Camponotus Schmitzi – Wikipedia

Camponotus Schmitzi is a species of antimed carpenter ants of the island of Borneo, living in symbiosis with the carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata , whose hollow stems she lives ^{[ first ] , [ 2 ]} .

Camponotus Schmitzi closely resembles Under ceylonicus , but is slightly larger. This species has a head once and a half longer than wide. The mandibles have five teeth each (except those of the secondary workers, who carry four). The eyes are largely separated, located laterally, slightly behind the anterior bombing of the head. The antennas are short, and their scape measures 1 mm long. THE cord are longer than wide in their proximal part and become shorter and wider at their ends. The body is smooth and shiny. The abdomen of the insect is small. The legs are relatively large, especially the femurs, and very compressed laterally. Points are present near the distal end of the femurs and absent from the tibias. Tarses are longer than Tibias ^{[ first ]} .

C. schmitzi Presents a polymorphism, comprising three physical castes: small, medium and giant workers (soldiers). The queen has an average length of 8 mm and wings of 7 mm long. Average and giant workers both measure 6.5 mm long ; and the small, from 4 to 5 mm . Their color varies from brownish yellow to reddish orange. The head and the abdomen are darker than the rest of the body ^{[ first ]} .

The larvae of Camponotus are typical: they have a cylindrical shape, and the head and the rostrum form a right angle with the body ^{[ first ]} .

Camponotus Schmitzi live in hollow plant spin Nepenthes bicalcarata , endemic plant of the island of Borneo; She only associates herself ^{[ 2 ]} .

Camponotus Schmitzi ranks in the sub-genre Colobopsis of the kind Camponotus From the Camponotini tribe, in the Formicinae subfamily of the Famme des Ants (Formicidae). This species was collected for the first time by the botanist Jan Pieter Schuitemaker and described by the myrmecologist August Stärcke in 1933 under the name of Camponotus Schmitzi ^{[ 3 ]} .

Mutualism with a myrmecotrophic plant [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Intermediary URN OF Nepenthes bicalcarata with a swollen twist, colonized by Camponotus Schmitzi . Brown scar fabric? brown results from a lesion, not the drilling drilling? ants.

Nesting ants in hollow spin Nepenthes bicalcarata ^{[ 4 ] , [ 5 ] , [ 6 ]} . This unique interaction between a plant and an animal is described by Frederick William Burbidge (in) From 1880 ^{[ 7 ]} . In 1904, Odoardo Beccari believed that ants feeded in insects found on the plant and around it, but that it can also make it prey ^{[ 8 ]} . In 1990, B. Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson were of the opinion that N. bicalcarata And C. schmitzi form an association which they both benefit ^{[ 9 ]} . However, there was no experimental data to corroborate this hypothesis. A series of observations and experiences carried out in Brénéi by Charles Clarke (in) EN 1992 EN EN 1998 ^{[ ten ] , [ 11 ] , [ twelfth ]} and by Clarke and Kitching in 1993 and 1995 ^{[ 13 ] , [ 14 ]} strengthen the theory of mutualism.

Camponotus Schmitzi in the urn of a bicalcarata nepenthes

Ants receive a carbohydrate and protein intake of nectar and prey of the plant ^{[ 15 ]} . They descend into the liquid of the ballot boxes and recover the arthropods captured by the plant. They seem to ignore the small insects and only attack large prey. It may take them until twelve hours to transport food over a distance of at most five centimeters from the bottom of the urn to the peristome ^{[ 16 ]} . It thus prevents organic matter to accumulate in the ballot boxes N. bicalcarata Until reaching a degree of putrefaction capable of bringing the death of the Endofauna of the urn (in) (which also seems to benefit the plant) and sometimes that of the urn itself ^{[ 16 ]} .

Ants seem to prefer the upper ballot boxes and rarely colonize the lower ballot boxes ^{[ 17 ]} . The reason is probably that low ballot boxes are periodically overwhelmed by water during heavy rain. The flooding of ants of ants could cause the death of developing eggs, larvae and fees ^{[ 18 ]} .

C. schmitzi nest only in the tendrils of N. bicalcarata And rarely ventures on other plants. The species counts completely on N. bicalcarata For his food and home ^{[ 16 ]} . However, N. bicalcarata Can survive and reproduce without the presence of ants: it is therefore an optional mutualism. However, it seems that very few adult plants over two meters in height are not colonized by C. schmitzi ^{[ 16 ]} .

In addition to that of Clarke and Kitching (1995), three other theories have been the subject of research to explain the symbiotic association of this ant and this plant. Through exclusion experience, researchers have shown that plants without C. schmitzi are more damaged than the others by herbivores and the ants seem to tackle in particular genre Alcidodes sp. (in) , which feeds on the nepenthes ^{[ 19 ] , [ 20 ]} . In addition, researchers have collected data that shows an aggressiveness of C. schmitzi Towards the prey that try to escape the ballot boxes, which increases the rate of capture of the prey ^{[ 21 ]} . C. schmitzi Also seems to clean its host: ants remove the debris and mold from the peristome, which remains smooth and slippery and whose lifespan is thus longer ^{[ 22 ]} . In addition, in a study published in May 2012 ^{[ 23 ]} , researchers from the AMAP laboratory indicate that plants colonized by the ant have a total surface of leaves and a leaf nitrogen content three times greater than the others and that the contribution of this ant to the nitrogen contribution of the attached plant up to 76% ^{[ 24 ]} .