Nest architecture and colony composition in two populations of Ectatomma ruidum sp. 2 (E. ruidum species complex) in southwestern Colombia

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 2;17(2):e0263382. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263382. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Nest architecture plays a fundamental role in the adaptation of ants to their habitat, favoring the action of economically important species. Ectatomma ruidum sp. 2 (ruidum species complex) is a biological control agent in Neotropical agroecosystems, exhibiting high bioturbation impact due to high nest densities. The architecture and composition of 152 nests were studied in two Andean populations of southwestern Colombia, 24 of them being cast using the paraffin wax technique. Nest entrance was a single, circular, 4 mm hole at ground level, without any special external structure, connected to a single vertical tunnel communicating with successive half ellipsoidal chambers. Nests were extremely shallow (depth range: 28.7-35.4 cm), with an average of six chambers and an overall volume of 92.2 cm3 per nest. The deeper the chamber, the smaller its volume. Nest building was independent of plants or roots, and no surface or underground physical connections were found between neighboring nests. Few nests possessed a queen, and neither ergatoids nor microgynes were recorded. Despite significant interactions between localities and the number of both males and workers, queen presence had an overall highly positive effect on the number of workers and larvae and a negative one on the number of gynes. Overall, the studied Colombian populations of E. ruidum sp. 2 retained the simple nest structure described for other species of this species complex and for colonies of the same species from other geographical areas, though they constrasted in their extreme shallowness. Our data suggest that E. ruidum sp. 2, at the local level, does not follow the usual monodomic pattern of this species with facultative polygyny but, rather, has a polydomic pattern with monogyny, perhaps related to the extreme shallowness of the nests due to soil structure, which could significantly enhance the queen's reproductive inhibition previously reported for this species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ants / classification
  • Ants / physiology*
  • Colombia
  • Ecosystem*
  • Nesting Behavior / physiology*
  • Reproduction*

Grants and funding

Funds to CS were provided by COLCIENCIAS (National Basic Sciences Program, Code 110656933821, Contract RC. No. 0648-2013), by the ‘Vicerrectoría de Investigaciones de la Universidad del Valle’ (‘International Visibility’ call, code CI 71000), and by the founding of the research projects (2015's call #727) for National PhD students by COLCIENCIAS and the Postgraduate Department of Biological Sciences of the Universidad del Valle. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.