Set up for Laboratório de Insetos Sociais Praga

[Acromyrmexbob]

Larval isolation and brood care in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants
J. F. S. Lopes, W. O. H. Hughes, R. S. Camargo and L. C. Forti
Received 8 November 2004; revised 31 March 2005; accepted 22 April 2005.
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gatewa ... f&site=398
Location: Laboratório de Insetos Sociais Praga, Departamento de Produção Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista,
Botucatu, SP, cx. postal 237, 18603-970, Brazil, e-mail: camargobotucatu@bol.com.br, lcforti@fca.unesp.br


We collected four colonies each of A. rugosus and A. balzani in Botucatu,
SP, Brasil (22o52’20’’S; 48o26’37’’W), and four colonies of A.
crassispinus in Jaguariaíva, PR, Brasil (24o32’S; 49o57’W).
The colonies were set-up in the laboratory in individual plastic containers with
a 1 cm layer of dampened plaster at their base to keep the humidity
inside the chambers at a high level. Each of these chambers was linked
by tubes to a foraging arena and a garbage chamber. The laboratory was
maintained at 24 ˚C, 70 % relative humidity, and the colonies fed on a
diet of leaves: Acalypha wilkesiana for A. rugosus and A. crassispinus,
or Cynodon dactylon var. tyfton for A. balzani.