Alkaloid Venom Weaponry of Three Megalomyrmex Thief Ants and the Behavioral Response of Cyphomyrmex costatus Host Ants

Social parasites exploit other societies by invading and stealing resources. Some enter protected nests using offensive chemical weaponry made from alkaloid-based venom. We characterized the venoms of three Megalomyrmex thief ant species ( M. mondabora , M. mondaboroides , and M. silvestrii ) that p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical ecology 2015-04, Vol.41 (4), p.373-385
Main Authors: Adams, Rachelle M. M., Jones, Tappey H., Longino, John T., Weatherford, Robert G., Mueller, Ulrich G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Alkaloids - analysis
Alkaloids - metabolism
Animal populations
Animals
Ant Venoms - analysis
Ant Venoms - metabolism
Ants - chemistry
Ants - parasitology
Ants - physiology
Biochemistry
Biological Microscopy
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Chemical ecology
Chemical weapons
Defense mechanisms
Ecology
Entomology
Insects
Life Sciences
Parasites
Pyrrolidine
Species Specificity
Venom
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Summary:Social parasites exploit other societies by invading and stealing resources. Some enter protected nests using offensive chemical weaponry made from alkaloid-based venom. We characterized the venoms of three Megalomyrmex thief ant species ( M. mondabora , M. mondaboroides , and M. silvestrii ) that parasitize the fungus-growing ants, and developed an ethogram to describe host ant reactions to raiding M. mondaboroides and M. silvestrii parasites. We compared piperidine, pyrrolidine, and pyrolizidine venom alkaloid structures with synthetic samples from previous studies, and describe the novel stereochemistry of trans 2-hexyl-5-[8-oxononyl]-pyrrolidine ( 3 ) from M. mondabora . We showed that workers of Cyphomyrmex costatus , the host of M. mondaboroides and M. silvestrii , react to a sting by Megalomyrmex parasites mainly with submissive behavior, playing dead or retreating. Host submission also followed brief antennal contact. The behavior of C. costatus ants observed in this study was similar to that of Cyphomyrmex cornutus , host of M. mondabora , suggesting that the alkaloidal venoms with pyrrolidines from M. mondabora , piperidines from M. mondaboroides , and pyrolizidines from M. silvestrii may function similarly as appeasement and repellent allomones against host ants, despite their different chemical structure. With the use of these chemical weapons, the Megalomyrmex thief ants are met with little host resistance and easily exploit host colony resources.
ISSN:0098-0331
1573-1561
DOI:10.1007/s10886-015-0565-y