Cytogenetic data for sixteen ant species from North-eastern Amazonia with phylogenetic insights into three subfamilies

By

Aguiar, Hiton Jeferson Alves Cardoso de.
Barros, Luísa Antônia Campos
Inês Silveira, Linda
Petitclerc, Frédéric
Etienne, Sandrine
Orivel, Jerome

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

Comparative cytogenetics : international journal of plant & animal cytogenetics, karyosystematics and molecular systematics

Volume

14

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

43--60

Subjects

Biodiversity , Formicidae , karyotype , Neotropical ants

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

St. Petersburg, Russia [Published] with technical support of Zoological Institute RAS [2007]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/CompCytogen.v14i1.46692

 

Abstract

Ants play essential roles in most terrestrial ecosystems and may be considered pests for agriculture and agroforestry. Recent morphological and molecular data have challenged conventional ant phylogeny and the interpretation of karyotypic variations. Existing Neotropical ant cytogenetic data focus on Atlantic rainforest species, and provide evolutionary and taxonomic insight. However, there are data for only 18 Amazonian species. In this study, we describe the karyotypes of 16 ant species belonging to 12 genera and three subfamilies, collected in the Brazilian state of Amapá, and in French Guiana. The karyotypes of six species are described for the first time, including that of the South American genusAllomerusMayr, 1878. The karyotype ofCrematogasterLund, 1831 is also described for the first time for the New World. For other species, extant data for geographically distinct populations was compared with our own data, e.g. for the leafcutter antsAcromyrmex balzani(Emery, 1890) andAtta sexdens(Linnaeus, 1758). The information obtained for the karyotype ofDolichoderus imitatorEmery, 1894 differs from extant data from the Atlantic forest, thereby highlighting the importance of population cytogenetic approaches. This study also emphasizes the need for good chromosome preparations for studying karyotype structure.