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Abstract
The genus Mycocepurus is a phylogenetically basal attine ant, so studies of its biology may provide insight into the evolution of behaviours associated with fungus‐growing that characterize the tribe Attini. Mycocepurus smithii from Puerto Rico produces sexual females from July to September, but no males were observed in 2 years of observations, confirming previous observations elsewhere. Colonies were founded between July and August and most nests were haplometrotic (85% of 74 nests). After excavating a tunnel and small chamber, a foundress queen inserted her fore wings into the ceiling and used the wing surfaces as a platform on which the incipient fungal garden was grown. Foundresses foraged for substrate to grow the fungus garden. Growth of incipient colonies was slow: the first workers emerged 2–5 months after colony founding and, after 8 months, colonies contained on average only a single worker.
Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks to J. J. Boomsma, C. Duckett, C. Jiggins, U. G. Mueller, D. Roubik, T. Schultz, J. Torres, and an anonymous reviewer for their comments on this manuscript. This work was carried out with the support of an OTS Post‐Course Fellowship to H.F.M., the Luquillo Long‐Term Ecological Research Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (DEB‐ 9705814), by NSF award DEB 9983879 to S.A.R., the University of Puerto Rico, and USDA Forest Service, and STRI general research funds to W.T.W.
Notes
Present address: S. A. Rehner, Insect Biocontrol Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
aIn one nest, one alate female pupated 12 days after collection.
bIn one nest, one alate female had partially cut fore wings.