REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA ISSN 1519-5228 Volume 24 - Número 2 - 2º Semestre 2024

1. REVISTA DE BIOLOGIA E CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA ISSN 1519-5228
Volume 24 - Número 2 - 2º Semestre 2024
REGISTRO DE PREDAÇÃO DE OVOS DE Corydalus Latreille, 1802 (MEGALOPTERA)
POR Crematogaster Lund, 1831 (HYMENOPTERA)
Taiguara Pereira de Gouvêa¹; Marcos Magalhães de Souza¹; Gabriel de Castro Jacques²
RESUMO
Há poucas informações sobre predadores de Megaloptera nos biomas brasileiros, não havendo relatos
de formigas como inimigas naturais. Portanto, este estudo tem como objetivo relatar a predação de
ovos de Corydalus sp. (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) por Crematogaster sp. (Hymenoptera:
Formicidae) em área de Cerrado no Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas, região norte de Minas
Gerais, Brasil. O registro ocorreu no dia 30 de janeiro de 2023 na área de ambiente lótico, Cachoeira
do Mato Grande. Uma postura de Corydalus sp. com aproximadamente 1570 ovos intactos, dispostos
em três camadas, envoltas por uma capa protetora, foi registrado servindo de alimento para cerca de
18 indivíduos de Crematogaster sp. presente na folha de um espécime arbóreo. O fato de
Crematogaster spp. possuir hábitos arbóreos talvez otimize a frequência de encontros com ovos de
Megaloptera, comumente alocados em plantas, o que sugere que essa relação seja possivelmente
comum. Porém, mais estudos são necessários para melhor compreender a relação entre este gênero
de Megaloptera e Crematogaster spp.
Palavras-chave: Insetos aquáticos, Insetos sociais, Oofagia, Relação interespecífica.
RECORD OF PREDATION OF Corydalus Latreille, 1802 (MEGALOPTERA) EGGS BY
Crematogaster Lund, 1831 (HYMENOPTERA)
ABSTRACT
There is little information on Megaloptera predators in Brazil’s biomes, with no reports on ants as a
natural enemy, therefore, this study aims to report the predation of Corydalus sp eggs. (Megaloptera:
Corydalidae) by Crematogaster sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a cerrado area in the Grande Sertão
Veredas National Park, in the northern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The registration was carried
out on January 30, 2023 in the lotic environment area, Mato Grande Waterfall. A laying of Corydalus
sp. with approximately 1,570 intact eggs, arranged in three layers wrapped by a protective cover, was
recorded serving as food for about 18 individuals of Crematogaster sp. present in an arboreal
specimen’s leaf. The fact that Crematogaster spp. have arboreal habits perhaps optimizes the
frequency of encounters with Megaloptera eggs, commonly allocated in plants, which suggests that
this relationship is possibly common; however, more studies are needed to better understand the
relationship between this genus of Dobsonfly and Crematogaster spp.
Keywords: Aquatic insects, Interspecific relationship, Social insects, Oophagy.
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2. INTRODUCTION
Predation constitutes a mechanism of
intense selective pressure in the evolutionary
process of species (BRODIE Jr et al., 1991), and
its understanding has different applications, both
economic, such as biological pest control
programs (PREZOTO et al., 2019), and
ecological, such as the maintenance and
management of ecosystems (McCAULEY et al.,
2012).
Studies aimed at understanding trophic
relationships in insects focus mainly on species
of economically important Orders, such as
Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera,
Hemiptera, Neuroptera and Diptera (ZARBIN et
al., 2009; BARROS et al., 2022). On the other
hand, there are those with less available
information such as Megaloptera, which
includes, until the present study, approximately
400 species known worldwide, distributed in two
families, Sialidae and Corydalidae
(CONTRERAS-RAMOS, 2007, 2011;
HAMADA; AZEVÊDO, 2012; MARTINS et al.,
2022). The latter family allocates the genus
Corydalus Latreille, 1802, with 38 species
occurring in the New World, 37 in the
Neotropical region and 14 in Brazil (NETO;
PASSOS, 2018; MARTINS et al., 2022).
In South America there is a report of eggs
of Corydalus sp. parasitized by Pseudogaurax
idiogenes Wheeler (Diptera: Chloropidae) in the
state of São Paulo, Brazil (MELO; WHEELER,
2009), however, there is no information about
ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) acting as
predators of eggs of the Order Megaloptera,
justifying the relevance of report studies of this
nature.
Different species of ants of the genera
Brachymyrmex Mayr, 1868; Camponotus Mayr,
1861; Pheidole Westwood, 1839; Solenopsis
Westwood, 1840 and Crematogaster Lund,
1831, have been observed preying on spawning
of other insects (GRAVENA; PAZETTO, 1987).
According to Bueno et al. (2017), this last genus
has opportunistic and generalist habits, is
distributed worldwide (BLÜTHGEN, 2021) and
species from the tropics may have numerous
colonies with tree nests (BLAIMER, 2021), in
addition to temporary parasitic ethology
(RABELING, 2021).
Therefore, the present study aims to
report the predation of Corydalus sp. eggs.
(Megaloptera: Corydalidae) by Crematogaster
sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a cerrado area
in the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, in
the northern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The record was made at random on
January 30, 2023 in a gallery forest,
phytophysiognomy of the cerrado, in the Mato
Grande Waterfall (15°19'09.1"S, 45°59'10.2"W)
(MMA, 2003). At the site of the record, the river
has a bedrock and approximately 11m between
its banks (Figure 1).

3. Figure 1. Area of gallery forest (cerrado) of the Mato Grande waterfall, Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, north of
the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where the record of Megaloptera eggs predation by ants occurred.
According to the Köppen classification,
the region has a tropical climate (Aw type), with
drought happening in winters (Martins et al.
2018); its average annual temperature is
approximately 23ºC; its rainfall rate is about
1,400 mm per year, with the greatest
concentration period in the summer, between
November and March (MMA, 2003).
The ants and the leaf containing the
Megaloptera eggs were collected and stored in
80% alcohol (HAMADA; AZEVÊDO, 2012;
MELO et al., 2012). Subsequently, they were
sent to the Zoology Laboratory of the
IFSULDEMINAS Inconfidentes campus, MG.
The ants were sent to Dr. Mônica
Antunes Ulysséa (Museum of Zoology of the
University of São Paulo - MZUSP), who
performed the identification at the Genus level.
Megaloptera eggs were manually counted and
identified based on morphological aspects as
proposed by AZEVÊDO; HAMADA (2014) and
ARDILA-CAMACHO; CONTRERAS-
RAMOS (2018). A space of intact eggs
proportional to the injury’s size was separated to
create an estimate of how many eggs were preyed
upon.
All biological material is located next to
the Biological Collection of Social Wasps
(CBVS) of the Zoology Laboratory of the
IFSULDEMINAS Inconfidentes campus, MG,
and this study was conducted under license No.
83294-1.
RESULTS
One spawning of Corydalus sp.
(Megaloptera: Corydalidae) with approximately
1,570 intact, cylindrical eggs, measuring about 1
mm long and 0.5 mm wide each, organized in
three layers wrapped by a protective cover, was
recorded serving as food for about 18
Crematogaster sp. individuals (Hymenoptera:
Formicidae) present on the adaxial face of an
arboreal specimen’s leaf (Figure 2) that was
about 1.60m above the water mirror and 2.00m
from the right bank of the river, in mid-summer,
at the Mato Grande Waterfall.

4. Figure 2. Corydalus sp. (Corydalidae) egg mass being preyed upon by Crematogaster sp. (Formicidae) in Cerrado areas
inserted in the Grande Sertão Veredas National Park, North of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
DISCUSSION
Although the Corydalus spp. females are
able to secrete by the accessory glands, present in
the abdomen, a liquid that is spread over the
spawning, and that creates a hard coating on
these masses when drying, which prevent the
desiccation of the eggs and inhibit the action of
ophages, such as ladybugs and most potential
predators (MANGAN, 1992), the Crematogaster
sp. ants gained access to the eggs through a hole
in the protective cover, however, it is not known
if they made the hole, or took advantage of its
pre-existence, due to some other factor, such as
the beginning of the eggs’ hatching. It is
important to highlight that the ants did not
plunder the spawning, but fed on the spot (Figure
3).

5. Figure 3. (a) Dorsal region of the Megaloptera egg laying collected; (b) Approximate width of an egg; (c) Approximate
length of an egg; (d) Lateral view of the affected region and simultaneously of the intact region and (e) View of three
individuals of Crematogaster sp. within the Corydalus sp. egg laying.
Considering that the proportion of the
injury had three layers, the site could allocate
about 480 eggs (approx. 160 per layer), so this
value represents approximately 23% of what
could be the total of this spawning (approx. 2050
eggs). Brown and Fitzpatrick (1978) reported a
low frequency of Corydalus sp. egg masses
attacked by predators/parasitoids, showing an
important role of the coating, however, the
authors did not mention what possibly caused the
injury in these spawnings.
For YU et al., (2022) in addition to the
physical barrier, there are chemical substances in
the protective layer that assist in the protection of
eggs, possibly with specific genus or species
characteristics, but his study does not address
Corydalus species. Therefore, the use of such
chemical substances in the formation of its
spawning and the fact that Crematogaster spp.
have specific strategies to exercise this behavior
remain unknown.
The considerable supply of nutrients
present in the eggs is probably continuous
throughout the seasons, because, according to
ARDILA-CAMACHO; CONTRERAS-
RAMOS (2018) there are representatives of the
Order that are possibly multivoltine, which may
indicate spawning in different seasons of the
year. Overall, the lower risk of mortality in the
act of feeding perhaps results in benefits to the
predator. Thus, the importance of the
Megaloptera Order in aquatic and adjacent
ecosystems becomes clear.
CONCLUSIONS
Given the above, the present study
expands the knowledge about predators of the

6. Megaloptera Order in the Neotropical region.
The fact that Crematogaster spp. have arboreal
habits may optimize the frequency of their
encounters with Megaloptera eggs allocated in
vegetables, which suggests that this relationship
is possibly common, however, further research is
needed to better understand the relationship
between this genus of Dobsonfly and
Crematogaster spp.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the IFMG Bambuí campus and the
IFSuldeminas Inconfidentes campus for the aid
in transportation and incentive to the research;
the IFMG Bambuí campus for the help in the
article’s translation; the trainees for the help in
the field; the manager and employees of the
Grande Sertão Veredas National Park for the
support in the accommodation and for the
instructions to access the collection points; the
Dr. Mônica Antunes Ulysséa (Museum of
Zoology of the University of São Paulo -
MZUSP) for the identification of the ants; and
the ICMBio for granting the license.
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______________________________________
1- Zoology Laboratory of the Instituto Federal de
Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas
Gerais, Inconfidentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
2- Biology Laboratory of the Instituto Federal de
Educação Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas
Gerais, Bambuí, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Corresponding author:
Gabriel de Castro Jacques
gabriel.jacques@ifmg.edu.br
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