Melissotarsus ants are likely able to digest plant polysaccharides.
Melissotarsus ants have an extremely specialized set of behaviours. Both workers and gynes tunnel galleries in their host tree bark. Workers walk with their mesothoracic legs pointing upwards and tend Diaspididae hemiptera for their flesh. The ants use their forelegs to plug the galleries with silk that they secrete themselves. We hypothesised that the ants' energetic needs for nearly constant gallery digging could be satisfied through the absorption of host tree tissues; so, using basic techniques, we examined the digestive capacities of workers from two species. We show that workers are able to degrade oligosaccharides and heterosides as well as, to a lesser degree, polysaccharides. This is one of the rare reports on ants able to digest plant polysaccharides other than starch.
Département de biologie et physiologie animales, université de Yaoundé, BP 812 Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Ruth
R
Mony
Alain
A
Dejean
Charles Félix Bilong
CF
Bilong
Martin
M
Kenne
Corinne
C
Rouland-Lefèvre
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000378:metabolism*; D004063:Digestion; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D024301:Plant Bark; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014197:Trees
D009844:Oligosaccharides; D011134:Polysaccharides
Activité enzymatique; Ant–plant interactions; Degradation of plant material; Dégradation de matériel végétal; Enzymatic activity; Interactions plantes–fourmis; Melissotarsus; Melissotarsus ants