The ideal habitat for leaf-cutting ant queens to build their nests.

ABSTRACT: Queens of Atta sexdens Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) face biotic and abiotic environmental factors in the environment while establishing their nests. Biotic factors such as predation, microbial pathogens, successful symbiotic fungus regurgitation, excavation effort and abiotic factors such as radiant sunlight, temperature, density, and soil moisture exert selection pressures on ant queens. Biotic factors such as temperature and solar irradiation affect the survival of the initial colony differently, in different environments in the field. Queens of the leaf-cutting ant A. sexdens, were installed in sunny and shaded conditions to test this hypothesis. Two hundred A. sexdens queens were collected and individualized in two experimental areas (sunny and shaded), each in an experimental area

SUBMITTER: Sousa KKA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8941024 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature