在自然界,植物和動(dòng)物共生的現(xiàn)象比比皆是,。法國科研人員通過長期觀察,,最新揭示了阿茲特克螞蟻和西哥羅佩樹的共生原理。
西哥羅佩樹是法屬圭亞那常見的一個(gè)樹種,,它與一種名為阿茲特克的樹蟻保持著“相依為命”的關(guān)系,,前者為后者提供居所和部分食物,而后者則幫助前者抵御“強(qiáng)敵”,。
法國科研人員發(fā)現(xiàn),,西哥羅佩樹的枝葉背面具有黏性,能夠牢牢黏住阿茲特克工蟻的爪子,,就這樣,,大批工蟻“埋伏”在葉子的邊緣,等待獵物上鉤,。葉子的超強(qiáng)黏力可以讓螞蟻毫無后顧之憂,甚至抓到體重遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過自己的昆蟲,。
這項(xiàng)研究由法國國家科研中心的團(tuán)隊(duì)完成,。研究成果已發(fā)表在最新一期美國PLoS ONE上,。(生物谷bioon.net)
生物谷推薦原文出處:
PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011331
Arboreal Ants Use the “Velcro ® Principle” to Capture Very Large Prey
Alain Dejean1*, Céline Leroy1, Bruno Corbara2,3, Olivier Roux1, Régis Céréghino4,5, Jér?me Orivel1, Rapha?l Boulay6,7
1 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus Agronomique, Kourou, France, 2 Clermont Université, Université Blaise Pascal, BP 10448, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 3 CNRS, UMR 6023, Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement, Aubière, France, 4 CNRS, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle), Toulouse, France, 5 Université de Toulouse, UPS, INPT, EcoLab, Toulouse, France, 6 Estación Biológica de Do?ana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain, 7 Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
Plant-ants live in a mutualistic association with host plants known as “myrmecophytes” that provide them with a nesting place and sometimes with extra-floral nectar (EFN) and/or food bodies (FBs); the ants can also attend sap-sucking Hemiptera for their honeydew. In return, plant-ants, like most other arboreal ants, protect their host plants from defoliators. To satisfy their nitrogen requirements, however, some have optimized their ability to capture prey in the restricted environment represented by the crowns of trees by using elaborate hunting techniques. In this study, we investigated the predatory behavior of the ant Azteca andreae which is associated with the myrmecophyte Cecropia obtusa. We noted that up to 8350 ant workers per tree hide side-by-side beneath the leaf margins of their host plant with their mandibles open, waiting for insects to alight. The latter are immediately seized by their extremities, and then spread-eagled; nestmates are recruited to help stretch, carve up and transport prey. This group ambush hunting technique is particularly effective when the underside of the leaves is downy, as is the case for C. obtusa. In this case, the hook-shaped claws of the A. andreae workers and the velvet-like structure of the underside of the leaves combine to act like natural Velcro? that is reinforced by the group ambush strategy of the workers, allowing them to capture prey of up to 13,350 times the mean weight of a single worker.