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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Petitclerc, F.; Azémar, F. doi  openurl
  Title Seasonality influences ant-mediated nutrient acquisition (myrmecotrophy) by a Neotropical myrmecophyte Type Journal Article
  Year 2020 Publication Evolutionary Ecology Abbreviated Journal Evol. Ecol.  
  Volume 34 Issue 4 Pages 645-657  
  Keywords Ant-plant relationships; Mutualism; Myrmecophyte; Myrmecotrophy; Phenology; Stable isotopes; ant; herb; host plant; life cycle; myrmecochory; myrmecophyte; Neotropical Region; phenology; seasonality; stable isotope; understory; Gentianaceae; Tachia; Tachia guianensis  
  Abstract Tachia guianensis (Gentianaceae), a Neotropical understory myrmecophyte, shelters ant colonies in its hollow trunks and branches (domatia). In turn, it is protected from defoliators and obtains nutrients from ant-produced wastes (myrmecotrophy). Aiming to verify if seasonality influences nitrogen assimilation via ant wastes using the stable isotope nitrogen-15, we first studied Tachia’s phenology and its seasonal leaf production, and then the life cycle of its two more frequent guest ant species. We found that leaf production was much higher during the rainy than the dry season. Mature guest ant colonies produced sexuals regardless of the season and the net weight of the waste piles inside the domatia did not vary between seasons, so that the availability of nutrients to their host plant is steady year-long. By providing the two most frequent mutualistic guest ant species with food enriched with nitrogen-15, we showed that Tachia individuals assimilate more nitrogen from ant wastes during the rainy season, when the plant is physiologically active, compared to the dry season. Thus, one can deduce that the increase in nitrogen assimilation during the rainy season is determined by the increase in Tachia’s physiological activity during that season. Information gathered through a bibliographic compilation confirms that none of the 15 ant species known to be associated with myrmecophytes for which the life cycle was studied is characterized by seasonal reproduction (which would result in fluctuating waste production). The same is true for 49.7% of 167 tropical ant species (seasonal production for the remaining species). We concluded that, in contrast to the non-seasonal ant colony reproductive cycle, Tachia’s phenology determines the myrmecotrophic assimilation rate. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.  
  Address CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, INRAE, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, Kourou, 97310, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Springer Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 02697653 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 956  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Orivel, J.; Rossi, V.; Roux, O.; Lauth, J.; Malé, P.-J.G.; Céréghino, R.; Leroy, C. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title Predation Success By A Plant-Ant Indirectly Favours The Growth And Fitness Of Its Host Myrmecophyte Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication PLoS ONE Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages e59405  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Mutualisms, or interactions between species that lead to net fitness benefits for each species involved, are stable and ubiquitous in nature mostly due to “byproduct benefits” stemming from the intrinsic traits of one partner that generate an indirect and positive outcome for the other. Here we verify if myrmecotrophy (where plants obtain nutrients from the refuse of their associated ants) can explain the stability of the tripartite association between the myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora, the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus and an Ascomycota fungus. The plant shelters and provides the ants with extrafloral nectar. The ants protect the plant from herbivores and integrate the fungus into the construction of a trap that they use to capture prey; they also provide the fungus and their host plant with nutrients. During a 9-month field study, we over-provisioned experimental ant colonies with insects, enhancing colony fitness (i.e., more winged females were produced). The rate of partial castration of the host plant, previously demonstrated, was not influenced by the experiment. Experimental plants showed higher δ15N values (confirming myrmecotrophy), plus enhanced vegetative growth (e.g., more leaves produced increased the possibility of lodging ants in leaf pouches) and fitness (i.e., more fruits produced and more flowers that matured into fruit). This study highlights the importance of myrmecotrophy on host plant fitness and the stability of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms. © 2013 Dejean et al.  
  Address IRD, AMAP (botAnique et bioinforMatique de l'Architecture des Plantes; UMR-IRD 123), Montpellier, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
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  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 26 March 2013; Source: Scopus; Art. No.: e59405 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 478  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Orivel, J.; Leponce, M.; Compin, A.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Azémar, F.; Corbara, B. doi  openurl
  Title Ant–plant relationships in the canopy of an Amazonian rainforest: the presence of an ant mosaic Type Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Biological Journal of the Linnean Society Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 125 Issue 2 Pages 344-354  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Using different techniques to access the canopy of an Amazonian rainforest, we inspected 157 tree crowns for arboreal ants. Diversity statistics showed that our study sample was not representative of the tree and ant populations due to their high diversity in Amazonian rainforests, but permitted us to note that a representative part of territorially dominant arboreal ant species (TDAAs) was inventoried. Mapping of TDAA territories and use of a null model showed the presence of an ant mosaic in the upper canopy, but this was not the case in the sub-canopy. Among the TDAAs, carton-nesting Azteca dominated (52.98% of the trees) whereas ant-garden ants (Camponotus femoratus and Crematogaster levior), common in pioneer formations, were secondarily abundant (21.64% of the trees), and the remaining 25.37% of trees sheltered one of 11 other TDAAs. The distribution of the trees forming the upper canopy influences the structure of the ant mosaic, which is related to the attractiveness of some tree taxa for certain arboreal ant species and represents a case of diffuse coevolution.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0024-4066 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes 10.1093/biolinnean/bly125 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 824  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Orivel, J.; Azémar, F.; Herault, B.; Corbara, B. pdf  url
doi  openurl
  Title A cuckoo-like parasitic moth leads African weaver ant colonies to their ruin Type Journal Article
  Year 2016 Publication Scientific Reports Abbreviated Journal Sci. Rep.  
  Volume 6 Issue Pages 23778  
  Keywords  
  Abstract In myrmecophilous Lepidoptera, mostly lycaenids and riodinids, caterpillars trick ants into transporting them to the ant nest where they feed on the brood or, in the more derived 'cuckoo strategy', trigger regurgitations (trophallaxis) from the ants and obtain trophic eggs. We show for the first time that the caterpillars of a moth (Eublemma albifascia; Noctuidae; Acontiinae) also use this strategy to obtain regurgitations and trophic eggs from ants (Oecophylla longinoda). Females short-circuit the adoption process by laying eggs directly on the ant nests, and workers carry just-hatched caterpillars inside. Parasitized colonies sheltered 44 to 359 caterpillars, each receiving more trophallaxis and trophic eggs than control queens. The thus-starved queens lose weight, stop laying eggs (which transport the pheromones that induce infertility in the workers) and die. Consequently, the workers lay male-destined eggs before and after the queen's death, allowing the colony to invest its remaining resources in male production before it vanishes.  
  Address Université Clermont Auvergne, Université Blaise Pascal (LMGE), Clermont-Ferrand, France  
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  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 22 April 2016 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 674  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Moreau, C.S.; Uzac, P.; Le Breton, J.; Kenne, M. url  openurl
  Title The predatory behavior of Pheidole megacephala Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Comptes Rendus Biologies Abbreviated Journal C. R. Biol.  
  Volume 330 Issue 9 Pages 701-709  
  Keywords Invasive ants; Landmarks; Pheidole megacephala; Predatory behavior; Recruitment; pheromone; ant; behavioral ecology; foraging behavior; invasive species; nest predation; pheromone; predator-prey interaction; animal experiment; ant; article; competitor species; controlled study; foraging behavior; host range; Isoptera; nest predation; nonhuman; predation; predator prey interaction; prey selection; species invasion; worker (insect); Animals; Ants; Feeding Behavior; Female; Isoptera; Predatory Behavior; Social Behavior; Formicidae; Hexapoda; Isoptera; Pheidole megacephala  
  Abstract We studied the foraging and predatory behaviors of the invasive African myrmicine ant, Pheidole megacephala (F.) in its native range. Workers can singly capture a wide range of insects, including relatively large prey items. For still larger prey, they recruit at short range those nestmates situated within reach of an alarm pheromone and together spread-eagle the insect. These behaviors are complimented by a long-range recruitment (of nestmates remaining in the nest) based on prey size. P. megacephala scouts also use long-range recruitment when they detect the landmarks of termites and competing ant species, thus permitting them to avoid confronting these termites and ants solitarily.  
  Address Département de biologie des organismes animaux, faculté des sciences, l'université de Douala, BP 24157, Douala, Cameroon  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 16310691 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Cited By (since 1996): 8; Export Date: 22 October 2011; Source: Scopus; Coden: Crboc; doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2007.06.005; PubMed ID: 17720587; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; CNRS-Guyane, UPS 2561, UMR-CNRS 5174, 16, avenue André-Aron, 97300 Cayenne, France; email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 354  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Moreau, C.S.; Kenne, M.; Leponce, M. openurl 
  Title The raiding success of Pheidole megacephala on other ants in both its native and introduced ranges Type Journal Article
  Year 2008 Publication Comptes Rendus Biologies Abbreviated Journal C. R. Biol.  
  Volume 331 Issue 8 Pages 631-635  
  Keywords invasive ants; predation; raiding other ants; recruitment  
  Abstract We studied the behaviour of the invasive African myrmicine ant, Pheidole megacephala, when confronted with colonies of other common ant species in Cameroon, a part of its native range, and in Mexico, where it has been introduced. P. megacephala raided the nests of the other ants in both cases. Eleven species out of 12 put up a rather strong resistance to raiding P. megacephala workers in Cameroon compared to only three species out of 11 in Mexico, where only colonies of Solenopsis geminata, Dorymyrmex pyramicus and Dolichoderus bispinosus resisted these raids. We conclude that P. megacephala's heightened ability to successfully raid colonies of competing ants may help explain its success and the decline of native ants in areas where it has been introduced.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain] CNRS Guyane, UPS 2561, F-97300 Cayenne, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1631-0691 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000258523200008 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ eric.marcon @ Serial 210  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Leroy, C.; Corbara, B.; Roux, O.; Cereghino, R.; Orivel, J.; Boulay, R. pdf  openurl
  Title Arboreal Ants Use the "Velcro (R) Principle'' to Capture Very Large Prey Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication PLoS One Abbreviated Journal PLoS One  
  Volume 5 Issue 6 Pages e11331  
  Keywords  
  Abstract 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 (R) 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.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain; Leroy, Celine; Roux, Olivier; Orivel, Jerome] CNRS, Ecol Forets Guyane UMR CNRS 8172, Kourou, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1932-6203 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000279140800028 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ eric.marcon @ Serial 56  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Leroy, C.; Corbara, B.; Cereghino, R.; Roux, O.; Herault, B.; Rossi, V.; Guerrero, R.J.; Delabie, J.H.C.; Orivel, J.; Boulay, R. openurl 
  Title A temporary social parasite of tropical plant-ants improves the fitness of a myrmecophyte Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Naturwissenschaften Abbreviated Journal Naturwissenschaften  
  Volume 97 Issue 10 Pages 925-934  
  Keywords Ant-plant relationships; Biotic defense; Parasites of mutualisms; Temporary social parasites; Azteca; Cecropia  
  Abstract Myrmecophytes offer plant-ants a nesting place in exchange for protection from their enemies, particularly defoliators. These obligate ant-plant mutualisms are common model systems for studying factors that allow horizontally transmitted mutualisms to persist since parasites of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms exploit the rewards provided by host plants whilst providing no protection in return. In pioneer formations in French Guiana, Azteca alfari and Azteca ovaticeps are known to be mutualists of myrmecophytic Cecropia (Cecropia ants). Here, we show that Azteca andreae, whose colonies build carton nests on myrmecophytic Cecropia, is not a parasite of Azteca-Cecropia mutualisms nor is it a temporary social parasite of A. alfari; it is, however, a temporary social parasite of A. ovaticeps. Contrarily to the two mutualistic Azteca species that are only occasional predators feeding mostly on hemipteran honeydew and food bodies provided by the host trees, A. andreae workers, which also attend hemipterans, do not exploit the food bodies. Rather, they employ an effective hunting technique where the leaf margins are fringed with ambushing workers, waiting for insects to alight. As a result, the host trees' fitness is not affected as A. andreae colonies protect their foliage better than do mutualistic Azteca species resulting in greater fruit production. Yet, contrarily to mutualistic Azteca, when host tree development does not keep pace with colony growth, A. andreae workers forage on surrounding plants; the colonies can even move to a non-Cecropia tree.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain; Leroy, Celine; Roux, Olivier; Orivel, Jerome] CNRS, F-97379 Kourou, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher SPRINGER Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0028-1042 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000282094100006 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ eric.marcon @ Serial 77  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Lachaud, J.P. openurl 
  Title The hunting behavior of the African ponerine ant Pachycondyla pachyderma Type Journal Article
  Year 2011 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Processes  
  Volume 86 Issue 2 Pages 169-173  
  Keywords Hunting behavior; Feeding specialization; Behavioral flexibility; Ponerine ants; Pachycondyla; Myriapoda  
  Abstract The hunting behavior of the African ponerine ant Pachycondyla pachyderma, a semi-specialized centipede predator, appears well adapted to this kind of prey and shows a graded complexity according to the difficulty it has in overwhelming prey. Small prey (5-to-8-mm-long termites) were detected by contact and seized by the thorax while larger prey (>= 30-mm-long centipedes) were frequently detected from a distance and seized by the anterior-most part of their body. Termites and 30-mm-long lithobiomorph centipedes were not always stung, whereas stinging and even repeated stinging was needed for 50-mm-long geophilomorphs and scolopendromorphs. Moreover, overwhelming wide and heavy scolopendromorphs, which have better defensive abilities, involved the use of additional behaviors allowing the workers to capture them safely: venom spreading, and a peculiar stinging posture, the “fatal embrace”. Here the workers seize scolopendromorphs by an antenna or by one of their first legs, wrap themselves around the prey while maintaining their grip with their mandibles and legs, and slowly inject venom into the prey's ventral surface. Workers retrieve small prey solitarily while, for large geophilomorphs and scolopendromorphs, nestmates can be recruited at short range or even at long range through tandem running. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.  
  Address [Dejean, Alain] CNRS, Ecol Forets Guyane UMR CNRS 8172, F-97379 Kourou, France, Email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Elsevier Science Bv Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes ISI:000287984900001 Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 301  
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Author (down) Dejean, A.; Labrière, N.; Touchard, A.; Petitclerc, F.; Roux, O. url  openurl
  Title Nesting habits shape feeding preferences and predatory behavior in an ant genus Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Naturwissenschaften Abbreviated Journal Naturwissenschaften  
  Volume 101 Issue 4 Pages 323-330  
  Keywords Ant genus Pseudomyrmex; Arboreal and ground nesting; Feeding preferences; Myrmecophytism; Predation  
  Abstract We tested if nesting habits influence ant feeding preferences and predatory behavior in the monophyletic genus Pseudomyrmex (Pseudomyrmecinae) which comprises terrestrial and arboreal species, and, among the latter, plant-ants which are obligate inhabitants of myrmecophytes (i.e., plants sheltering so-called plant-ants in hollow structures). A cafeteria experiment revealed that the diet of ground-nesting Pseudomyrmex consists mostly of prey and that of arboreal species consists mostly of sugary substances, whereas the plant-ants discarded all the food we provided. Workers forage solitarily, detecting prey from a distance thanks to their hypertrophied eyes. Approach is followed by antennal contact, seizure, and the manipulation of the prey to sting it under its thorax (next to the ventral nerve cord). Arboreal species were not more efficient at capturing prey than were ground-nesting species. A large worker size favors prey capture. Workers from ground- and arboreal-nesting species show several uncommon behavioral traits, each known in different ant genera from different subfamilies: leaping abilities, the use of surface tension strengths to transport liquids, short-range recruitment followed by conflicts between nestmates, the consumption of the prey's hemolymph, and the retrieval of entire prey or pieces of prey after having cut it up. Yet, we never noted group ambushing. We also confirmed that Pseudomyrmex plant-ants live in a kind of food autarky as they feed only on rewards produced by their host myrmecophyte, or on honeydew produced by the hemipterans they attend and possibly on the fungi they cultivate. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.  
  Address IRD, MIVEGEC (IRD 224-CNRS 5290-UM1-UM2), Équipe BEES, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Springer Verlag Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 00281042 (Issn) ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Export Date: 5 May 2014; Source: Scopus; Coden: Natwa; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus Agronomique, BP 316, 97379 Kourou cedex, France; email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr Approved no  
  Call Number EcoFoG @ webmaster @ Serial 539  
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