Attaphila

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Attaphila
Attaphila fungicola female.png
Attaphila fungicola female
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Blattodea
Family: Ectobiidae
Subfamily: Blattellinae
Genus: Attaphila
Wheeler, 1900
Attaphila fungicola Attaphila fungicola.jpg
Attaphila fungicola

Attaphila is a genus of cockroaches that live as myrmecophiles in the nests of leaf-cutting ants. [1] They have been suggested to feed on the fungus their host ants farm, [1] [2] [3] or on the cuticular lipids of ant workers. [4] Attaphila are not attacked by host workers because they blend into the colony by mimicking the odour of their hosts ants. [3] Female Attaphila are wingless and males have reduced wings. The cockroaches are phoretic and can disperse to new host colonies by riding on virgin host queens (female alates) departing on their mating flight [2] and by hitchhiking on leaves [5] [6] [7] carried by leaf-cutter ant foragers returning to their nests, or by following leaf-cutter ant pheromone trails [8]

Six species of Attaphila have been described:


References

  1. 1 2 Wheeler, William Morton (November 1900). "A New Myrmecophile from the Mushroom Gardens of the Texan Leaf-Cutting Ant". The American Naturalist. 34 (407): 851–862. doi: 10.1086/277806 . ISSN   0003-0147.
  2. 1 2 Phillips, Z. I.; Zhang, M. M.; Mueller, U. G. (2017-02-11). "Dispersal of Attaphila fungicola, a symbiotic cockroach of leaf-cutter ants". Insectes Sociaux. 64 (2): 277–284. doi:10.1007/s00040-016-0535-6. ISSN   0020-1812. S2CID   253645348.
  3. 1 2 Nehring, Volker; Dani, Francesca R.; Calamai, Luca; Turillazzi, Stefano; Bohn, Horst; Klass, Klaus-Dieter; d’Ettorre, Patrizia (2016-08-05). "Chemical disguise of myrmecophilous cockroaches and its implications for understanding nestmate recognition mechanisms in leaf-cutting ants". BMC Ecology. 16 (1): 35. doi: 10.1186/s12898-016-0089-5 . ISSN   1472-6785. PMC   4974750 . PMID   27495227.
  4. ↑ Waller, D.A.; Moser, John C. (1990). "Invertebrate enemies and nest associates of the leaf-cutting ant Atta texana (Buckley) (Formicudae, Attini)". In: Applied Myrmecology: A World Perspective, P. 256-273.
  5. ↑ Phillips, Z.I.; Reding, L.; Farrior, C.E. (2021). "The early life of a leaf-cutter ant colony constrains symbiont vertical transmission and favors horizontal transmission". Ecology and Evolution. 11 (17): 11718–11729. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7900 . ISSN   2045-7758. PMC   8427574 . PMID   34522335.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Z.I. (2021). "Emigrating together but not establishing together: A cockroach rides ants and leaves". The American Naturalist. 197 (1): 138–145. doi:10.1086/711876. PMID   33417528. S2CID   225007111.
  7. ↑ "Catalogue of Life - 2011 Annual Checklist :: Search all names". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  8. ↑ Moser, J. C. (1964-03-06). "Inquiline Roach Responds to Trail-Marking Substance of Leaf-Cutting Ants". Science. 143 (3610): 1048–1049. Bibcode:1964Sci...143.1048M. doi:10.1126/science.143.3610.1048. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   17733069. S2CID   42538774.
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