Skeletomuscular adaptations of head and legs of Melissotarsus ants for tunnelling through living wood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While thousands of ant species are arboreal, very few are able to chew and tunnel through living wood. Ants of the genus Melissotarsus (subfamily Myrmicinae) inhabit tunnel systems excavated under the bark of living trees, where they keep large numbers of symbiotic armoured scale insects (family Diaspididae). Construction of these tunnels by chewing through healthy wood requires tremendous power, but the adaptations that give Melissotarsus these abilities are unclear. Here, we investigate the morphology of the musculoskeletal system of Melissotarsus using histology, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectrometry, X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), and 3D modelling.

Results

Both the head and legs of Melissotarsus workers contai

SUBMITTER: Khalife A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6092875 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature