First Karyotype Description for Acanthognathus rudis Brown & Kempf, 1969 (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) with Notes on Its Natural History

Abstract

The trap-jaw ant Acanthognathus Mayr (Myrmicinae: Dacetina) has been subject of various studies since 1969, but there has been no progress in its cytogenetics. This study describes provides the first karyotype description of a representative of the genus, A. rudis, including chromosomal number, morphology, and the distribution of repetitive sequences. A colony collected in Southeastern Brazil exhibited a diploid number of 2n = 14 (12 metacentrics + 2 submetacentrics), the lowest number among the Daceton genus-group and the first Neotropical representative of this group to be karyologically studied. The rDNA clusters were located in the pericentromeric region of a single chromosome pair, (GA)n blocks were present only in the terminal regions of both chromosome arms in the euchromatic regions, and (TTAGG)n hybridized with the telomeres of all chromosomes, without interstitial telomeric sites. The repetitive sequence patterns align with those observed in other Neotropical Formicidae. Additionally, we documented new behavioral aspects of mandible use in A. rudis workers and provided the first images of its immature stages. These findings emphasize the need for further research on Acanthognathus and the other Daceton genus-group.

Keywords

• Trap-jaw ants
• immature stage
• chromosome
• Daceton genus-group
• behavior