanuel Danquah, Ben Darvill, Jens Dauber, Adrian L. V. Davis, Jeff Dawson, Claudio deSassi, Benoit deThoisy, Olivier Deheuvels, Alain Dejean, Jean‐Louis Devineau, Tim Diekötter, Jignasu V. Dolia, Erwin Domínguez, Yamileth Dominguez‐Haydar, Silvia Dorn, Isabel Draper, Niels Dreber, Bertrand Dumont, Simon G. Dures, Mats Dynesius, Lars Edenius, Paul Eggleton, Felix Eigenbrod, Zoltán Elek, Martin H. Entling, Karen J. Esler, Ricardo F. deLima, Aisyah Faruk, Nina Farwig, Tom M. Fayle, Antonio Felicioli, Annika M. Felton, Roderick J. Fensham, Ignacio C. Fernandez, Catarina C. Ferreira, Gentile F. Ficetola, Cristina Fiera, Bruno K. C. Filgueiras, Hüseyin K. Fırıncıoğlu, David Flaspohler, Andreas Floren, Steven J. Fonte, Anne Fournier, Robert E. Fowler, Markus Franzén, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Gabriella M. Fredriksson, Geraldo B. Freire Jr, Tiago L. M. Frizzo, Daisuke Fukuda, Dario Furlani, René Gaigher, Jörg U. Ganzhorn, Karla P. García, Juan C. Garcia‐R, Jenni G. Garden, Ricardo Garilleti, Bao‐Ming Ge, Benoit Gendreau‐Berthiaume, Philippa J. Gerard, Carla Gheler‐Costa, Benjamin Gilbert, Paolo Giordani, Simonetta Giordano, Carly Golodets, Laurens G. L. Gomes, Rachelle K. Gould, Dave Goulson, Aaron D. Gove, Laurent Granjon, Ingo Grass, Claudia L. Gray, James Grogan, Weibin Gu, Moisès Guardiola, Nihara R. Gunawardene, Alvaro G. Gutierrez, Doris L. Gutiérrez‐Lamus, Daniela H. Haarmeyer, Mick E. Hanley, Thor Hanson, Nor R. Hashim, Shombe N. Hassan, Richard G. Hatfield, Joseph E. Hawes, Matt W. Hayward, Christian Hébert, Alvin J. Helden, John‐André Henden, Philipp Henschel, Lionel Hernández, James P. Herrera, Farina Herrmann, Felix Herzog, Diego Higuera‐Diaz, Branko Hilje, Hubert Höfer, Anke Hoffmann, Finbarr G. Horgan, Elisabeth Hornung, Roland Horváth, Kristoffer Hylander, Paola Isaacs‐Cubides, Hiroaki Ishida, Masahiro Ishitani, Carmen T. Jacobs, Víctor J. Jaramillo, Birgit Jauker, F. Jiménez Hernández, McKenzie F. Johnson, Virat Jolli, Mats Jonsell, S. Nur Juliani, Thomas S. Jung, Vena Kapoor, Heike Kappes, Vassiliki Kati, Eric Katovai, Klaus Kellner, Michael Kessler, Kathryn R. Kirby, Andrew M. Kittle, Mairi E. Knight, Eva Knop, Florian Kohler, Matti Koivula, Annette Kolb, Mouhamadou Kone, Ádám Kőrösi, Jochen Krauss, Ajith Kumar, Raman Kumar, David J. Kurz, Alex S. Kutt, Thibault Lachat, Victoria Lantschner, Francisco Lara, Jesse R. Lasky, Steven C. Latta, William F. Laurance, Patrick Lavelle, Violette Le Féon, Gretchen LeBuhn, Jean‐Philippe Légaré, Valérie Lehouck, María V. Lencinas, Pia E. Lentini, Susan G. Letcher, Qi Li, Simon A. Litchwark, Nick A. Littlewood, Yunhui Liu, Nancy Lo‐Man‐Hung, Carlos A. López‐Quintero, Mounir Louhaichi, Gabor L. Lövei, Manuel Esteban Lucas‐Borja, Victor H. Luja, Matthew S. Luskin, M Cristina MacSwiney G, Kaoru Maeto, Tibor Magura, Neil Aldrin Mallari, Louise A. Malone, Patrick K. Malonza, Jagoba Malumbres‐Olarte, Salvador Mandujano, Inger E. Måren, Erika Marin‐Spiotta, Charles J. Marsh, E. J. P. Marshall, Eliana Martínez, Guillermo Martínez Pastur, David Moreno Mateos, Margaret M. Mayfield, Vicente Mazimpaka, Jennifer L. McCarthy, Kyle P. McCarthy, Quinn S. McFrederick, Sean McNamara, Nagore G. Medina, Rafael Medina, Jose L. Mena, Estefania Mico, Grzegorz Mikusinski, Jeffrey C. Milder, James R. Miller, Daniel R. Miranda‐Esquivel, Melinda L. Moir, Carolina L. Morales, Mary N. Muchane, Muchai Muchane, Sonja Mudri‐Stojnic, A. Nur Munira, Antonio Muoñz‐Alonso, B. F. Munyekenye, Robin Naidoo, A. Naithani, Michiko Nakagawa, Akihiro Nakamura, Yoshihiro Nakashima, Shoji Naoe, Guiomar Nates‐Parra, Dario A. Navarrete Gutierrez, Luis Navarro‐Iriarte, Paul K. Ndang'ang'a, Eike L. Neuschulz, Jacqueline T. Ngai, Violaine Nicolas, Sven G. Nilsson, Norbertas Noreika, Olivia Norfolk, Jorge Ari Noriega, David A. Norton, Nicole M. Nöske, A. Justin Nowakowski, Catherine Numa, Niall O'Dea, Patrick J. O'Farrell, William Oduro, Sabine Oertli, Caleb Ofori‐Boateng, Christopher Omamoke Oke, Vicencio Oostra, Lynne M. Osgathorpe, Samuel Eduardo Otavo, Navendu V. Page, Juan Paritsis, Alejandro Parra‐H, Luke Parry, Guy Pe'er, Peter B. Pearman, Nicolás Pelegrin, Raphaël Pélissier, Carlos A. Peres, Pablo L. Peri, Anna S. Persson, Theodora Petanidou, Marcell K. Peters, Rohan S. Pethiyagoda, Ben Phalan, T. Keith Philips, Finn C. Pillsbury, Jimmy Pincheira‐Ulbrich, Eduardo Pineda, Joan Pino, Jaime Pizarro‐Araya, A. J. Plumptre, Santiago L. Poggio, Natalia Politi, Pere Pons, Katja Poveda, Eileen F. Power, Steven J. Presley, Vânia Proença, Marino Quaranta, Carolina Quintero, Romina Rader, B. R. Ramesh, Martha P. Ramirez‐Pinilla, Jai Ranganathan, Claus Rasmussen, Nicola A. Redpath‐Downing, J. Leighton Reid, Yana T. Reis, José M. Rey Benayas, Juan Carlos Rey‐Velasco, Chevonne Reynolds, Danilo Bandini Ribeiro, Miriam H. Richards, Barbara A. Richardson, Michael J. Richardson, Rodrigo Macip Ríos, Richard Robinson, Carolina A. Robles, Jörg Römbke, Luz Piedad Romero‐Duque, Matthias Rös, Loreta Rosselli, Stephen J. Rossiter, Dana S. Roth, T'ai H. Roulston, Laurent Rousseau, André V. Rubio, Jean‐Claude Ruel, Jonathan P. Sadler, Szabolcs Sáfián, Romeo A. Saldaña‐Vázquez, Katerina Sam, Ulrika Samnegård, Joana Santana, Xavier Santos, Jade Savage, Nancy A. Schellhorn, Menno Schilthuizen, Ute Schmiedel, Christine B. Schmitt, Nicole L. Schon, Christof Schüepp, Katharina Schumann, Oliver Schweiger, Dawn M. Scott, Kenneth A. Scott, Jodi L. Sedlock, Steven S. Seefeldt, Ghazala Shahabuddin, Graeme Shannon, Douglas Sheil, Frederick H. Sheldon, Eyal Shochat, Stefan J. Siebert, Fernando A. B. Silva, Javier A. Simonetti, Eleanor M. Slade, Jo Smith, Allan H. Smith‐Pardo, Navjot S. Sodhi, Eduardo J. Somarriba, Ramón A. Sosa, Grimaldo Soto Quiroga, Martin‐Hugues St‐Laurent, Brian M. Starzomski, Constanti Stefanescu, Ingolf Steffan‐Dewenter, Philip C. Stouffer, Jane C. Stout, Ayron M. Strauch, Matthew J. Struebig, Zhimin Su, Marcela Suarez‐Rubio, Shinji Sugiura, Keith S. Summerville, Yik‐Hei Sung, Hari Sutrisno, Jens‐Christian Svenning, Tiit Teder, Caragh G. Threlfall, Anu Tiitsaar, Jacqui H. Todd, Rebecca K. Tonietto, Ignasi Torre, Béla Tóthmérész, Teja Tscharntke, Edgar C. Turner, Jason M. Tylianakis, Marcio Uehara‐Prado, Nicolas Urbina‐Cardona, Denis Vallan, Adam J. Vanbergen, Heraldo L. Vasconcelos, Kiril Vassilev, Hans A. F. Verboven, Maria João Verdasca, José R. Verdú, Carlos H. Vergara, Pablo M. Vergara, Jort Verhulst, Massimiliano Virgilio, Lien Van Vu, Edward M. Waite, Tony R. Walker, Hua‐Feng Wang, Yanping Wang, James I. Watling, Britta Weller, Konstans Wells, Catrin Westphal, Edward D. Wiafe, Christopher D. Williams, Michael R. Willig, John C. Z. Woinarski, Jan H. D. Wolf, Volkmar Wolters, Ben A. Woodcock, Jihua Wu, Joseph M. Wunderle Jr, Yuichi Yamaura, Satoko Yoshikura, Douglas W. Yu, Andrey S. Zaitsev, Juliane Zeidler, Fasheng Zou, Ben Collen, Rob M. Ewers, Georgina M. Mace, Drew W. Purves, Jörn P. W. Scharlemann, and Andy Purvis

Subjects
data sharing, global biodiversity modeling, global change, habitat destruction, land use, Ecology, QH540-549.5
Abstract

Abstract The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/biodiversity/predicts.html)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.

Published
2017
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5. Do Host Plant and Associated Ant Species Affect Microbial Communities in Myrmecophytes?

Author

Mario X. Ruiz-González, Céline Leroy, Alain Dejean, Hervé Gryta, Patricia Jargeat, Angelo D. Armijos Carrión, and Jérôme Orivel

Subjects
microbial diversity, domatia, allomerus decemarticulatus, allomerus octoarticulatus, azteca sp. cf. depilis, cordia nodosa, hirtella physophora, Science
Abstract

Ant-associated microorganisms can play crucial and often overlooked roles, and given the diversity of interactions that ants have developed, the study of the associated microbiomes is of interest. We focused here on specialist plant-ant species of the genus Allomerus that grow a fungus to build galleries on their host-plant stems. Allomerus-inhabited domatia, thus, might be a rich arena for microbes associated with the ants, the plant, and the fungus. We investigated the microbial communities present in domatia colonised by four arboreal ants: Allomerus decemarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus var. demerarae, and the non-fungus growing plant-ant Azteca sp. cf. depilis, inhabiting Hirtella physophora or Cordia nodosa in French Guiana. We hypothesized that the microbial community will differ among these species. We isolated microorganisms from five colonies of each species, sequenced the 16S rRNA or Internal TranscribedSpacer (ITS) regions, and described both the alpha and beta diversities. We identified 69 microbial taxa, which belong to five bacterial and two fungal phyla. The most diverse phyla were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The microbial community of Azteca cf. depilis and Allomerus spp. differed in composition and richness. Geographical distance affected microbial communities and richness but plant species did not. Actinobacteria were only associated with Allomerus spp.

Published
2019
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6. The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Author

Lawrence N. Hudson, Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha L. L. Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen R. P. Phillips, Rebecca A. Senior, Dominic J. Bennett, Hollie Booth, Argyrios Choimes, David L. P. Correia, Julie Day, Susy Echeverría‐Londoño, Morgan Garon, Michelle L. K. Harrison, Daniel J. Ingram, Martin Jung, Victoria Kemp, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Callum D. Martin, Yuan Pan, Hannah J. White, Job Aben, Stefan Abrahamczyk, Gilbert B. Adum, Virginia Aguilar‐Barquero, Marcelo A. Aizen, Marc Ancrenaz, Enrique Arbeláez‐Cortés, Inge Armbrecht, Badrul Azhar, Adrián B. Azpiroz, Lander Baeten, András Báldi, John E. Banks, Jos Barlow, Péter Batáry, Adam J. Bates, Erin M. Bayne, Pedro Beja, Åke Berg, Nicholas J. Berry, Jake E. Bicknell, Jochen H. Bihn, Katrin Böhning‐Gaese, Teun Boekhout, Céline Boutin, Jérémy Bouyer, Francis Q. Brearley, Isabel Brito, Jörg Brunet, Grzegorz Buczkowski, Erika Buscardo, Jimmy Cabra‐García, María Calviño‐Cancela, Sydney A. Cameron, Eliana M. Cancello, Tiago F. Carrijo, Anelena L. Carvalho, Helena Castro, Alejandro A. Castro‐Luna, Rolando Cerda, Alexis Cerezo, Matthieu Chauvat, Frank M. Clarke, Daniel F. R. Cleary, Stuart P. Connop, Biagio D'Aniello, Pedro Giovâni daSilva, Ben Darvill, Jens Dauber, Alain Dejean, Tim Diekötter, Yamileth Dominguez‐Haydar, Carsten F. Dormann, Bertrand Dumont, Simon G. Dures, Mats Dynesius, Lars Edenius, Zoltán Elek, Martin H. Entling, Nina Farwig, Tom M. Fayle, Antonio Felicioli, Annika M. Felton, Gentile F. Ficetola, Bruno K. C. Filgueiras, Steven J. Fonte, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Daisuke Fukuda, Dario Furlani, Jörg U. Ganzhorn, Jenni G. Garden, Carla Gheler‐Costa, Paolo Giordani, Simonetta Giordano, Marco S. Gottschalk, Dave Goulson, Aaron D. Gove, James Grogan, Mick E. Hanley, Thor Hanson, Nor R. Hashim, Joseph E. Hawes, Christian Hébert, Alvin J. Helden, John‐André Henden, Lionel Hernández, Felix Herzog, Diego Higuera‐Diaz, Branko Hilje, Finbarr G. Horgan, Roland Horváth, Kristoffer Hylander, Paola Isaacs‐Cubides, Masahiro Ishitani, Carmen T. Jacobs, Víctor J. Jaramillo, Birgit Jauker, Mats Jonsell, Thomas S. Jung, Vena Kapoor, Vassiliki Kati, Eric Katovai, Michael Kessler, Eva Knop, Annette Kolb, Ádám Kőrösi, Thibault Lachat, Victoria Lantschner, Violette Le Féon, Gretchen LeBuhn, Jean‐Philippe Légaré, Susan G. Letcher, Nick A. Littlewood, Carlos A. López‐Quintero, Mounir Louhaichi, Gabor L. Lövei, Manuel Esteban Lucas‐Borja, Victor H. Luja, Kaoru Maeto, Tibor Magura, Neil Aldrin Mallari, Erika Marin‐Spiotta, E. J. P. Marshall, Eliana Martínez, Margaret M. Mayfield, Grzegorz Mikusinski, Jeffrey C. Milder, James R. Miller, Carolina L. Morales, Mary N. Muchane, Muchai Muchane, Robin Naidoo, Akihiro Nakamura, Shoji Naoe, Guiomar Nates‐Parra, Dario A. Navarrete Gutierrez, Eike L. Neuschulz, Norbertas Noreika, Olivia Norfolk, Jorge Ari Noriega, Nicole M. Nöske, Niall O'Dea, William Oduro, Caleb Ofori‐Boateng, Chris O. Oke, Lynne M. Osgathorpe, Juan Paritsis, Alejandro Parra‐H, Nicolás Pelegrin, Carlos A. Peres, Anna S. Persson, Theodora Petanidou, Ben Phalan, T. Keith Philips, Katja Poveda, Eileen F. Power, Steven J. Presley, Vânia Proença, Marino Quaranta, Carolina Quintero, Nicola A. Redpath‐Downing, J. Leighton Reid, Yana T. Reis, Danilo B. Ribeiro, Barbara A. Richardson, Michael J. Richardson, Carolina A. Robles, Jörg Römbke, Luz Piedad Romero‐Duque, Loreta Rosselli, Stephen J. Rossiter, T'ai H. Roulston, Laurent Rousseau, Jonathan P. Sadler, Szabolcs Sáfián, Romeo A. Saldaña‐Vázquez, Ulrika Samnegård, Christof Schüepp, Oliver Schweiger, Jodi L. Sedlock, Ghazala Shahabuddin, Douglas Sheil, Fernando A. B. Silva, Eleanor M. Slade, Allan H. Smith‐Pardo, Navjot S. Sodhi, Eduardo J. Somarriba, Ramón A. Sosa, Jane C. Stout, Matthew J. Struebig, Yik‐Hei Sung, Caragh G. Threlfall, Rebecca Tonietto, Béla Tóthmérész, Teja Tscharntke, Edgar C. Turner, Jason M. Tylianakis, Adam J. Vanbergen, Kiril Vassilev, Hans A. F. Verboven, Carlos H. Vergara, Pablo M. Vergara, Jort Verhulst, Tony R. Walker, Yanping Wang, James I. Watling, Konstans Wells, Christopher D. Williams, Michael R. Willig, John C. Z. Woinarski, Jan H. D. Wolf, Ben A. Woodcock, Douglas W. Yu, Andrey S. Zaitsev, Ben Collen, Rob M. Ewers, Georgina M. Mace, Drew W. Purves, Jörn P. W. Scharlemann, and Andy Purvis

Subjects
Data sharing, global change, habitat destruction, land use, Ecology, QH540-549.5
Abstract

Abstract Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local‐scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/biodiversity/predicts.html). We make site‐level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.

Published
2014
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7. DNA reference libraries of French Guianese mosquitoes for barcoding and metabarcoding.

Author

Stanislas Talaga, Céline Leroy, Amandine Guidez, Isabelle Dusfour, Romain Girod, Alain Dejean, and Jérôme Murienne

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

The mosquito family (Diptera: Culicidae) constitutes the most medically important group of arthropods because certain species are vectors of human pathogens. In some parts of the world, the diversity is so high that the accurate delimitation and/or identification of species is challenging. A DNA-based identification system for all animals has been proposed, the so-called DNA barcoding approach. In this study, our objectives were (i) to establish DNA barcode libraries for the mosquitoes of French Guiana based on the COI and the 16S markers, (ii) to compare distance-based and tree-based methods of species delimitation to traditional taxonomy, and (iii) to evaluate the accuracy of each marker in identifying specimens. A total of 266 specimens belonging to 75 morphologically identified species or morphospecies were analyzed allowing us to delimit 86 DNA clusters with only 21 of them already present in the BOLD database. We thus provide a substantial contribution to the global mosquito barcoding initiative. Our results confirm that DNA barcodes can be successfully used to delimit and identify mosquito species with only a few cases where the marker could not distinguish closely related species. Our results also validate the presence of new species identified based on morphology, plus potential cases of cryptic species. We found that both COI and 16S markers performed very well, with successful identifications at the species level of up to 98% for COI and 97% for 16S when compared to traditional taxonomy. This shows great potential for the use of metabarcoding for vector monitoring and eco-epidemiological studies.

Published
2017
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8. Arthropod Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest: Tackling a Four Dimensional Puzzle.

Author

Yves Basset, Lukas Cizek, Philippe Cuénoud, Raphael K Didham, Vojtech Novotny, Frode Ødegaard, Tomas Roslin, Alexey K Tishechkin, Jürgen Schmidl, Neville N Winchester, David W Roubik, Henri-Pierre Aberlenc, Johannes Bail, Héctor Barrios, Jonathan R Bridle, Gabriela Castaño-Meneses, Bruno Corbara, Gianfranco Curletti, Wesley Duarte da Rocha, Domir De Bakker, Jacques H C Delabie, Alain Dejean, Laura L Fagan, Andreas Floren, Roger L Kitching, Enrique Medianero, Evandro Gama de Oliveira, Jérôme Orivel, Marc Pollet, Mathieu Rapp, Sérvio P Ribeiro, Yves Roisin, Jesper B Schmidt, Line Sørensen, Thomas M Lewinsohn, and Maurice Leponce

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of arthropods in tropical rainforests represents a first step towards scrutinizing the global distribution of biodiversity on Earth. To date most studies have focused on narrow taxonomic groups or lack a design that allows partitioning of the components of diversity. Here, we consider an exceptionally large dataset (113,952 individuals representing 5,858 species), obtained from the San Lorenzo forest in Panama, where the phylogenetic breadth of arthropod taxa was surveyed using 14 protocols targeting the soil, litter, understory, lower and upper canopy habitats, replicated across seasons in 2003 and 2004. This dataset is used to explore the relative influence of horizontal, vertical and seasonal drivers of arthropod distribution in this forest. We considered arthropod abundance, observed and estimated species richness, additive decomposition of species richness, multiplicative partitioning of species diversity, variation in species composition, species turnover and guild structure as components of diversity. At the scale of our study (2 km of distance, 40 m in height and 400 days), the effects related to the vertical and seasonal dimensions were most important. Most adult arthropods were collected from the soil/litter or the upper canopy and species richness was highest in the canopy. We compared the distribution of arthropods and trees within our study system. Effects related to the seasonal dimension were stronger for arthropods than for trees. We conclude that: (1) models of beta diversity developed for tropical trees are unlikely to be applicable to tropical arthropods; (2) it is imperative that estimates of global biodiversity derived from mass collecting of arthropods in tropical rainforests embrace the strong vertical and seasonal partitioning observed here; and (3) given the high species turnover observed between seasons, global climate change may have severe consequences for rainforest arthropods.

Published
2015
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9. A Tank Bromeliad Favors Spider Presence in a Neotropical Inundated Forest.

Author

Yann Hénaut, Bruno Corbara, Laurent Pélozuelo, Frédéric Azémar, Régis Céréghino, Bruno Herault, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Tank bromeliads are good models for understanding how climate change may affect biotic associations. We studied the relationships between spiders, the epiphytic tank bromeliad, Aechmea bracteata, and its associated ants in an inundated forest in Quintana Roo, Mexico, during a drought period while, exceptionally, this forest was dry and then during the flooding that followed. We compared spider abundance and diversity between 'Aechmea-areas' and 'control-areas' of the same surface area. We recorded six spider families: the Dipluridae, Ctenidae, Salticidae, Araneidae, Tetragnathidae and Linyphiidae among which the funnel-web tarantula, Ischnothele caudata, the only Dipluridae noted, was the most abundant. During the drought period, the spiders were more numerous in the Aechmea-areas than in the control-areas, but they were not obligatorily associated with the Aechmea. During the subsequent flooding, the spiders were concentrated in the A. bracteata patches, particularly those sheltering an ant colony. Also, a kind of specificity existed between certain spider taxa and ant species, but varied between the drought period and subsequent flooding. We conclude that climatic events modulate the relationship between A. bracteata patches and their associated fauna. Tank bromeliads, previously considered only for their ecological importance in supplying food and water during drought, may also be considered refuges for spiders during flooding. More generally, tank bromeliads have an important role in preserving non-specialized fauna in inundated forests.

Published
2014
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10. Predation success by a plant-ant indirectly favours the growth and fitness of its host myrmecophyte.

Author

Alain Dejean, Jérôme Orivel, Vivien Rossi, Olivier Roux, Jérémie Lauth, Pierre-Jean G Malé, Régis Céréghino, and Céline Leroy

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Mutualisms, or interactions between species that lead to net fitness benefits for each species involved, are stable and ubiquitous in nature mostly due to "byproduct benefits" stemming from the intrinsic traits of one partner that generate an indirect and positive outcome for the other. Here we verify if myrmecotrophy (where plants obtain nutrients from the refuse of their associated ants) can explain the stability of the tripartite association between the myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora, the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus and an Ascomycota fungus. The plant shelters and provides the ants with extrafloral nectar. The ants protect the plant from herbivores and integrate the fungus into the construction of a trap that they use to capture prey; they also provide the fungus and their host plant with nutrients. During a 9-month field study, we over-provisioned experimental ant colonies with insects, enhancing colony fitness (i.e., more winged females were produced). The rate of partial castration of the host plant, previously demonstrated, was not influenced by the experiment. Experimental plants showed higher δ(15)N values (confirming myrmecotrophy), plus enhanced vegetative growth (e.g., more leaves produced increased the possibility of lodging ants in leaf pouches) and fitness (i.e., more fruits produced and more flowers that matured into fruit). This study highlights the importance of myrmecotrophy on host plant fitness and the stability of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms.

Published
2013
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11. Food-web structure in relation to environmental gradients and predator-prey ratios in tank-bromeliad ecosystems.

Author

Olivier Dézerald, Céline Leroy, Bruno Corbara, Jean-François Carrias, Laurent Pélozuelo, Alain Dejean, and Régis Céréghino

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Little is known of how linkage patterns between species change along environmental gradients. The small, spatially discrete food webs inhabiting tank-bromeliads provide an excellent opportunity to analyse patterns of community diversity and food-web topology (connectance, linkage density, nestedness) in relation to key environmental variables (habitat size, detrital resource, incident radiation) and predators:prey ratios. We sampled 365 bromeliads in a wide range of understorey environments in French Guiana and used gut contents of invertebrates to draw the corresponding 365 connectance webs. At the bromeliad scale, habitat size (water volume) determined the number of species that constitute food-web nodes, the proportion of predators, and food-web topology. The number of species as well as the proportion of predators within bromeliads declined from open to forested habitats, where the volume of water collected by bromeliads was generally lower because of rainfall interception by the canopy. A core group of microorganisms and generalist detritivores remained relatively constant across environments. This suggests that (i) a highly-connected core ensures food-web stability and key ecosystem functions across environments, and (ii) larger deviations in food-web structures can be expected following disturbance if detritivores share traits that determine responses to environmental changes. While linkage density and nestedness were lower in bromeliads in the forest than in open areas, experiments are needed to confirm a trend for lower food-web stability in the understorey of primary forests.

Published
2013
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12. The Biochemical Toxin Arsenal from Ant Venoms

Author

Axel Touchard, Samira R. Aili, Eduardo Gonçalves Paterson Fox, Pierre Escoubas, Jérôme Orivel, Graham M. Nicholson, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
ant venom, toxins, venom biochemistry, alkaloids, formic acid, peptides, enzymes, Medicine
Abstract

Ants (Formicidae) represent a taxonomically diverse group of hymenopterans with over 13,000 extant species, the majority of which inject or spray secretions from a venom gland. The evolutionary success of ants is mostly due to their unique eusociality that has permitted them to develop complex collaborative strategies, partly involving their venom secretions, to defend their nest against predators, microbial pathogens, ant competitors, and to hunt prey. Activities of ant venom include paralytic, cytolytic, haemolytic, allergenic, pro-inflammatory, insecticidal, antimicrobial, and pain-producing pharmacologic activities, while non-toxic functions include roles in chemical communication involving trail and sex pheromones, deterrents, and aggregators. While these diverse activities in ant venoms have until now been largely understudied due to the small venom yield from ants, modern analytical and venomic techniques are beginning to reveal the diversity of toxin structure and function. As such, ant venoms are distinct from other venomous animals, not only rich in linear, dimeric and disulfide-bonded peptides and bioactive proteins, but also other volatile and non-volatile compounds such as alkaloids and hydrocarbons. The present review details the unique structures and pharmacologies of known ant venom proteinaceous and alkaloidal toxins and their potential as a source of novel bioinsecticides and therapeutic agents.

Published
2016
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13. Tatuidris kapasi sp. nov.: A New Armadillo Ant from French Guiana (Formicidae: Agroecomyrmecinae)

Author

Sébastien Lacau, Sarah Groc, Alain Dejean, Muriel L. de Oliveira, and Jacques H. C. Delabie

Subjects
Zoology, QL1-991
Abstract

Tatuidris kapasisp. nov. (Formicidae: Agroecomyrmecinae), the second known species of “armadillo ant”, is described after a remarkable specimen collected in French Guiana. This species can be easily distinguished from Tatuidris tatusia by characters related to the shape of the mesosoma and petiole as well as to the pilosity, the sculpture, and the color.

Published
2012
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14. The ecology and feeding habits of the arboreal trap-jawed ant Daceton armigerum.

Author

Alain Dejean, Jacques H C Delabie, Bruno Corbara, Fréderic Azémar, Sarah Groc, Jérôme Orivel, and Maurice Leponce

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Here we show that Daceton armigerum, an arboreal myrmicine ant whose workers are equipped with hypertrophied trap-jaw mandibles, is characterized by a set of unexpected biological traits including colony size, aggressiveness, trophobiosis and hunting behavior. The size of one colony has been evaluated at ca. 952,000 individuals. Intra- and interspecific aggressiveness were tested and an equiprobable null model used to show how D. armigerum colonies react vis-à-vis other arboreal ant species with large colonies; it happens that D. armigerum can share trees with certain of these species. As they hunt by sight, workers occupy their hunting areas only during the daytime, but stay on chemical trails between nests at night so that the center of their home range is occupied 24 hours a day. Workers tend different Hemiptera taxa (i.e., Coccidae, Pseudococcidae, Membracidae and Aethalionidae). Through group-hunting, short-range recruitment and spread-eagling prey, workers can capture a wide range of prey (up to 94.12 times the mean weight of foraging workers).

Published
2012
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15. Are algae relevant to the detritus-based food web in tank-bromeliads?

Author

Olivier Brouard, Anne-Hélène Le Jeune, Céline Leroy, Régis Cereghino, Olivier Roux, Laurent Pelozuelo, Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, and Jean-François Carrias

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

We assessed the occurrence of algae in five species of tank-bromeliads found in contrasting environmental sites in a Neotropical, primary rainforest around the Nouragues Research Station, French Guiana. The distributions of both algal abundance and biomass were examined based on physical parameters, the morphological characteristics of bromeliad species and with regard to the structure of other aquatic microbial communities held in the tanks. Algae were retrieved in all of the bromeliad species with mean densities ranging from ∼10(2) to 10(4) cells/mL. Their biomass was positively correlated to light exposure and bacterial biomass. Algae represented a tiny component of the detrital food web in shaded bromeliads but accounted for up to 30 percent of the living microbial carbon in the tanks of Catopsis berteroniana, located in a highly exposed area. Thus, while nutrient supplies are believed to originate from wind-borne particles and trapped insects (i.e., allochtonous organic matter), our results indicate that primary producers (i.e., autochtonous organic matter) are present in this insectivorous bromeliad. Using a 24-h incubation of size-fractionated and manipulated samples from this plant, we evaluated the impact of mosquito foraging on algae, other microorganisms and rotifers. The prey assemblages were greatly altered by the predation of mosquito larvae. Grazing losses indicated that the dominant algal taxon, Bumilleriopsis sp., like protozoa and rotifers, is a significant part of the diet of mosquito larvae. We conclude that algae are a relevant functional community of the aquatic food web in C. berteroniana and might form the basis of a complementary non-detrital food web.

Published
2011
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16. Inherited biotic protection in a neotropical pioneer plant.

Author

Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, Céline Leroy, Jacques H C Delabie, Vivien Rossi, and Régis Céréghino

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Chelonanthus alatus is a bat-pollinated, pioneer Gentianaceae that clusters in patches where still-standing, dried-out stems are interspersed among live individuals. Flowers bear circum-floral nectaries (CFNs) that are attractive to ants, and seed dispersal is both barochorous and anemochorous. Although, in this study, live individuals never sheltered ant colonies, dried-out hollow stems--that can remain standing for 2 years--did. Workers from species nesting in dried-out stems as well as from ground-nesting species exploited the CFNs of live C. alatus individuals in the same patches during the daytime, but were absent at night (when bat pollination occurs) on 60.5% of the plants. By visiting the CFNs, the ants indirectly protect the flowers--but not the plant foliage--from herbivorous insects. We show that this protection is provided mostly by species nesting in dried-out stems, predominantly Pseudomyrmex gracilis. That dried-out stems remain standing for years and are regularly replaced results in an opportunistic, but stable association where colonies are sheltered by one generation of dead C. alatus while the live individuals nearby, belonging to the next generation, provide them with nectar; in turn, the ants protect their flowers from herbivores. We suggest that the investment in wood by C. alatus individuals permitting still-standing, dried-out stems to shelter ant colonies constitutes an extended phenotype because foraging workers protect the flowers of live individuals in the same patch. Also, through this process these dried-out stems indirectly favor the reproduction (and so the fitness) of the next generation including both their own offspring and that of their siblings, all adding up to a potential case of inclusive fitness in plants.

Published
2011
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17. Paralyzing action from a distance in an arboreal African ant species.

Author

Aline Rifflet, Nathan Tene, Jerome Orivel, Michel Treilhou, Alain Dejean, and Angelique Vetillard

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Due to their prowess in interspecific competition and ability to catch a wide range of arthropod prey (mostly termites with which they are engaged in an evolutionary arms race), ants are recognized as a good model for studying the chemicals involved in defensive and predatory behaviors. Ants' wide diversity of nesting habits and relationships with plants and prey types implies that these chemicals are also very diverse. Using the African myrmicine ant Crematogaster striatula as our focal species, we adopted a three-pronged research approach. We studied the aggressive and predatory behaviors of the ant workers, conducted bioassays on the effect of their Dufour gland contents on termites, and analyzed these contents. (1) The workers defend themselves or eliminate termites by orienting their abdominal tip toward the opponent, stinger protruded. The chemicals emitted, apparently volatile, trigger the recruitment of nestmates situated in the vicinity and act without the stinger having to come into direct contact with the opponent. Whereas alien ants competing with C. striatula for sugary food sources are repelled by this behavior and retreat further and further away, termites defend their nest whatever the danger. They face down C. striatula workers and end up by rolling onto their backs, their legs batting the air. (2) The bioassays showed that the toxicity of the Dufour gland contents acts in a time-dependent manner, leading to the irreversible paralysis, and, ultimately, death of the termites. (3) Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses showed that the Dufour gland contains a mixture of mono- or polyunsaturated long-chain derivatives, bearing functional groups like oxo-alcohols or oxo-acetates. Electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry showed the presence of a molecule of 1584 Da that might be a large, acetylated alkaloid capable of splitting into smaller molecules that could be responsible for the final degree of venom toxicity.

Published
2011
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18. Climate change impact on neotropical social wasps.

Author

Alain Dejean, Régis Céréghino, James M Carpenter, Bruno Corbara, Bruno Hérault, Vivien Rossi, Maurice Leponce, Jérome Orivel, and Damien Bonal

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Establishing a direct link between climate change and fluctuations in animal populations through long-term monitoring is difficult given the paucity of baseline data. We hypothesized that social wasps are sensitive to climatic variations, and thus studied the impact of ENSO events on social wasp populations in French Guiana. We noted that during the 2000 La Niña year there was a 77.1% decrease in their nest abundance along ca. 5 km of forest edges, and that 70.5% of the species were no longer present. Two simultaneous 13-year surveys (1997-2009) confirmed the decrease in social wasps during La Niña years (2000 and 2006), while an increase occurred during the 2009 El Niño year. A 30-year weather survey showed that these phenomena corresponded to particularly high levels of rainfall, and that temperature, humidity and global solar radiation were correlated with rainfall. Using the Self-Organizing Map algorithm, we show that heavy rainfall during an entire rainy season has a negative impact on social wasps. Strong contrasts in rainfall between the dry season and the short rainy season exacerbate this effect. Social wasp populations never recovered to their pre-2000 levels. This is probably because these conditions occurred over four years; heavy rainfall during the major rainy seasons during four other years also had a detrimental effect. On the contrary, low levels of rainfall during the major rainy season in 2009 spurred an increase in social wasp populations. We conclude that recent climatic changes have likely resulted in fewer social wasp colonies because they have lowered the wasps' resistance to parasitoids and pathogens. These results imply that Neotropical social wasps can be regarded as bio-indicators because they highlight the impact of climatic changes not yet perceptible in plants and other animals.

Published
2011
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19. Prey capture behavior in an arboreal African ponerine ant.

Author

Alain Dejean

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

I studied the predatory behavior of Platythyrea conradti, an arboreal ponerine ant, whereas most species in this subfamily are ground-dwelling. The workers, which hunt solitarily only around dusk, are able to capture a wide range of prey, including termites and agile, nocturnal insects as well as diurnal insects that are inactive at that moment of the Nyctemeron, resting on tree branches or under leaves. Prey are captured very rapidly, and the antennal palpation used by ground-dwelling ponerine species is reduced to a simple contact; stinging occurs immediately thereafter. The venom has an instant, violent effect as even large prey (up to 30 times the weight of a worker) never struggled after being stung. Only small prey are not stung. Workers retrieve their prey, even large items, singly. To capture termite workers and soldiers defending their nest entrances, ant workers crouch and fold their antennae backward. In their role as guards, the termites face the crouching ants and end up by rolling onto their backs, their legs batting the air. This is likely due to volatile secretions produced by the ants' mandibular gland. The same behavior is used against competing ants, including territorially-dominant arboreal species that retreat further and further away, so that the P. conradti finally drive them from large, sugary food sources.

Published
2011
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20. Caterpillars and fungal pathogens: two co-occurring parasites of an ant-plant mutualism.

Author

Olivier Roux, Régis Céréghino, Pascal J Solano, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

In mutualisms, each interacting species obtains resources from its partner that it would obtain less efficiently if alone, and so derives a net fitness benefit. In exchange for shelter (domatia) and food, mutualistic plant-ants protect their host myrmecophytes from herbivores, encroaching vines and fungal pathogens. Although selective filters enable myrmecophytes to host those ant species most favorable to their fitness, some insects can by-pass these filters, exploiting the rewards supplied whilst providing nothing in return. This is the case in French Guiana for Cecropia obtusa (Cecropiaceae) as Pseudocabima guianalis caterpillars (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) can colonize saplings before the installation of their mutualistic Azteca ants. The caterpillars shelter in the domatia and feed on food bodies (FBs) whose production increases as a result. They delay colonization by ants by weaving a silk shield above the youngest trichilium, where the FBs are produced, blocking access to them. This probable temporal priority effect also allows female moths to lay new eggs on trees that already shelter caterpillars, and so to occupy the niche longer and exploit Cecropia resources before colonization by ants. However, once incipient ant colonies are able to develop, they prevent further colonization by the caterpillars. Although no higher herbivory rates were noted, these caterpillars are ineffective in protecting their host trees from a pathogenic fungus, Fusarium moniliforme (Deuteromycetes), that develops on the trichilium in the absence of mutualistic ants. Therefore, the Cecropia treelets can be parasitized by two often overlooked species: the caterpillars that shelter in the domatia and feed on FBs, delaying colonization by mutualistic ants, and the fungal pathogen that develops on old trichilia. The cost of greater FB production plus the presence of the pathogenic fungus likely affect tree growth.

Published
2011
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21. An assassin among predators: the relationship between plant-ants, their host Myrmecophytes and the Reduviidae Zelus annulosus.

Author

Messika Revel, Alain Dejean, Régis Céréghino, and Olivier Roux

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Tropical plants frequently live in association with ants that protect their foliage from defoliators. Among them, myrmecophytes have evolved mutualisms with a limited number of plant-ants that they shelter and feed, and, in return, benefit from some protection. Hirtella physophora (Chrysobalanaceae), for example, houses Allomerus decemarticulatus (Myrmicinae) that build gallery-shaped traps to catch large prey. In French Guiana, we frequently observed the assassin bug Zelus annulosus (Reduviidae, Harpactorinae) on the leaves of H. physophora. Here, we studied the distribution of Zelus annulosus among understory plants in the Guianese rainforest and found it only on pubescent plants, including H. Physophora, whether or not it was sheltering an A. decemarticulatus colony, but only rarely on other myrmecophytes. The relationship between Z. annulosus and its host plants is, then, also mutualistic, as the plant trichomes act as an enemy-free space protecting the nymphs from large predatory ants, while the nymphs protect their host-plants from herbivorous insects. Through their relationship with A. decemarticulatus colonies, Z. annulosus individuals are protected from army ants, while furnishing nothing in return. In those cases where H. physophora sheltered both an A. decemarticulatus colony and Z. annulosus nymphs, certain plant individuals repeatedly sheltered nymphs, indicating that female bugs may select not only pubescent plants but also particular H. physophora treelets having characteristics more favourable to the development of their progeny.

Published
2010
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22. Arboreal ants use the 'Velcro(R) principle' to capture very large prey.

Author

Alain Dejean, Céline Leroy, Bruno Corbara, Olivier Roux, Régis Céréghino, Jérôme Orivel, and Raphaël Boulay

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

Plant-ants live in a mutualistic association with host plants known as "myrmecophytes" that provide them with a nesting place and sometimes with extra-floral nectar (EFN) and/or food bodies (FBs); the ants can also attend sap-sucking Hemiptera for their honeydew. In return, plant-ants, like most other arboreal ants, protect their host plants from defoliators. To satisfy their nitrogen requirements, however, some have optimized their ability to capture prey in the restricted environment represented by the crowns of trees by using elaborate hunting techniques. In this study, we investigated the predatory behavior of the ant Azteca andreae which is associated with the myrmecophyte Cecropia obtusa. We noted that up to 8350 ant workers per tree hide side-by-side beneath the leaf margins of their host plant with their mandibles open, waiting for insects to alight. The latter are immediately seized by their extremities, and then spread-eagled; nestmates are recruited to help stretch, carve up and transport prey. This group ambush hunting technique is particularly effective when the underside of the leaves is downy, as is the case for C. obtusa. In this case, the hook-shaped claws of the A. andreae workers and the velvet-like structure of the underside of the leaves combine to act like natural Velcro that is reinforced by the group ambush strategy of the workers, allowing them to capture prey of up to 13,350 times the mean weight of a single worker.

Published
2010
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23. An overlooked mandibular-rubbing behavior used during recruitment by the African weaver ant, Oecophylla longinoda.

Author

Olivier Roux, Johan Billen, Jérôme Orivel, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

In Oecophylla, an ant genus comprising two territorially dominant arboreal species, workers are known to (1) use anal spots to mark their territories, (2) drag their gaster along the substrate to deposit short-range recruitment trails, and (3) drag the extruded rectal gland along the substrate to deposit the trails used in long-range recruitment. Here we study an overlooked but important marking behavior in which O. longinoda workers first rub the underside of their mandibles onto the substrate, and then--in a surprising posture--tilt their head and also rub the upper side of their mandibles. We demonstrate that this behavior is used to recruit nestmates. Its frequency varies with the rate at which a new territory, a sugary food source, a prey item, or an alien ant are discovered. Microscopy analyses showed that both the upper side and the underside of the mandibles possess pores linked to secretory glands. So, by rubbing their mandibles onto the substrate, the workers probably spread a secretion from these glands that is involved in nestmate recruitment.

Published
2010
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24. Spatial distribution of dominant arboreal ants in a malagasy coastal rainforest: gaps and presence of an invasive species.

Author

Alain Dejean, Brian L Fisher, Bruno Corbara, Raymond Rarevohitra, Richard Randrianaivo, Balsama Rajemison, and Maurice Leponce

Subjects
Medicine, Science
Abstract

We conducted a survey along three belt transects located at increasing distances from the coast to determine whether a non-random arboreal ant assemblage, such as an ant mosaic, exists in the rainforest on the Masoala Peninsula, Madagascar. In most tropical rainforests, very populous colonies of territorially dominant arboreal ant species defend absolute territories distributed in a mosaic pattern. Among the 29 ant species recorded, only nine had colonies large enough to be considered potentially territorially dominant; the remaining species had smaller colonies and were considered non-dominant. Nevertheless, the null-model analyses used to examine the spatial structure of their assemblages did not reveal the existence of an ant mosaic. Inland, up to 44% of the trees were devoid of dominant arboreal ants, something not reported in other studies. While two Crematogaster species were not associated with one another, Brachymyrmex cordemoyi was positively associated with Technomyrmex albipes, which is considered an invasive species-a non-indigenous species that has an adverse ecological effect on the habitats it invades. The latter two species and Crematogaster ranavalonae were mutually exclusive. On the other hand, all of the trees in the coastal transect and at least 4 km of coast were occupied by T. albipes, and were interconnected by columns of workers. Technomyrmex albipes workers collected from different trees did not attack each other during confrontation tests, indicating that this species has formed a supercolony along the coast. Yet interspecific aggressiveness did occur between T. albipes and Crematogaster ranavalonae, a native species which is likely territorially dominant based on our intraspecific confrontation tests. These results suggest that the Masoala rainforest is threatened by a potential invasion by T. albipes, and that the penetration of this species further inland might be facilitated by the low density of native, territorially dominant arboreal ants normally able to limit its progression.

Published
2010
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25. Climate change negatively affects Amazonian social wasps

Author

Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, Frédéric Azémar, Frédéric Petitclerc, Benoit Burban, Stanislas Talaga, Arthur Compin, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Université de Montpellier (UM)

Subjects
Vespidae, climate change, social wasp nest abundance, [SDE]Environmental Sciences, El Nino Southern Oscillation, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, French Guiana
Abstract

The impact of climate change is intensifying in Amazonia through, among other causes, the higher frequency of both severe droughts and floods due to El Niño and La Niña events as well as an Atlantic influence. Over a 25-year period (1997–2021) we examined in French Guiana the impact of different climatic parameters on the most frequent social wasp, Polybia bistriata (Polistinae). As it commonly nests on Clusia grandiflora (Clusiaceae), its nests are easily found. Heavy rainfall, particularly during the 1999–2000 La Niña episode, negatively affected this social wasp species as the percentage of Clusia sheltering an active P. bistriata nest decreased from ≈ 40% during the pre-2000 period to zero in 2021. We conclude that extreme wet seasons related to climate change translated into the decline of this species and likely were detrimental to many other polistine wasps of north-eastern Amazonia.

Published
2022

27. Venom Peptide Repertoire of the European Myrmicine Ant Manica rubida: Identification of Insecticidal Toxins

Author

Samira R. Aili, Elsa Bonnafé, Benjamin Lefranc, Graham M. Nicholson, Axel Touchard, Valentine Barassé, Mrinalini, Laurent Coquet, Alain Dejean, R. Manjunatha Kini, Thierry Jouenne, Pierre Escoubas, Michel Treilhou, Christophe Klopp, Nathan Téné, Jérôme Leprince, Biochimie et Toxicologie des Substances Bioactives (BTSB), Institut national universitaire Champollion [Albi] (INUC), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, School of Environmental and Life Sciences - SELS (Callaghan, Australia), University of Newcastle [Australia] (UoN), Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse (MIAT INRA), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Protein Science laboratory, Department of biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Polymères Biopolymères Surfaces (PBS), Institut national des sciences appliquées Rouen Normandie (INSA Rouen Normandie), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Institut Normand de Chimie Moléculaire Médicinale et Macromoléculaire (INC3M), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences appliquées Rouen Normandie (INSA Rouen Normandie), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université Le Havre Normandie (ULH), Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Université Le Havre Normandie (ULH), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Plate-forme de Protéomique PISSARO, Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine (IRIB), Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Différenciation et communication neuronale et neuroendocrine (DC2N), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Plate-Forme de Recherche en Imagerie Cellulaire de Haute-Normandie (PRIMACEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine (IRIB), Normandie Université (NU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Venometech, European Commission, Region Normandie through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and Southeast Asian Biodiversity Genomics Center, National University of Singapore - R-154-000-648-646

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, pyroglutamate, Peptide, Lucilia caesar, Venom, glycosylated toxin, Manica rubida, medicine.disease_cause, Biochemistry, Ant venom, 03 medical and health sciences, peptidome, medicine, Threonine, polycationic α-helix, chemistry.chemical_classification, reversible neurotoxicity, 030102 biochemistry & molecular biology, biology, Toxin, [SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology, General Chemistry, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, ANT, 030104 developmental biology, chemistry, predation, [MATH.MATH-NA]Mathematics [math]/Numerical Analysis [math.NA]
Abstract

International audience; Using an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approach, we characterized the venom peptidome of the European red ant, Manica rubida. We identified 13 "myrmicitoxins" that share sequence similarities with previously identified ant venom peptides, one of them being identified as an EGF-like toxin likely resulting from a threonine residue modified by O-fucosylation. Furthermore, we conducted insecticidal assays of reversed-phase HPLC venom fractions on the blowfly Lucilia caesar, permitting us to identify six myrmicitoxins (i.e., U3-, U10-, U13-, U20-MYRTX-Mri1a, U10-MYRTX-Mri1b, and U10-MYRTX-Mri1c) with an insecticidal activity. Chemically synthesized U10-MYRTX-Mri1a, -Mri1b, -Mri1c, and U20-MYRTX-Mri1a irreversibly paralyzed blowflies at the highest doses tested (30-125 nmol·g-1). U13-MYRTX-Mri1a, the most potent neurotoxic peptide at 1 h, had reversible effects after 24 h (150 nmol·g-1). Finally, U3-MYRTX-Mri1a has no insecticidal activity, even at up to 55 nmol·g-1. Thus, M. rubida employs a paralytic venom rich in linear insecticidal peptides, which likely act by disrupting cell membranes.

Published
2020

28. Impacts of biotic and abiotic parameters on immature populations of Aedes aegypti

Author

Yves Dumont, Stanislas Talaga, Alain Dejean, Céline Leroy, Frédéric Azémar, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (ECOFOG), Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts (ENGREF)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS), and Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Predation, Zone périurbaine, [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy, Santé publique, 01 natural sciences, Ecosystem services, Interactions biologiques, Aedes aegypti, Abundance (ecology), Dynamique des populations, media_common, Abiotic component, Ecology, Mosquito control, [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics, Biocontrol agents, S50 - Santé humaine, L72 - Organismes nuisibles des animaux, Zone urbaine, media_common.quotation_subject, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, Competition (biology), [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems, Competition, fungi, Mosquito management, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, Lutte biologique, services écosystémiques, 010602 entomology, Vector (epidemiology), [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Agronomy and Crop Science
Abstract

International audience; In recent centuries, the mosquito Aedes aegypti has spread into most urban areas throughout the tropics. This species is considered the main vector of the chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and Zika viruses and causes major public health issues. The aim of this study is to investigate the relative influence of biotic and abiotic parameters on immature populations of Ae. aegypti. During a one-year-long field experiment, we monitored 108 macroinvertebrate aquatic communities inhabiting four types of water containers across three different urbanized sites in a Neotropical city. A multimodel inference approach revealed that, in addition to abiotic parameters, biotic interactions with aquatic organisms had an important influence on the abundance of Ae. aegypti and that the urbanized site considered influences the outcomes of the interactions. Controphic species other than mosquitoes aided Ae. aegypti development, suggesting a mechanism of facilitation through a chain of processes. However, the abundance of Ae. aegypti was lowered by competition with native mosquito species in the slightly urbanized area and by predation in more urbanized areas. Competitive displacement and reduction, as well as predation by native aquatic organisms, can be considered a form of ecosystem service. The conservation and/or augmentation of natural enemies should improve the short- and long-term success of incompatible and/or sterile insect techniques, thus opening up perspectives for the future of mosquito management.

Published
2020

29. Spatial and functional structure of an entire ant assemblage in a lowland Panamanian rainforest

Author

Alain Dejean, Ricardo I. Campos, Ivan Cardoso do Nascimento, Héctor Barrios, Sérvio Pontes Ribeiro, Alexey K. Tishechkin, Jérôme Orivel, Maurice Leponce, Henri Pierre Aberlenc, Arthur Compin, Jacques H. C. Delabie, Yves Roisin, Johannes Bail, Juergen Schmidl, Yves Basset, Bruno Corbara, Enrique Medianero, Andreas Floren, Raphael K. Didham, Neville N. Winchester, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, CP 160/12, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Laboratorio de Mirmecologia (Itabuna, Brazil), Universidade Estadual De Santa Cruz [Brazil] (UESC), Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual Santa Cruz, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Maestria de Entomologia, Universidad de Panamá, Departamento de Biologia Geral,Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Laboratório de Zoologiade Invertebrados, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Universität Würzburg, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Laboratory of Ecology of Diseases & Forests NUPEB/ICEB, Federal University of Ouro Preto, California State Collection of Arthropods, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Department of Ecology and Conservation Ecology, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), and Université de Toulouse (UT)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Canopy, Arboreal locomotion, Fauna, Rainforest, Stratification (vegetation), Generalist and specialist species, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, horizontal beta diversity, functional groups, feeding habits, Structure de la population, Formicidae, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, colony size, canopy, Panama, ant diversity, Ecology, nesting mode, Understory, 15. Life on land, vertical stratification, Geography, Organisation, L20 - Écologie animale, ant sampling 88methods, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, Forêt humide, 010606 plant biology & botany
Abstract

International audience; Ants are a major ecological group in tropical rainforests. Few studies in the Neotropics have documented the distribution of ants from the ground to the canopy, and none have included the understorey. A previous analysis of an intensive arthropod study in Panama, involving 11 sampling methods, showed that the factors influencing ant β diversity (i.e., changes in assemblage composition) were, in decreasing order of importance, the vertical (height), temporal (season), and horizontal (geographic distance) dimensions. In the present study, we went one step further and aimed (1) to identify the best sampling methods to study the entire ant assemblage across the three strata, (2) to test if all strata show a similar horizontal β diversity and (3) to analyze the functional structure of the entire ant assemblage. We identified 405 ant species from 11 subfamilies and 68 genera. Slightly more species were sampled in the canopy than on the ground; they belonged to distinct sub-assemblages. The understorey fauna was mainly a mixture of species found in the other two strata. The horizontal β diversity between sites was similar for the three strata. About half of the ant species foraged in two (29%) or three (25%) strata. A single method, aerial flight interception traps placed alongside tree trunks, acting as arboreal pitfall traps, collected half of the species and reflected the vertical stratification. Using the functional traits approach, we observed that generalist species with mid-sized colonies were by far the most numerous (31%), followed by ground- or litter-dwelling species, either specialists (20%), or generalists (16%), and arboreal species, either generalists (19%) or territorially dominant (8%), and finally army ants (5%). Our results reinforce the idea that a proper understanding of the functioning of ant assemblages requires the inclusion of arboreal ants in survey programs.

Published
2021

30. Ant and spider species as surrogates for functional community composition of epiphyte-associated invertebrates in a tropical moist forest

Author

Alain Dejean, Régis Céréghino, Bruno Corbara, Camille Bonhomme, Arthur Compin, and Yann Hénaut

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Ecology, fungi, Detritivore, food and beverages, General Decision Sciences, Rainforest, 010501 environmental sciences, Biology, biology.organism_classification, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Food web, Azteca, Habitat, Dominance (ecology), Epiphyte, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Invertebrate
Abstract

Epiphytes represent up to 50% of all plant species in rainforests, where they host a substantial amount of invertebrate biomass. Efficient surrogates for epiphyte invertebrate communities could reduce the cost of biomonitoring surveys while preventing destructive sampling of the plants. Here, we focus on the invertebrate communities associated to tank bromeliads. We ask whether the presence of particular ant and/or spider taxa (easily surveyed taxa) that use these plants as nesting and/or foraging habitats predicts functional trait combinations of aquatic invertebrate communities hosted by the plants. Functional community composition of invertebrates was predicted both by bromeliad habitat features and the presence of certain ant and spider species. The ant Azteca serica preferred wider bromeliad rosettes that trap large amount of detritus, indicating interstitial-like food webs dominated by deposit feeders that burrow in fine particulate organic matter. Leucauge sp. spiders preferred narrower bromeliad rosettes bearing smaller detrital loads, thereby indicating a dominance of pelagic filter-feeding and predatory invertebrates in the water-filled leaf axils. Both Neoponera villosa ants and Eriophora sp. spiders preferred rosettes at intermediate size bearing moderate amounts of detritus, indicating a benthic food web dominated by leaf shredders and gathering collectors. Owing to the animal diversity and biomass supported by rainforest epiphytes, our approach would deserve to be further tested on a range of epiphytes involved in tight interactions with invertebrates. In this context, surrogate species could serve both as indicators of functional diversity, and as early-warning indicators of network disassembly.

Published
2019

31. Nutrient provisioning of its host myrmecophytic tree by a temporary social parasite of a plant-ant

Author

Vivien Rossi, Alain Dejean, Frédéric Azémar, and Frédéric Petitclerc

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Dolichoderinae, F40 - Écologie végétale, Cecropia, Relation hôte parasite, Relation plante animal, Context (language use), 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Substance nutritive, Interactions biologiques, 010104 statistics & probability, Myrmecophyte, Azteca alfari, 0101 mathematics, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, biology, Ecology, Host (biology), myrmécologie, biology.organism_classification, Myrmecotrophy, Azteca andreae, L20 - Écologie animale, Mutualisme
Abstract

One of the most advanced ant–plant mutualisms is represented by myrmecophytes sheltering colonies of some plant-ant species in hollow structures called domatia. In turn, the myrmecophytes benefit from biotic protection and sometimes nutrient provisioning (myrmecotrophy). Furthermore, over the course of evolution, some ant species have become social parasites of others. In this general context, we studied the relationship between its host trees and Azteca andreae (Dolichoderinae), a temporary social parasite of the plant-ant Azteca ovaticeps, and, as such, obligatorily associated with myrmecophytic Cecropia obtusa trees (Urticaceae). A first experiment showed that the δ15N values of the young leaves of Cecropia sheltering a mature A. andreae colony were very similar to those for trees sheltering Azteca alfari or A. ovaticeps, two typical Cecropia mutualists for which myrmecotrophy is known. In a second experiment, by injecting a 15N-labelled glycine solution into locusts given as prey to A. andreae colonies, we triggered an increase in δ15N in the young leaves of their host Cecropia. Thus, 15N passed from the prey to the host trees, explaining the outcomes of the first experiment. We discuss these results in light of the notion of ‘by-product benefits’.

Published
2021

32. Rapid assessment of the three‐dimensional distribution of dominant arboreal ants in tropical forests

Author

Petr Klimes, Ondrej Mottl, Maurice Leponce, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Canopy, Arboreal locomotion, business.industry, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, media_common.quotation_subject, Distribution (economics), Stratification (vegetation), 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Competition (biology), Rapid assessment, Geography, Insect Science, business, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, media_common
Published
2021
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33. Seasonality influences ant-mediated nutrient acquisition (myrmecotrophy) by a Neotropical myrmecophyte

Author

Frédéric Petitclerc, Alain Dejean, Frédéric Azémar, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), and Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, 0301 basic medicine, Wet season, Myrmecotrophy, Ecology, Phenology, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Myrmecophyte, 15. Life on land, Ant colony, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, ANT, 03 medical and health sciences, 030104 developmental biology, Ant-plant relationships, Mutualism, Animal ecology, Dry season, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Stable isotopes
Abstract

International audience; Tachia guianensis (Gentianaceae), a Neotropical understory myrmecophyte, shelters ant colonies in its hollow trunks and branches (domatia). In turn, it is protected from defoliators and obtains nutrients from ant-produced wastes (myrmecotrophy). Aiming to verify if seasonality influences nitrogen assimilation via ant wastes using the stable isotope nitrogen-15, we first studied Tachia's phenology and its seasonal leaf production, and then the life cycle of its two more frequent guest ant species. We found that leaf production was much higher during the rainy than the dry season. Mature guest ant colonies produced sexuals regardless of the season and the net weight of the waste piles inside the domatia did not vary between seasons, so that the availability of nutrients to their host plant is steady year-long. By providing the two most frequent mutualistic guest ant species with food enriched with nitrogen-15, we showed that Tachia individuals assimilate more nitrogen from ant wastes during the rainy season, when the plant is physiologically active, compared to the dry season. Thus, one can deduce that the increase in nitrogen assimilation during the rainy season is determined by the increase in Tachia's physiological activity during that season. Information gathered through a bibliographic compilation confirms that none of the 15 ant species known to be associated with myrmecophytes for which the life cycle was studied is characterized by seasonal reproduction (which would result in fluctuating waste production). The same is true for 49.7% of 167 tropical ant species (seasonal production for the remaining species). We concluded that, in contrast to the non-seasonal ant colony reproductive cycle, Tachia's phenology determines the myrmecotrophic assimilation rate.

Published
2020

34. Development but not diet alters microbial communities in the Neotropical arboreal trap jaw ant Daceton armigerum: an exploratory study

Author

Jérôme Orivel, Joshua C. Gibson, Christophe Duplais, Manuela de Oliveira Ramalho, Alain Dejean, Corrie S. Moreau, Andrew V. Suarez, Cornell University, Department of Entomology, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), University of Illinoiis at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Evolution and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, ANR-11-INBS-0001,ANAEE-FR,ANAEE-Services(2011), and ANR-10-LABX-0025,CEBA,CEnter of the study of Biodiversity in Amazonia(2010)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, 0301 basic medicine, Arboreal locomotion, Molecular biology, lcsh:Medicine, Zoology, [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity, Biology, Microbiology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Article, 18S ribosomal RNA, 03 medical and health sciences, Nest, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, RNA, Ribosomal, 18S, Animals, Microbiome, lcsh:Science, [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment, 2. Zero hunger, Multidisciplinary, Ecology, Ants, Host (biology), Microbiota, lcsh:R, 15. Life on land, Ribosomal RNA, Brood, 030104 developmental biology, Taxon, lcsh:Q, [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Symbiosis
Abstract

International audience; To better understand the evolutionary significance of symbiotic interactions in nature, microbiome studies can help to identify the ecological factors that may shape host-associated microbial communities. In this study we explored both 16S and 18S rRNA microbial communities of D. armigerum from both wild caught individuals collected in the Amazon and individuals kept in the laboratory and fed on controlled diets. We also investigated the role of colony, sample type, development and caste on structuring microbial communities. Our bacterial results (16S rRNA) reveal that (1) there are colony level differences between bacterial communities; (2) castes do not structure communities; (3) immature stages (brood) have different bacterial communities than adults; and 4) individuals kept in the laboratory with a restricted diet showed no differences in their bacterial communities from their wild caught nest mates, which could indicate the presence of a stable and persistent resident bacterial community in this host species. The same categories were also tested for microbial eukaryote communities (18S rRNA), and (5) developmental stage has an influence on the diversity recovered; (6) the diversity of taxa recovered has shown this can be an important tool to understand additional aspects of host biology and species interactions. A prevailing question in studies of host-symbiont interactions is what are the host factors that affect their prokar-yotic and eukaryotic microbial communities. Microbial communities are influenced by features including geography, host phylogeny, diet and stages of development 1-7. However, no single factor consistently structures host-associated microbial communities across the tree of life. For example, in some ants diet explains substantial variation in gut microbial diversity 8-13. In contrast, for Pseudomyrmex ants a specialized plant-based diet was not as important as their relative trophic position for explaining microbial abundance and diversity 14. Understanding the patterns and exceptions affecting host-associated microbial diversity are critical to advancing our knowledge of these intimate relationships. One of the most common benefits provided by symbiosis is nutrition 15. Part of the evolutionary success of ants is attributed to food flexibility, which in some cases is directly linked to microbial symbionts 12,16,17. Several ant species have well-established bacterial communities and some provide essential nutrients to the ants. For example, members of the Camponotini tribe (Camponotus, Colobopsis and Polyrhachis) rely on endosymbiotic Blochmannia to obtain nitrogen 3,4,18-20 , and species in the genus Cephalotes rely on intestinal symbionts to recycle nitrogen for the host 10,12,21. However, the majority of ant taxa have not had their microbial communities studied, especially for eukaryotic microbes. In addition, understanding the factors that influence and modify the diversity of these associated microbes is important to understand their impact on the host.

Published
2020

35. Venom Peptide Repertoire of the European Myrmicine Ant

Author

Axel, Touchard, Samira R, Aili, Nathan, Téné, Valentine, Barassé, Christophe, Klopp, Alain, Dejean, R Manjunatha, Kini, Mrinalini, Laurent, Coquet, Thierry, Jouenne, Benjamin, Lefranc, Jérôme, Leprince, Pierre, Escoubas, Graham M, Nicholson, Michel, Treilhou, and Elsa, Bonnafé

Subjects
Proteomics, Ant Venoms, Ants, Venoms, Animals, Peptides
Abstract

Using an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approach, we characterized the venom peptidome of the European red ant

Published
2020

36. The Peptide Venom Composition of the Fierce Stinging Ant Tetraponera aethiops (Formicidae: Pseudomyrmecinae)

Author

Martin Kenne, Valentine Barassé, Alain Dejean, Michel Treilhou, Axel Touchard, Maurice Tindo, Christophe Klopp, Nathan Téné, Elsa Bonnafé, Institut national universitaire Champollion [Albi] (INUC), Université de Toulouse (UT), Université de Douala, Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse (MIAT INRAE), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Guyane (UG), French Ministry of Scientific Research, ANR-10-INBS-0009,France-Génomique,Organisation et montée en puissance d'une Infrastructure Nationale de Génomique(2010), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Unité de Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées de Toulouse (MIAT INRA), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP)

Subjects
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Peptide, Venom, defensive venom, Toxicology, Ant venom, Tetraponera aethiops, 03 medical and health sciences, Myrmecophyte, medicine, peptidome, Peptide sequence, 030304 developmental biology, chemistry.chemical_classification, 0303 health sciences, biology, dimeric peptides, 030302 biochemistry & molecular biology, fungi, food and beverages, biology.organism_classification, medicine.disease, ANT, 3. Good health, Tetraponera, Biochemistry, chemistry, Pseudomyrmecinae
Abstract

In the mutualisms involving certain pseudomyrmicine ants and different myrmecophytes (i.e., plants sheltering colonies of specialized &ldquo, plant-ant&rdquo, species in hollow structures), the ant venom contributes to the host plant biotic defenses by inducing the rapid paralysis of defoliating insects and causing intense pain to browsing mammals. Using integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, we identified the venom peptidome of the plant-ant Tetraponera aethiops (Pseudomyrmecinae). The transcriptomic analysis of its venom glands revealed that 40% of the expressed contigs encoded only seven peptide precursors related to the ant venom peptides from the A-superfamily. Among the 12 peptide masses detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC&ndash, MS), nine mature peptide sequences were characterized and confirmed through proteomic analysis. These venom peptides, called pseudomyrmecitoxins (PSDTX), share amino acid sequence identities with myrmeciitoxins known for their dual offensive and defensive functions on both insects and mammals. Furthermore, we demonstrated through reduction/alkylation of the crude venom that four PSDTXs were homo- and heterodimeric. Thus, we provide the first insights into the defensive venom composition of the ant genus Tetraponera indicative of a streamlined peptidome.

Published
2019

37. Ants impact the composition of the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of a myrmecophytic tank bromeliad

Author

Frédéric Azémar, Stanislas Talaga, Bruno Corbara, Arthur Compin, Alain Dejean, Camille Bonhomme, Laurent Pélozuelo, Maurice Leponce, Yann Hénaut, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), ECOSUR Unidad Chetumal, EI Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [Mexico] (CONACYT)-Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [Mexico] (CONACYT), and Université de Clermond-Ferrand 2

Subjects
Bromeliaceae, 0106 biological sciences, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Forests, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, diversity, tank bromeliads, Dolichoderus bispinosus, Predation, Animals, Mexico, Invertebrate, General Immunology and Microbiology, Villosa, Ants, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Water, General Medicine, 15. Life on land, Ant colony, biology.organism_classification, Invertebrates, aquatic macroinvertebrates, ANT, ant-plant relationships, Azteca, food webs, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Abstract

International audience; In an inundated Mexican forest, 89 out of 92 myrmecophytic tank bromeliads (Aechmea bracteata) housed an associated ant colony: 13 sheltered Azteca serica, 43 Dolichoderus bispinosus, and 33 Neoponera villosa. Ant presence has a positive impact on the diversity of the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities (n = 30 bromeliads studied). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the presence and the species of ant are not correlated to bromeliad size, quantity of water, number of wells, filtered organic matter or incident radiation. The PCA and a generalized linear model showed that the presence of Azteca serica differed from the presence of the other two ant species or no ants in its effects on the aquatic invertebrate community (more predators). Therefore, both ant presence and species of ant affect the composition of the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in the tanks of A. bracteata, likely due to ant deposition of feces and other waste in these tanks. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Academie des sciences.

Published
2018

38. A mimetic nesting association between a timid social wasp and an aggressive arboreal ant

Author

James M. Carpenter, Jérôme Orivel, Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, Pablo Servigne, Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Leicester], University of Leicester, Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Investissement d'Avenir grant : ANR-10-LABX-25-01, Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Arboreal locomotion, Wasps, Ant-wasp interactions, Biology, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Nesting Behavior, Trees, Nest, Animals, Mimicry, Nest site selection, Symbiosis, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Army ant, General Immunology and Microbiology, Ants, Ecology, Host (biology), Protopolybia emortualis, Dolichoderus bidens, General Medicine, Commensalism, biology.organism_classification, French Guiana, Aggression, 010602 entomology, Polistinae, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Abstract

International audience; In French Guiana, the arboreal nests of the swarm-founding social wasp Protopolybia emortualis (Polistinae) are generally found near those of the arboreal dolichoderine ant Dolichoderus bidens. These wasp nests are typically protected by an envelope, which in turn is covered by an additional carton 'shelter' with structure resembling the D. bidens nests. A few wasps constantly guard their nest to keep D. bidens workers from approaching. When alarmed by a strong disturbance, the ants invade the host tree foliage whereas the wasps retreat into their nest. Notably, there is no chemical convergence in the cuticular profiles of the wasps and ants sharing a tree. The aggressiveness of D. bidens likely protects the wasps from army ant raids, but the ants do not benefit from the presence of the wasps; therefore, this relationship corresponds to a kind of commensalism. (C) 2018 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Published
2018

39. Larval interference competition between the native Neotropical mosquito Limatus durhamii and the invasive Aedes aegypti improves the fitness of both species

Author

Yves Dumont, Clémence Mouza, Stanislas Talaga, Céline Leroy, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Aedes, Larva, animal structures, Ecology, media_common.quotation_subject, fungi, 030231 tropical medicine, Introduced species, Interspecific competition, Aedes aegypti, Biology, biology.organism_classification, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Competition (biology), Intraspecific competition, Invasive species, 03 medical and health sciences, 0302 clinical medicine, Insect Science, Agronomy and Crop Science, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, media_common
Abstract

Interspecific competition with native species during biological invasions can sometimes limit alien expansion. We aimed to determine the potential ecological effects of Limatus durhamii Theobald 1901, a native Neotropical mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) species, on the invasive species Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus 1762) that breeds in the same artificial water containers. Development time and adult dry mass were measured in three rearing conditions: control (a single larva), intraspecific competition (two conspecific larvae), and interspecific competition (two heterospecific larvae). Food was provided ad libitum to eliminate exploitative competition. For Ae. aegypti, development time was not affected by interspecific interference competition (non-significant differences with the control) and the adult dry mass was significantly higher, meaning that individual fitness likely increased. Yet, because previous studies showed longer development time and lighter adults during competition with other invasive mosquitoes, it is likely that Ae. aegypti can express a different phenotype depending on the competing species. The similar pattern found for Li. durhamii females and the non-significant difference with the control for males explain in part why this species can compete with Ae. aegypti.

Published
2017

40. Environmental drivers of invertebrate population dynamics in Neotropical tank bromeliads

Author

Alain Dejean, Régis Céréghino, Bruno Corbara, Olivier Dézerald, Céline Leroy, Stanislas Talaga, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont Ferrand 2) (UBP), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Environment, Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), and Université de Toulouse (UT)

Subjects
life history, 0106 biological sciences, forêt tropicale humide, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Population, Species distribution, Aquatic Science, Biology, food webs, freshwater, invertebrates, growth rates, rainforest, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, freshwater invertebrates, tropical rain forests, Abundance (ecology), Ecosystem, 14. Life underwater, education, Invertebrate, education.field_of_study, Biomass (ecology), Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Aquatic ecosystem, 15. Life on land, Habitat, 13. Climate action, guyane française, growth rate
Abstract

Tank bromeliads form a conspicuous, yet neglected freshwater habitat in Neotropical forests. Recent studies driven by interests in medical entomology, fundamental aspects of bromeliad ecology and experimental research on food webs have, however, prompted increasing interest in bromeliad aquatic ecosystems. As yet, there is nothing in the literature about the life histories and environmental drivers of invertebrate population dynamics in tank bromeliads. Based on fortnightly samples taken over oneyear, size frequency plots and individual dry masses allowed us to establish the life cycles and growth rates of the dominant aquatic invertebrates in a common bromeliad species of French Guiana. Linear mixed-effect models and Mantel tests were used to predict changes in density, biomass, and growth rates in relation to temperature, rainfall, humidity and detrital resources. Annual variations in invertebrate densities and biomasses could be described according to three types of distribution: unimodal, bimodal or almost constant. Despite seasonal variations, precipitation, temperature, relative humidity and detritus concentration accounted significantly for changes in density and biomass, but we found no significant responses in growth rates of most invertebrate species. Species rather displayed non-seasonal life cycles with overlapping cohorts throughout the year. There was also a trend for delayed abundance peaks among congeneric species sharing similar functional traits, suggesting temporal partitioning of available resources. Beyond novel knowledge, quantitative information on life histories is important to predict food-web dynamics under the influence of external forcing and self-organisation. Our results suggest that changes in species distribution that will affect population dynamics through biotic interactions in space and/or time could have greater effects on food webs and ecosystem functioning than changes in environmental factors per se.

Published
2016

41. The Peptide Venom Composition of the Fierce Stinging Ant

Author

Valentine, Barassé, Axel, Touchard, Nathan, Téné, Maurice, Tindo, Martin, Kenne, Christophe, Klopp, Alain, Dejean, Elsa, Bonnafé, and Michel, Treilhou

Subjects
Ant Venoms, Ants, dimeric peptides, fungi, food and beverages, defensive venom, Mass Spectrometry, Article, Tetraponera aethiops, peptidome, Animals, Amino Acid Sequence, Peptides, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Abstract

In the mutualisms involving certain pseudomyrmicine ants and different myrmecophytes (i.e., plants sheltering colonies of specialized “plant-ant” species in hollow structures), the ant venom contributes to the host plant biotic defenses by inducing the rapid paralysis of defoliating insects and causing intense pain to browsing mammals. Using integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approaches, we identified the venom peptidome of the plant-ant Tetraponera aethiops (Pseudomyrmecinae). The transcriptomic analysis of its venom glands revealed that 40% of the expressed contigs encoded only seven peptide precursors related to the ant venom peptides from the A-superfamily. Among the 12 peptide masses detected by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS), nine mature peptide sequences were characterized and confirmed through proteomic analysis. These venom peptides, called pseudomyrmecitoxins (PSDTX), share amino acid sequence identities with myrmeciitoxins known for their dual offensive and defensive functions on both insects and mammals. Furthermore, we demonstrated through reduction/alkylation of the crude venom that four PSDTXs were homo- and heterodimeric. Thus, we provide the first insights into the defensive venom composition of the ant genus Tetraponera indicative of a streamlined peptidome.

Published
2019

42. First checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of French Guiana

Author

Natalia Ladino, Jérôme Orivel, Maurice Leponce, Sarah Groc, Alain Dejean, Mélanie Fichaux, Jacques H. C. Delabie, Rodrigo M. Feitosa, Weslly Franco, Laboratorio de Mirmecologia, CEPLAC, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 1000 Brussels, Belgium., Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, and Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (IRSNB)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Overseas department, Biology, Subspecies, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, 03 medical and health sciences, distribution, Animals, Humans, Amazon, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Taxonomy, 030304 developmental biology, 0303 health sciences, Ants, Ecology, Amazon rainforest, Neotropical realm, Species diversity, Biodiversity, 15. Life on land, Checklist, Biodiversity hotspot, French Guiana, formicidae, Guiana Shield, Animal Science and Zoology, Species richness, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, rainforest
Abstract

International audience; We provide here a checklist of the ants of French Guiana, an overseas department of France situated in northern South America, with a very low human population density and predominantly covered by old-growth tropical rainforests. Based on 165 scientific papers, specimens deposited in collections, and unpublished surveys, a total of 659 valid species and subspecies from 84 genera and 12 subfamilies is presented. Although far from complete, these numbers represent approximately 10% of the ant diversity known to occur in the Neotropical realm. Additionally, three ant genera and 119 species are reported for the first time for French Guiana. Finally, five species are recognized as erroneous records for the the department in the literature. This checklist significantly expands the basic knowledge of the ants in the Guiana Shield, one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots.

Published
2019

43. Do host plant and associated ant species affect microbial communities in myrmecophytes ?

Author

Céline Leroy, Jérôme Orivel, Hervé Gryta, Patricia Jargeat, Alain Dejean, Angelo D. Armijos Carrión, Mario X. Ruiz-González, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Guangxi University [Nanning], PO-FEDER 2014–2020, Région Guyane (BING,GY0007194), ANR-10-LABX-0025,CEBA,CEnter of the study of Biodiversity in Amazonia(2010), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), ANR: 10-LABX-0025,CEBA,CEnter of the study of Biodiversity in Amazonia(2010), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), and Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Hirtella physophora, Allomerus decemarticulatus, [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity, [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Article, Actinobacteria, 03 medical and health sciences, Myrmecophyte, lcsh:Science, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, 030304 developmental biology, [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment, 0303 health sciences, Cordia nodosa, biology, Ecology, fungi, food and beverages, Allomerus octoarticulatus, Azteca sp. cf. depilis, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, Azteca, French Guiana, [SDV.BA.ZI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Invertebrate Zoology, [SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology, Microbial population biology, Insect Science, microbial diversity, lcsh:Q, Species richness, Azteca sp cf depilis, Proteobacteria, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, domatia, [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Symbiosis
Abstract

Ant-associated microorganisms can play crucial and often overlooked roles, and given the diversity of interactions that ants have developed, the study of the associated microbiomes is of interest. We focused here on specialist plant-ant species of the genus Allomerus that grow a fungus to build galleries on their host-plant stems. Allomerus-inhabited domatia, thus, might be a rich arena for microbes associated with the ants, the plant, and the fungus. We investigated the microbial communities present in domatia colonised by four arboreal ants: Allomerus decemarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus var. demerarae, and the non-fungus growing plant-ant Azteca sp. cf. depilis, inhabiting Hirtella physophora or Cordia nodosa in French Guiana. We hypothesized that the microbial community will differ among these species. We isolated microorganisms from five colonies of each species, sequenced the 16S rRNA or Internal TranscribedSpacer (ITS) regions, and described both the alpha and beta diversities. We identified 69 microbial taxa, which belong to five bacterial and two fungal phyla. The most diverse phyla were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The microbial community of Azteca cf. depilis and Allomerus spp. differed in composition and richness. Geographical distance affected microbial communities and richness but plant species did not. Actinobacteria were only associated with Allomerus spp.

Published
2019

44. Limited gene dispersal and spatial genetic structure as stabilizing factors in an ant-plant mutualism

Author

Céline Leroy, Angélique Quilichini, Pierre-Jean G. Malé, Jérôme Orivel, Alain Dejean, Pierre Humblot, Harvard University [Cambridge], Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Univ Toronto, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, Toronto, ON, Canada, Partenaires INRAE, Harvard Univ, Dept Organism & Evolutionary Biol, Museum Comparat Zool, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA, CNRS, UMR Ecol Forets Guyane, Kourou, France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Météo France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Météo France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, 0301 basic medicine, HOST, Genetic Structures, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], population, Population genetics, [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy, 01 natural sciences, genetics, Allomerus decemarticulatus, Mutualism (biology), education.field_of_study, biology, Ecology, metapopulation, food and beverages, Plants, [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics, Metapopulation, myrmecophyte, local adaptation, PACKAGE, Population, ECOLOGY, 010603 evolutionary biology, 03 medical and health sciences, [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems, Species Specificity, Mutualism, Animals, POPULATION-STRUCTURE, Hirtella physophora, Symbiosis, education, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Local adaptation, Ants, fungi, population genetics, 15. Life on land, Ant colony, biology.organism_classification, EVOLUTION, 030104 developmental biology, COMPUTER-PROGRAM, VIRULENCE, Biological dispersal, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology, gene flow, HIRTELLA-PHYSOPHORA
Abstract

International audience; Comparative studies of the population genetics of closely associated species are necessary to properly understand the evolution of these relationships because gene flow between populations affects the partners' evolutionary potential at the local scale. As a consequence (at least for antagonistic interactions), asymmetries in the strength of the genetic structures of the partner populations can result in one partner having a co-evolutionary advantage. Here, we assess the population genetic structure of partners engaged in a species-specific and obligatory mutualism: the Neotropical ant-plant, Hirtella physophora, and its ant associate, Allomerus decemarticulatus. Although the ant cannot complete its life cycle elsewhere than on H. physophora and the plant cannot live for long without the protection provided by A. decemarticulatus, these species also have antagonistic interactions: the ants have been shown to benefit from castrating their host plant and the plant is able to retaliate against too virulent ant colonies. We found similar short dispersal distances for both partners, resulting in the local transmission of the association and, thus, inbred populations in which too virulent castrating ants face the risk of local extinction due to the absence of H. physophora offspring. On the other hand, we show that the plant populations probably experienced greater gene flow than did the ant populations, thus enhancing the evolutionary potential of the plants. We conclude that such levels of spatial structure in the partners' populations can increase the stability of the mutualistic relationship. Indeed, the local transmission of the association enables partial alignments of the partners' interests, and population connectivity allows the plant retaliation mechanisms to be locally adapted to the castration behaviour of their symbionts.

Published
2016

45. Comparisons of Protein and Peptide Complexity in Poneroid and Formicoid Ant Venoms

Author

Graham M. Nicholson, Pierre Escoubas, Matthew P. Padula, Jérôme Orivel, Jennifer M. S. Koh, Samira R. Aili, Axel Touchard, and Alain Dejean

Subjects
0301 basic medicine, Ectatomma tuberculatum, ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species, Venom, Peptide, Hymenoptera, Biology, Tandem mass spectrometry, medicine.disease_cause, complex mixtures, Biochemistry, Ant venom, Genetic Heterogeneity, 03 medical and health sciences, Species Specificity, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Myrmecia gulosa, medicine, Animals, Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, chemistry.chemical_classification, Chromatography, Ant Venoms, Ants, ved/biology, Toxin, Proteins, General Chemistry, medicine.disease, biology.organism_classification, Molecular Weight, 030104 developmental biology, chemistry, Peptides
Abstract

Animal venom peptides are currently being developed as novel drugs and bioinsecticides. Because ants use venoms for defense and predation, venomous ants represent an untapped source of potential bioactive toxins. This study compared the protein and peptide components of the poneroid ants Neoponera commutata, Neoponera apicalis, and Odontomachus hastatus and the formicoid ants Ectatomma tuberculatum, Ectatomma brunneum, and Myrmecia gulosa. 1D and 2D PAGE revealed venom proteins in the mass range10 to250 kDa. NanoLC-ESI-QTOF MS/MS analysis of tryptic peptides revealed the presence of common venom proteins and also many undescribed proteins. RP-HPLC separation followed by MALDI-TOF MS of the venom peptides also revealed considerable heterogeneity. It was found that the venoms contained between 144 and 1032 peptides with 5-95% of peptides in the ranges 1-4 and 1-8 kDa for poneroid and formicoid ants, respectively. By employing the reducing MALDI matrix 1,5-diaminonapthalene, up to 28 disulfide-bonded peptides were also identified in each of the venoms. In particular, the mass range of peptides from poneroid ants is lower than peptides from other venoms, indicating possible novel structures and pharmacologies. These results indicate that ant venoms represent an enormous, untapped source of novel therapeutic and bioinsecticide leads.

Published
2016

46. Highly modular pattern in ant-plant interactions involving specialized and non-specialized myrmecophytes

Author

Frédéric Petitclerc, Frédéric Azémar, Arthur Compin, Jacques H. C. Delabie, Régis Céréghino, Alain Dejean, Bruno Corbara, Céline Leroy, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (ECOFOG), Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts (ENGREF)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université des Antilles et de la Guyane (UAG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Laboratorio de Mirmecologia, CEPLAC, Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement - Clermont Auvergne (LMGE), Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020]), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), ANR-10- LABX-25-01, Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Gentianaceae, Parasitism, Modularity, Rainforest, Sympatric species, [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Host Specificity, Myrmecophyte, [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems, Nestedness, Animals, Symbiosis, Ant-plant mutualism, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Ecosystem, Plant Physiological Phenomena, biology, Ecology, Ants, General Medicine, 15. Life on land, [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics, biology.organism_classification, ANT, 010602 entomology, Sympatric speciation, Guild, Myrmecophytes, Ecological network, [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology
Abstract

International audience; Because Tachia guianensis (Gentianaceae) is a “non-specialized myrmecophyte” associated with 37 ant species, we aimed to determine if its presence alters the ant guild associated with sympatric “specialized myrmecophytes” (i.e., plants sheltering a few ant species in hollow structures). The study was conducted in a hilly zone of a neotropical rainforest where two specialized myrmecophytes grow at the bottom of the slopes, another at mid-slope, and a fourth on the hilltops. Tachia guianensis, which occurred everywhere, had its own guild of associated ant species. A network analysis showed that its connections with the four other myrmecophytes were rare and weak, the whole resulting in a highly modular pattern of interactions with one module (i.e., subnetwork) per myrmecophyte. Three ant species parasitized three out of the four specialized myrmecophytes (low nestedness noted), but were not or barely associated with T. guianensis that therefore did not influence the parasitism of specialized myrmecophytes.

Published
2018

47. Ant-plant relationships in the canopy of an Amazonian rainforest: the presence of an ant mosaic

Author

Jacques H. C. Delabie, Maurice Leponce, Alain Dejean, Frédéric Azémar, Bruno Corbara, Jérôme Orivel, Arthur Compin, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), UESC/CEPLAC, Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] (UCA [2017-2020])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), French CNRS, CNPq, Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Canopy, ant mosaics, Arboreal locomotion, biology, pristine Amazonian rainforest, Ecology, Amazonian, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Rainforest, 15. Life on land, biology.organism_classification, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, host tree attractiveness, Azteca, 010602 entomology, Myrmecophyte, Animal ecology, territoriality, indicators of disturbance, Species richness, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract

Using different techniques to access the canopy of an Amazonian rainforest, we inspected 157 tree crowns for arbo-real ants. Diversity statistics showed that our study sample was not representative of the tree and ant populations due to their high diversity in Amazonian rainforests, but permitted us to note that a representative part of territorially dominant arboreal ant species (TDAAs) was inventoried. Mapping of TDAA territories and use of a null model showed the presence of an ant mosaic in the upper canopy, but this was not the case in the sub-canopy. Among the TDAAs, carton-nesting Azteca dominated (52.98% of the trees) whereas ant-garden ants (Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior), common in pioneer formations, were secondarily abundant (21.64% of the trees), and the remaining 25.37% of trees sheltered one of 11 other TDAAs. The distribution of the trees forming the upper canopy influences the structure of the ant mosaic, which is related to the attractiveness of some tree taxa for certain arboreal ant species and represents a case of diffuse coevolution. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: ant mosaics-host tree attractiveness-indicators of disturbance-pristine Amazonian rainforest-territoriality.

Published
2018

48. A dolichoderine ant that constructs traps to ambush prey collectively: convergent evolution with a myrmicine genus

Author

Markus Schmidt, Alain Dejean, Biofaction KG, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, and Investissement d'Avenir [ANR-10-LABX-25-01]

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, ambush group hunting, extended phenotype, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Zoology, ants, Biology, Allomerus, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, ANT, Predation, 010602 entomology, Azteca brevis, Genus, Convergent evolution, Natural enemies, gallery-shaped trap, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Abstract

International audience; Azteca brevis Forel, a dolichoderine ant species, builds along the branches of its host plant galleries that bear numerous holes slightly wider than a worker's head. We noted that the workers hide, mandibles open, beneath different holes, waiting for arthropod prey to walk by or alight. They seize the extremities of these arthropods and pull backwards, immobilizing the prey, which is then spreadeagled and later carved up or pulled into a gallery before being carved up. The total duration of the capture ranges from a few minutes to several hours. This ambush group hunting permits the capture of insects of a wide range of sizes, with the largest being 48.71 times heavier than the workers, something that we compared with other cases of group hunting by ants and trap use by other arthropods. A convergence with myrmicine ants of the genus Allomerus is shown. Thus, this study also shows that the genus Azteca presents the largest panel of group hunting strategies by ants and that there is polyethism related to polymorphism, as hunting workers are larger than their nestmates. We concluded that these gallery-shaped traps correspond to the notion of 'extended phenotype'.

Published
2018

49. Tank bromeliads sustain high secondary production in neotropical forests

Author

Bruno Corbara, Olivier Dézerald, Céline Leroy, Alain Dejean, Régis Céréghino, Stanislas Talaga, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Laboratoire Microorganismes : Génome et Environnement (LMGE), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA), Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (ECOLAB), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AgroParisTech-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Université d'Auvergne - Clermont-Ferrand I (UdA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (LEFE), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), and Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, Rainforest, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], Population, Aquatic Science, Biology, [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, Freshwater ecosystem, Bromeliad ecosystem, [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems, Biomass turnover, Ecosystem, Epiphyte, 14. Life underwater, Invertebrate, education, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Water Science and Technology, Rainforests, Biomass (ecology), education.field_of_study, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Detritivore, Food webs, Food web, 15. Life on land, [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics, Invertebrates, Epiphytes, Functional traits
Abstract

In neotropical landscapes, a substantial fraction of the still waters available is found within tank bromeliads, plants which hold a few milliliters to several litres of rainwater within their leaf axils. The bromeliad ecosystem is integrated into the functioning of rainforest environments, but no study has ever estimated the secondary production, nor the biomass turnover rates of bromeliad macroinvertebrates in relation to other functional traits. We estimated secondary production at invertebrate population to metacommunity level in bromeliads of French Guiana. Coleoptera, Diptera and Crustacea with traits that confer resistance to drought had lower biomass turnover, longer generation times, and slower individual growth than species without particular resistance traits, suggesting convergent life history strategies in phylogenetically distant species. Detritivores and predators accounted for 87% and 13% of the overall annual production, respectively, but had similar production to biomass ratios. An average bromeliad sustained a production of 23.93 g dry mass m(-2) year(-1), a value which exceeds the medians of 5.0-14.8 g DM m(-2) year(-1) for lakes and rivers worldwide. Extrapolations to the total water volumes held by bromeliads at our field site yielded secondary production estimates of 226.8 +/- 32.5 g DM ha(-1) year(-1). We conclude that the ecological role of tank bromeliads in neotropical rainforests may be as important as that of other freshwater ecosystems.

Published
2018

50. Aquatic life in Neotropical rainforest canopies: Techniques using artificial phytotelmata to study the invertebrate communities inhabiting therein

Author

Frédéric Petitclerc, Frédéric Azémar, Maurice Leponce, Alain Dejean, Arthur Compin, Stanislas Talaga, Laurent Pélozuelo, Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR ECOFOG), Université des Antilles (UA)-Université de Guyane (UG)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-AgroParisTech-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, Unité d'Entomologie Médicale [Antananarivo, Madagascar] (IPM), Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP)-Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), ANR-CEBA, and ANR-10-LABX-0025

Subjects
0106 biological sciences, epiphytes, Aquatic Organisms, Rainforest, invertebrate diversity, [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio], neotropical rainforests, 010603 evolutionary biology, 01 natural sciences, General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Trees, Predation, artificial phytotelmata, Animals, Riparian forest, Invertebrate, Tropical Climate, geography, geography.geographical_feature_category, General Immunology and Microbiology, Ecology, 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology, Aquatic ecosystem, Water, Biodiversity, General Medicine, Plants, 15. Life on land, Invertebrates, French Guiana, Epiphyte, Species richness, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Dirt road
Abstract

International audience; In Neotropical rainforest canopies, phytotelmata ("plant-held waters'') shelter diverse aquatic macroinvertebrate communities, including vectors of animal diseases. Studying these communities is difficult because phytotelmata are widely dispersed, hard to find from the ground and often inaccessible. We propose here a method for placing in tree crowns "artificial phytotelmata'' whose size and shape can be tailored to different research targets. The efficacy of this method was shown while comparing the patterns of community diversity of three forest formations. We noted a difference between a riparian forest and a rainforest, whereas trees alongside a dirt road cutting through that rainforest corresponded to a subset of the latter. Because rarefied species richness was significantly lower when the phytotelmata were left for three weeks rather than for six or nine weeks, we recommend leaving the phytotelmata for twelve weeks to permit predators and phoretic species to fully establish themselves. (C) 2017 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Published
2018

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