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La colonisation d'un Myrmécophyte, le Parasolier, parCrematogaster spp. (Myrmicinae) en Côte-d'Ivoire forestière

Colonization of the African Umbrella tree by Crematogaster spp. (Myrmicinae) in the lower ivory Coast

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Résumé

L'étude des modes de colonisation du parasolier africain (Musanga cecropioïdes) par des fourmis arboricoles du genreCrematogaster en basse Côte-d'Ivoire forestière met en évidence l'influence prépondérante de l'âge des arbres, d'autant plus colonisés qu'ils sont plus vieux.

Le comportement constructeur des fourmis est limité à la construction d'étables pour les cochenilles dont le nombre détermine l'abondance des fourmis sur l'organe infesté, et au creusement de galeries abritant les calies dans l'importante moelle des troncs, branches et pétioles foliaires de l'arbre.

Un essai d'évaluation de la population totale deCrematogaster sur un Parasolier adulte montre que l'effectif varie entre 125000 et 197000 individus.

Le parasolier semble jouer le rôle d'une niche écologique de remplacement pour ces fourmis habitant les bois morts lors de la destruction de la forêt dense: l'abondance des parasoliers dans le jeune recru forestier et la structure particulière de leur moelle permet auxCrematogaster lignicoles de se maintenir alors que leur habitat normal a disparu.

Summary

A study of the occurrence of arboreal ants of the genusCrematogaster in the African Umbrella Tree (Musanga cecropioides) in the Lower Ivory Coast shows that the rate of colonisation increases with the tree's age.

The only structures which the ants build on, or in, the trees are shelters for mealybugs (whose numbers determine the number of the ants) and gallery nests dug in the extensive pith of the trunk, branches and petioles.

Tentative evaluation of the total population ofCrematogaster on a single Umbrella Tree gave estimates of from 125,000 to 197,000 individuals.

The pith of the Umbrella Tree seems to provide a substitute habitat for ants which, in dense primary forest, inhabit dead wood. The Umbrella Tree is abundant in young secondary forest and the structure of its pith allows lignicolousCrematogaster to maintain themselves where their normal habitat has disappeared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Entomologie agricole, Centre ORSTOM d'Adiopodoumé, B.P. 20, Abidjan, Côte-d'Ivoire

    Dominique Duviard & Piet Segeren

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  1. Dominique Duviard
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  2. Piet Segeren
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Duviard, D., Segeren, P. La colonisation d'un Myrmécophyte, le Parasolier, parCrematogaster spp. (Myrmicinae) en Côte-d'Ivoire forestière. Ins. Soc 21, 191–212 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02222944

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02222944

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