scholarly journals A mutualism without honeydew: what benefits forMelissotarsus emeryiants and armored scale insects (Diaspididae)?

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Peeters ◽  
Imre Foldi ◽  
Danièle Matile-Ferrero ◽  
Brian L. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Building Material ◽  
Malpighian Tubules ◽  
Host Tree ◽  
Scale Insects ◽  
Suitable Host ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Armored Scale ◽  
Plant Hosts ◽  
Armoured Scale Insects ◽  
Harmful Effects

Mutualisms between ants and sap-sucking insects generally involve clear benefits for both partners: the ants provide protection in exchange for honeydew. However, a single ant genus associates with armoured scale insects (Diaspididae) that do not excrete honeydew. We studied three colonies ofMelissotarsus emeryiants from two localities in Mozambique. Vast numbers of the diaspididMorganella conspicuaoccupied galleries dug by the ants under the bark of living trees. Unlike free-livingM. conspicuaand other diaspidids,M. conspicualiving with ants are known to lack shields, likely because they gain protection against enemies and desiccation. Nevertheless, we documented the occurrence of rare individuals with shields inside ant galleries, indicating that their glands continue to secrete wax and proteins as building material. This is likely to constitute a significant portion of the ants’ diet, in addition to diaspidid exuviae and excretions from the Malpighian tubules. Indeed,Melissotarsusworkers cannot walk outside the galleries due to modified middle legs, forcing them to obtain all nourishment within the tree.Melissotarsusfounding queens, however, must locate a suitable host tree while flying, and acquire diaspidid crawlers. This mutualism involves ants that are highly specialised to chew through living wood, and diaspidids that can also live freely outside the bark. It is extremely widespread in Africa and Madagascar, recorded from 20 tree families, and harmful effects on plant hosts require rapid study.

scholarly journals Biological Control of Armored Scale Insects in Mexico

1968 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1086-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Maltby ◽  
Eteazar Jimenez-Jimenez ◽  
Paul DeBach
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Scale Insects ◽  
Armored Scale

scholarly journals Transfer of cadmium from ants to ant-lions

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 133-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Nuorteva
Keyword(s):  
Larval Development ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Parallel Difference ◽  
Ant Lion ◽  
Formica Aquilonia ◽  
Sparse Population ◽  
Harmful Effects

Ants have been found to bear exceptionally high loads of Cd and other metals, but are in general quite resistant to the toxic effects of Cd. Possible harmful effects caused to their predators by high Cd content have not been studied. Detection of a sparse population of ant-lions on a beach at Padva in Bromarv, offered the possibility to make some preliminary observations of such harmfull effects. AAS-analyses showed that free-living ant-lion larvae bear a Cd load of 4.5 ppm/dwt in young larvae, 8.5 ppm in old ones. This corresponded approximately to the level occurring in their most important food items in Padva (4.5 ppm mean for workers of Formica rufibarbis Fabricius and 6.1 ppm for foragers of F. fusca Linnaeus). The level of Cd in the single ant-lion imago caught (0.5 ppm) was clearly lower than in larvae. Among the Cdantagonistic metals, Cu showed levels in ant-lions two- or three-fold those found in ants, whereas no parallel difference existed for Zn levels. During larval development the level of the essential Cu diminished to half whereas the level of Zn increased two-fold. The fate of surplus cadmium in the food chain was followed experimentally by feeding a forest-living colony of Formica aquilonia Yarrow with 0.5 kg honey containing 600 mg CdCl2 This elevated the Cd content of surface workers up to a level1 O-f old that considered normal, 90-100 ppm (n = 4), and of the inside workers up to 5-fold, 36-61 ppm (n = 6). When surface workers were fed to ant-lion larvae ad libidum, larval Cd content rose in one week to the level of the food (87 ppm). When the feeding of ant-lion larvae was continued by feeding them inside workers for additional 4 weeks, these larvae showed a Cd level (49 ppm), similar to that of their food; then when the feeding had continued for 8 weeks, the level, however, rose to 120 ppm. All ant-lion larvae, including those with the highest Cd content, were fully active and showed no symptoms of disease. Artificial Cd-feeding had no clear effect on the Cu-levels in ants or ant-lions, but Zn responded by an increase from the natural level of 501-603 ppm to 560-1 200 ppm.

Efficacy of a postharvest spirotetramat spray against armoured scale insects on kiwifruit vines

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
C McKenna ◽  
R Gaskin ◽  
D Horgan ◽  
S Dobson ◽  
Y Jia
Keyword(s):  
Scale Insects ◽  
Armoured Scale Insects

Heterochromatization and euchromatization of whole genomes in scale insects (Coccoidea: Homoptera)

Development ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uzi Nur
Keyword(s):  
Scale Insects ◽  
Congeneric Species ◽  
Maternal Origin ◽  
Paternal Origin ◽  
Whole Genomes ◽  
Armored Scale ◽  
Males And Females

In several families of scale insects (coccids), the sex of an embryo is determined by the number of genetically active genomes present (one=males, two=females). In mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), both males and females develop from fertilized eggs but, in the embryos that develop into males, the set of chromosomes (genome) of paternal origin (PG) becomes heterochromatic (H) and genetically inactive and is not transmitted to the offspring. The mechanism that reduces the number of active genomes in male embryos may vary between families and even between congeneric species. Thus, in male embryos of most armored scale species (Diaspididae), the PG is eliminated, while in a few species it becomes H. In two genera of soft scales (Coccidae), males develop from unfertilized eggs when one of two identical genomes of maternal origin becomes H. In most male tissues, one genome remains H. However, in several tissues that become polyploid by endoreduplication, the PG becomes E and genetically active. The tissues in which the PG becomes E often vary between species and the analysis of hybrid males demonstrated that whether the PG becomes H or remains E is determined by the genome of maternal origin. The euchromatization of the PG in the haploid sector of mosaic male embryos and the presence of spermatocytes with two E genomes (instead of one E and one H), following the irradiation of young mealybug males, strongly suggest that the maintenance of the H state requires the presence of a genetically active genome.

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