Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T06:46:42.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FOOD AND DIGESTIVE ENZYMES IN FIVE SPECIES OF ANTS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

G. L. Ayre
Affiliation:
Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario

Abstract

Results of the analyses for digestive enzymes in the glands and midguts of five species of ants showed that invertase is usually secreted by the maxillary glands, amylase by the salivary glands, and protease and lipase by the midgut. Lipase was found in the post-pharyngeal glands but observations indicate that it is not associated with the digestion of ingested food. Differences in the activity of the enzymes in different species tended to reflect the feeding habits of the ants.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ayre, G. L. 1959. Food habits of Formica subniten Creighton (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) at Westbank, British Columbia. Insectes Sociax 5: 105114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayre, G. L. 1963. Feeding behaviour and digestion in Camponotus herculeanus (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ent. exp. & appl. 6: 165170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creighton, W. S. 1950. The ants of North America. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. 104.Google Scholar
Foster, J. W. 1949. Chemical activities of fungi. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Graf, I. 1964. Untersuchungen zur Verdauungsphysiologie von Formica polyctena Foerst (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Experientia 20: 330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
House, H. L. 1965. Digestion. In The physiology of insecta. Rockstein, M. (Editor). Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lamb, K. P. 1958. Composition of the honeydew of the aphid Brevicornyne brassicae (L.) feeding on swedes (Brassica napobrassica DC.). J. Insect Physiol. 3: 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, C. J. 1964. The biology of carpenter ants in New Brunswick. Can. Ent. 96: 894909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar