Ecologie Sociale, CP 231 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe, Brussels, Belgium.
CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, Kourou, France.
Insect Sci. 2020 Feb;27(1):122-132. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12597. Epub 2018 Jun 4.
Although the Neotropical territorially dominant arboreal ant Azteca chartifex Forel is very aggressive towards any intruder, its populous colonies tolerate the close presence of the fierce polistine wasp Polybia rejecta (F.). In French Guiana, 83.33% of the 48 P. rejecta nests recorded were found side by side with those of A. chartifex. This nesting association results in mutual protection from predators (i.e., the wasps protected from army ants; the ants protected from birds). We conducted field studies, laboratory-based behavioral experiments and chemical analyses to elucidate the mechanisms allowing the persistence of this association. Due to differences in the cuticular profiles of the two species, we eliminated the possibility of chemical mimicry. Also, analyses of the carton nests did not reveal traces of marking on the envelopes. Because ant forager flows were not perturbed by extracts from the wasps' Dufour's and venom glands, we rejected any hypothetical action of repulsive chemicals. Nevertheless, we noted that the wasps "scraped" the surface of the upper part of their nest envelope using their mandibles, likely removing the ants' scent trails, and an experiment showed that ant foragers were perturbed by the removal of their scent trails. This leads us to use the term "erasure hypothesis." Thus, this nesting association persists thanks to a relative tolerance by the ants towards wasp presence and the behavior of the wasps that allows them to "contain" their associated ants through the elimination of their scent trails, direct attacks, "wing-buzzing" behavior and ejecting the ants.
尽管新热带地区占主导地位的树栖蚂蚁 Azteca chartifex Forel 对任何入侵者都非常具有攻击性，但它庞大的殖民地却容忍凶猛的 Polybia rejecta (F.) 马蜂的近距离存在。在法属圭亚那，记录的 48 个 P. rejecta 巢中有 83.33% 与 A. chartifex 巢并排。这种筑巢关联导致了相互的保护，使双方免受捕食者的侵害（即马蜂受到蚂蚁的保护；蚂蚁受到鸟类的保护）。我们进行了实地研究、基于实验室的行为实验和化学分析，以阐明允许这种关联持续存在的机制。由于两种物种的表皮轮廓不同，我们排除了化学拟态的可能性。此外，对纸箱巢穴的分析没有发现信封上有任何标记的痕迹。由于蚂蚁觅食者的流动没有受到来自黄蜂的 Dufour's 和毒液腺提取物的干扰，我们拒绝了任何假设的排斥性化学物质的作用。尽管如此，我们注意到黄蜂用它们的下颚“刮擦”它们巢信封的上半部分，可能会清除蚂蚁的气味痕迹，而且一个实验表明，蚂蚁觅食者会因为它们的气味痕迹被清除而感到不安。这使我们使用了“擦除假说”一词。因此，这种筑巢关联得以持续，这要归功于蚂蚁对黄蜂存在的相对容忍，以及黄蜂通过消除蚂蚁的气味痕迹、直接攻击、“振翅”行为和喷出蚂蚁来“控制”它们相关蚂蚁的行为。
