Embodied latch mechanism of the mandible to power at ultra-high speed in the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus kuroiwae.

Rapid movements of limbs and appendages, faster than those produced by simple muscle contraction alone, are generated through mechanical networks consisting of springs and latches. The latch plays a central role in these spring-loaded mechanisms, but the structural details of the latch are not always known. The mandibles of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus kuroiwae closes the mandible extremely quickly to capture prey or to perform mandible-powered defensive jumps to avoid potential threats. The jump is mediated by a mechanical spring and latch system embodied in the mandible. An ant can strike the tip of the mandible onto the surface of an obstacle (prey, predator or ground) in order to bounce its body away from potential threats. The angular velocity of the closing mandible was 2.3×104 rad s-1 (1.3×106 deg s-1). Latching of the joint is a key mechanism to aid the storage of energy required to power the ballistic movements of the mandibles. We have identified the fine structure of two latch systems on the mandible forming a 'ball joint' using an X-ray micro-computational tomography system (X-ray micro-CT) and X-ray live imaging with a synchrotron. Here, we describe the surface of the inner section of the socket and a projection on the lip of the ball. The X-ray live imaging and movements of the 3D model show that the ball with a detent ridge slipped into a socket and over the socket ridge before snapping back at the groove edge. Our results give insight into the complex spring-latch systems that underpin ultra-fast movements in biological systems.

Long-term dynamics of the network structures in seed dispersal associated with fluctuations in bird migration and fruit abundance patterns.

In temperate zones, seed-dispersal networks by migratory birds are formed on long time scale. In mid-October from 2005 to 2016, to explore the dynamics of the network structures, we examined interannual variability of fruit abundance, bird migration, and seed-dispersal networks in central Japan. For 12 years, the fruit abundance exhibited a remarkable fluctuation across years, with the number of fruiting plants and matured fruits fluctuating repeatedly every other year, leading to the periodic fluctuations. The abundance of migratory birds was also fluctuated. According to the abundance of fruits and migratory birds, the 12 years was classified into three types: frugivores and fruits were abundant, frugivores were abundant but fruits were scarce, and frugivores were scarce. The seed-dispersal networks were investigated by collecting faeces and vomits of migrants. Of the 6652 samples collected from 15 bird species, 1671 (25.1%) included seeds from 60 plant species. Main dispersers were composed of Turdus pallidus, T. obscurus, and Zosterops japonicus. The network structures were almost nested for 12 years. Specifically, the nested structure was developed in years when fruit abundance was low. GLM analyses showed the abundance of migrants, particularly T. pallidus and T. obscurus, had strong positive effects on nested structure. It may be caused by the fact the two Turdus species were more frequently functioning as generalist dispersers when fruit abundance was lower. Our study suggested fruit abundance and foraging behaviour of frugivores determine the network structures of seed dispersal on long time scale.

Relative importance of ballistic and ant dispersal in two diplochorous Viola species (Violaceae).

Viola is one of the diplochorous plant genera that disperse their seeds in two ways, ballistic and ant dispersal. We compared the seed dispersal of two major Viola species of northern Japan, V. selkirkii and V. verecunda. The mean weight of seed was less in V. verecunda (0.42 ± SD 0.03 mg) than in V. selkirkii (0.61 ± 0.12 mg). The elaiosome of V. selkirkii (0.02 ± 0.004 mg) was larger than in of V. verecunda (0.006 ± 0.0004 mg), whereas the lipid component of elaiosome was not remarkably different between the two species. In ballistic dispersal, the mean dispersal distance was 56.0 ± 17.5 cm in V. verecunda but only 38.3 ± 5.1 cm in V. selkirkii. In ant dispersal, the mean dispersal distance was 28.1 ± 24.9 cm in V. selkirkii and 36.1 ± 33.7 cm in V. verecunda; however, the seed removal frequency of V. selkirkii (15.5%) was much higher than that of V. verecunda (3.0%). These results suggest that V. selkirkii is more dependent on ant dispersal while V. verecunda is more dependent on ballistic dispersal. The effect of seed predation was very serious in both species. In the quadrat census, 99.0% of V. selkirkii seeds and 99.1% of V. verecunda seeds were damaged by ground beetles, spiders, ticks, and others which frequently devoured diaspores. An experiment with V. verecunda seeds demonstrated that the overdispersion of seeds on the forest floor enhanced the frequency of removal by ants and reduced seed damage by predators.

Effects of ants, ground beetles and the seed-fall patterns on myrmecochory of Erythronium japonicum Decne. (Liliaceae).

Erythronium japonicum (Liliaceae) inhabits deciduous mesic forests of Hokkaido, northern Japan. Myrmecochory of this species was investigated, especially the dispersal frequency, the effect of seed predators and the seed fall pattern. In the quadrat census using marked seeds of E. japonicum, the ant Myrmica kotokui frequently transported the seeds. However, the frequency of seed removal was low and most seeds were dispersed as little as 1 m or less. The spatial distribution of E. japonicum individuals was nearly random and most seedlings were established 5-20 cm away from the fertile plants, indicating that even this small scale of seed dispersal contributes to avoiding crowding of seedlings. Some arthropods, e.g. springtails, spiders and ticks, hindered seed dispersal by devouring elaiosomes and seeds. Although ground beetle species also damaged seeds and elaiosomes, a few of them exhibited seed removal behaviour. E. japonicum dropped their seeds not all at once but bit by bit, taking 3-6 days to drop all seeds. This seed-fall pattern was effective in raising the frequency of seed removal by ants and reducing seed predation by some arthropods.

Clonal reproduction and genetic caste differences in a queen-polymorphic ant, Vollenhovia emeryi.

Most social Hymenoptera are characterized by simple haploid sex determination and environment-based caste differentiation. This appears to be strikingly different in the queen-polymorphic ant Vollenhovia emeryi. Almost all long- and short-winged queens from a population in Central Japan were homozygous at three microsatellite loci, whereas workers were mostly heterozygous, suggesting either a complex system of genetic caste determination or, more likely, the production of female sexuals from unfertilized eggs by thelytokous parthenogenesis and of workers from fertilized eggs. Furthermore, male genotypes were not compatible with those of the queens and had exclusively the paternal allele found in the sterile, heterozygous workers, probably because males are produced from fertilized eggs after the exclusion of maternal nuclear DNA as recently reported for Wasmannia auropunctata. The genus Vollenhovia might provide an interesting model system to trace the evolution of unusual caste and sex determination systems.