Atta mexicana is a polyphagous insect that can exploit a wide range of plant species to cultivate its main food source, the symbiotic fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus. In the present study, we evaluated the foraging rate of A. mexicana workers among leaves of three favored and three rejected plant species under laboratory conditions. In addition, we conducted a phytochemical characterization of leaves of these six plant species. Ants preferred leaf discs of Rosa × alba, Trema micrantha and Styrax glabrescens, but rejected those of Coffea arabica, Citrus reticulata and Psidium guajava. In a second behavioral experiment using plant extracts, the results suggest that in the case of C. reticulata, rejection was not due chemical composition, but may have been due to different foliar attributes that could modulate the ant’s foraging preferences in this species. Alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, and tannins were present at different concentrations in all six plant species. Furthermore, C. arabica leaves presented significantly higher concentrations of alkaloids and this species, together with P. guajava, exhibited the highest concentration of phenols. Rejected plant species showed high concentrations of chlorogenic acid, (−)-epicatechin, quercetin-3, 4-di-O-glucoside (in C. arabica); shikimic acid, ellagic acid and (−)-epicatechin (in P. guajava), and scopoletin (in C. reticulata). Some of the identified compounds have been shown to possess antifungal effects and/or to dissuade leaf-cutter ants from defoliation. We discuss the likely implications on foraging on such plant species by A. mexicana, and on the growth of its symbiotic fungus.

中文翻译：

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叶片的植物化学特性决定切叶蚁Atta mexicana（Smith）（膜翅目：mic科）的觅食率

Atta mexicana是一种多食性昆虫，可以利用多种植物来培育其主要食物来源，即共生真菌Leucoagaricus gongylophorus。在本研究中，我们评估了在实验室条件下，三种偏爱的植物和三种拒绝的植物的叶子中墨西哥曲霉的觅食率。此外，我们对这六种植物的叶片进行了植物化学表征。蚂蚁偏爱Rosa  ×  alba，Trema micrantha和Styrax glabrescens的叶盘，但拒绝了Coffea arabica，Citrus reticulata和Psidium guajava的叶盘。。在使用植物提取物的第二项行为实验中，结果表明，在网纹梭菌的情况下，拒绝不是由于化学成分，而是可能是由于不同的叶面属性可能会调节该物种的蚂蚁觅食偏好。在所有六个植物物种中，生物碱，酚，类黄酮和单宁含量不同。此外，阿拉比卡C.阿拉比卡叶呈现出明显更高的生物碱浓度，并且该物种与番石榴P. java一起表现出最高的酚浓度。被拒绝的植物物种显示高浓度的绿原酸，（-）-表儿茶素，槲皮素-3、4-二-O-葡萄糖苷（在阿拉伯咖啡中））; iki草酸，鞣花酸和（-）-表儿茶素（在P. guajava中），和scopoletin（在C. reticulata中）。已显示某些已鉴定的化合物具有抗真菌作用和/或阻止切叶蚁脱落。我们讨论了墨西哥农杆菌对这类植物觅食及其共生真菌生长的可能影响。