Revista Colombiana de Entomología (2015) 41, 241-244

Roberto Da Silva Camargo, Isabel Neto Hastenreiter, Luiz Carlos Forti and Juliane Floriano Santos Lopes (2015)
Relationship between mandible morphology and leaf preference in leaf-cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Revista Colombiana de Entomología 41 (2), 241-244
Abstract: Morphological differences among mandibles of grass and leaf-cutting ant species were examined. Specifically, we compared morphometric measurements from mandibles of four species (Atta laevigata, A. bisphaerica, Acromyrmex balzani, and Ac. subterraneus). It was found that these Atta species had similar mandible morphologies, primarily differing in distal tooth length. In contrast, the two Acromyrmex exhibited considerable variation in morphology: Ac. balzani mandibles are more robust and massive, while Ac. subterraneus mandibles are elongated. These results support that morphological differences in mandible shape and dentition are related to preference for either grasses or eudicot leaves.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Roberto S. Camargo

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Atta laevigata		Brazil (south)
	Atta bisphaerica		Brazil (south)