| Project/Area Number |
14405036
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
生物資源科学
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| Research Institution | Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
ITO Fumitory Kagawa University, Faculty of Agriculture, Professor, 農学部, 助教授 (50260683)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
YAMAUCHI Katsusuke Gifu University, Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (30021322)
YAMAOKA Ryouhei Kyoto Institute of Technology, Professor, 繊維学部, 教授 (00111948)
TSUJI Mizuki Ryukyu University, Faculty of Agriculture, Associate Professor, 農学部, 助教授 (20222135)
OHKAWARA Kyousuke Kanazawa University, Faculty of Science, Assistant Professor, 理学部, 助手 (70283091)
AKINO Toshiharu National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Researcher, 農業生物資源研究所, 研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2004)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥14,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥14,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥4,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥4,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥6,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,100,000)
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| Keywords | ants / exocrine glands / behavioral ecology / defense / 抗菌 / 擬態 |
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| Research Abstract |
Morphology and functions of exocrine glands in Asian tropical and subtropical ants were investigated. Main results were as follow. 1. Morphology of some novel exocrine glands of ants was investigated and described. 2. Food menu of the Japanese treefrog Hyla japonica was investigated and ants were main prey items. Function of defense substances of some ants was examined by using Hyla japonica and other real predators. 3. In Diacamma sp., the occurrence of worker policing toward individuals with developing ovaries was demonstrated Cuticular substances might be possible key stimuli for the policing behavior. 4. In temperate regions, older eusocial Hymenopteran females with annual life cycles tend to dominate younger females, a behavior demonstrated by many Polistes. However, in queenless ponerine ants and primitively eusocial tropical wasps (perennial/tropical), a younger female can be dominant and occasionally takes over from the older, most dominant reproductive female, the alpha. Assessment of individual age based on cuticular substances might be one of the possible mechanisms of these behaviors. Adaptive significance of these patterns in their life history was investigated by using an inclusive fitness model. 5. In tropical forests, ants frequently consume fruit pulps around seeds of vertebrate-dispersed plants. Seed cleaning behavior by omnivorous ants was observed in West Java. Field experiments on seed cleaning by the myrmicinae ant P. plagiaria revealed that the anti-fungal effect was not merely caused by removal of fruit pulps, and that seed cleaning behavior by P. plagiaria inhibited the development of spores and hypha of fungi. We suggest that the workers apply anti-fungal substances to the fruit pulp and seed surface. Such substances might be produced in mandibuler glands.
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