Ocorrência de poliginia, agressividade e secreção química liberada pelo gáster em Pachycondyla striata, Smith (Formicidae: Ponerinae)

• Ano de defesa: 2009
• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Moreno Souza
• Orientador(a): Vilela, Evaldo Ferreira
• Banca de defesa: Ribas, Carla Rodrigues , Pompolo, Silvia das Graças , Souza, Danival José de
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Viçosa
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Mestrado em Biologia Animal
• Departamento: Biologia e Manejo animal
• País: BR
• Palavras-chave em Português: Mirmecologia; Poliginia; Polidomia; Defesa química; Agressividade
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Myrmecology; Polygyny; Polydomy; Chemical defense; Aggressiveness
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ZOOLOGIA::COMPORTAMENTO ANIMAL
• Link de acesso: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/2226

Populations of the ant Pachycondyla striata from Viçosa appear to be polygynous, during colony foundation, despite the fact that studies in the literature indicate a state of monogyny for mature colonies of the species. The number of queens in an ant colony influences on aspects such as life cycle and genetic structure of the population. Variation on this feature occurs and may be quite diverse. Another variation occurs in the defense strategies used by ants. The species P. striata seems to use as a defense mechanism typical of the colony a substance in form of foam released form, the gaster. The aim of this work was to study the reproductive behavior of P. striata and the defense mechanism mediated by chemical secretions in order to increase the knowledge on the behavioral strategies of basal groups of Formicidae. Fourteen colonies of P. striata were collected in Viçosa, MG and the results of this study showed that polygyny occurs in P. striata, so the colonies may contain several fertilized queens and fertile, at least during the founding of the colony. Although P. striata colonies can be polydomous, as it was observed at a low level of aggression when pairs of workers from different colonies were separated by less than 1m. The defense mechanisms used by P. striata towards a prey, larvae of Tenebrio molitor, and a competitor/ predator, like Pachycondyla marginata or P. striata workers, as nest mates or non-partners, were also investigated. There was no significant difference between the number of times that workers of P. striata exhibited aggressive behaviors such as bite and sting (mechanical protection), towards the tested groups, although aggressive behaviors were common between P. striata and P. marginata. Against groups regarded as competitors/ predators, in addition to the classic defense mechanisms, workers of P. striata also used a secretion released as foam.