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Insects
Special Issues
Ant Symbioses
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Ant Symbioses

A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450). This special issue belongs to the section "Insect Ecology, Diversity and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2020) | Viewed by 6407

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Deborah A. Waller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Interests: ecology of social insects; forensic entomology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) form diverse symbioses with other organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. Some of these relationships involve three or more participating species. The symbionts may be mutualists, commensals, pathogens, predators, or parasitoids. This Special Issue will highlight unique symbioses involving ants.

Dr. Deborah A. Waller
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Formicidae
  • symbiosis
  • mutualism
  • commensalism
  • pathogen
  • predator
  • parasitoid

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2511 KiB  
Article
Chance or Necessity—The Fungi Co−Occurring with Formica polyctena Ants
by Igor Siedlecki, Michał Gorczak, Alicja Okrasińska and Marta Wrzosek
Insects 2021, 12(3), 204; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12030204 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2966
Abstract
Studies on carton nesting ants and domatia−dwelling ants have shown that ant–fungi interactions may be much more common and widespread than previously thought. Until now, studies focused predominantly on parasitic and mutualistic fungi–ant interactions occurring mostly in the tropics, neglecting less−obvious interactions involving [...] Read more.
Studies on carton nesting ants and domatia−dwelling ants have shown that ant–fungi interactions may be much more common and widespread than previously thought. Until now, studies focused predominantly on parasitic and mutualistic fungi–ant interactions occurring mostly in the tropics, neglecting less−obvious interactions involving the fungi common in ants’ surroundings in temperate climates. In our study, we characterized the mycobiota of the surroundings of Formica polyctena ants by identifying nearly 600 fungal colonies that were isolated externally from the bodies of F. polyctena workers. The ants were collected from mounds found in northern and central Poland. Isolated fungi were assigned to 20 genera via molecular identification (ITS rDNA barcoding). Among these, Penicillium strains were the most frequent, belonging to eight different taxonomic sections. Other common and widespread members of Eurotiales, such as Aspergillus spp., were isolated very rarely. In our study, we managed to characterize the genera of fungi commonly present on F. polyctena workers. Our results suggest that Penicillium, Trichoderma, Mucor, Schwanniomyces and Entomortierella are commonly present in F. polyctena surroundings. Additionally, the high diversity and high frequency of Penicillium colonies isolated from ants in this study suggest that representatives of this genus may be adapted to survive in ant nests environment better than the other fungal groups, or that they are preferentially sustained by the insects in nests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ant Symbioses)
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21 pages, 4807 KiB  
Article
What Can the Bacterial Community of Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) Tell Us about the Habitats in Which This Ant Species Evolves?
by Manuela de Oliveira Ramalho, Cintia Martins, Maria Santina Castro Morini and Odair Correa Bueno
Insects 2020, 11(6), 332; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11060332 - 28 May 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3123
Abstract
Studies of bacterial communities can reveal the evolutionary significance of symbiotic interactions between hosts and their associated bacteria, as well as identify environmental factors that may influence host biology. Atta sexdens is an ant species native to Brazil that can act as an [...] Read more.
Studies of bacterial communities can reveal the evolutionary significance of symbiotic interactions between hosts and their associated bacteria, as well as identify environmental factors that may influence host biology. Atta sexdens is an ant species native to Brazil that can act as an agricultural pest due to its intense behavior of cutting plants. Despite being extensively studied, certain aspects of the general biology of this species remain unclear, such as the evolutionary implications of the symbiotic relationships it forms with bacteria. Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes, we compared for the first time the bacterial community of A. sexdens (whole ant workers) populations according to the habitat (natural versus agricultural) and geographical location. Our results revealed that the bacterial community associated with A. sexdens is mainly influenced by the geographical location, and secondarily by the differences in habitat. Also, the bacterial community associated with citrus differed significantly from the other communities due to the presence of Tsukamurella. In conclusion, our study suggests that environmental shifts may influence the bacterial diversity found in A. sexdens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ant Symbioses)
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