金属污染物会对蚂蚁的形态和生理产生有害影响。我们研究了两个污染区(交通污染和工业污染)和一个非污染区的阳刚玉唇腺疾病的发生。我们进一步分析了金属水平(Al,As,Cd,Co,Cr,Cu,Fe,Hg,Mn,Ni,Pb和Zn)和形态特征(头部宽度,体重,和其他形态特征)的患病和健康工人。我们的结果表明,唇腺疾病只存在于污染地区,这表明污染压力使蚂蚁更容易受到感染。我们的研究表明,与未污染环境中的健康蚂蚁相比,受污染地区的患病蚂蚁体内积累了较高的金属含量,并且干重和残余体重较低,对他们的发展产生负面影响。我们评估了这些元素的重要性,发现Cu对刺槐的健康风险影响最大。我们的研究强调了环境污染对蚂蚁形态和生理的重大影响,并引起了人们对更广泛的生态影响的关注。
Metallic pollutants can have harmful impacts on ant morphology and physiology. We studied the occurrence of labial gland disease in Camponotus japonicus from two polluted areas (traffic pollution and industrial pollution) and one non-polluted area. We further analyzed the metal levels (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) and morphological characteristics (head width, body mass, and other morphological traits) of both diseased and healthy workers. Our results showed that labial gland disease was only present in polluted areas, indicating that pollution stress makes
ants more vulnerable to infections. Our research revealed that diseased
ants in polluted areas accumulate higher levels of metals in their bodies and have lower dry weight and residual body mass compared to healthy
ants in non-polluted environments, negatively impacting their development. We evaluated the importance of these elements and found that Cu has the greatest impact on the health risk of C. japonicus. Our study underscores the significant impact of environmental pollution on ant morphology and physiology and raises concerns about the broader ecological implications.