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1.
Summary. Trail-following behavior of Lasius japonicus was colony-specific in the field, while trail pheromone activity was not. We found that the footprint substance caused colony-specific trail-following behavior only when working in conjunction with the trail pheromone. The footprint substance alone did not lead the workers to follow trails. The substance consisted mainly of hydrocarbons with composition almost identical to that of cuticular hydrocarbons, except for the absence of n-alkanes. Nestmate workers shared footprint hydrocarbon profiles as well as cuticular hydrocarbons, but the profiles differed among colonies. We therefore consider that the footprint hydrocarbon profiles serve as the trail discrimination signal in L. japonicus. 相似文献
2.
Nestmate recognition is a ubiquitous phenomenon in social insects as a means to prevent entry of undesired individuals aiming at exploiting the rich nest resources. The recognition cues in ants were shown in a few cases to be cuticular hydrocarbons, although there are a quite number of correlated associations. In the present study we modified the cuticular profiles of workers Camponotus fellah hydrocarbons with cuticular washes from a closely related, yet undescribed species, Camponotus sp. Although these sympatric species are morphologically indistinguishable, cuticular washes of C. sp. contain 9,13-dimethylpentacosane and 11,15-dimethylheptacosane that are either absent or occur as traces in C. fellah. In addition, C. sp. contains significantly greater amounts of 3-methylpentacosane than C. fellah workers. The cuticle modification was done solventless in a manner that minimized disruption to the cuticular structure of the ant being modified. Judging from the 3 focal compounds, such treatment added between 20 and 30% of the original amounts present in C. sp. to the treated C. fellah workers. This addition changed consistently the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of the treated ant. Dyadic assays between C. fellah and their nestmates treated with C. sp. cuticular rinses revealed a significantly higher level of aggression compared to non-treated nestmates. There was no aggression between nestmates of C. sp. These results demonstrate that in heterospecific interactions between the two Camponotus species there is a correlation between cuticular hydrocarbons and a nestmate recognition response, albeit not as high as the response of C. fellah to of C. sp. workers. This is consistent with the hypothesis that cuticular hydrocarbons may play a role in nestmate recognition. 相似文献
3.
Christine Errard Abraham Hefetz Pierre Jaisson 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,59(3):353-363
To investigate the role of template plasticity in shaping nest-mate recognition processes in ants, we constructed experimental
mixed-species groups of Manica rubida with either Myrmica rubra, Tetramorium bicarinatum or Formica selysi. Selecting Ma. rubida as the focal species, we observed the behaviour within mixed-species groups and the transfer rates of cuticular hydrocarbons
(CHC) onto the focal ants, and we also tested the aggression of the focal species reared either alone or in association with
each of the three different species. We show that Ma. rubida workers were always amicable towards their mixed group members, as towards members of the respective parental colonies, irrespective
of the associated species. They did, however, express different levels of aggression towards single-species groups of the
other species tested, depending on the species with which they were reared. The study suggests that similarity in CHC profiles
in two species leads to a narrow template in mixed groups, while dissimilarity is followed by lower levels of aggression (a
broader template), at least against species with similar CHC compound compositions (i.e. both a broader template in the focal
ants and familiarity with the compound groups of the tested individuals operate together). This refutes the hypothesis that
ants reared in mixed-species groups are systematically more tolerant. It also demonstrates that heterospecific information
is not treated equally during development. We suggest that post-imaginal learning, template reforming and decision making
are more precisely tuned when the two species' chemical complexes are similar. 相似文献
4.
Gabriel P. Hughes Annie E. Spikes Jeffrey D. Holland Matthew D. Ginzel 《Chemoecology》2011,21(2):99-105
Contact pheromones mediate mate recognition and play important roles in mating systems of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera:
Cerambycidae). One common bioassay of contact chemoreception in cerambycids involves presenting a freeze-killed female to
a male in a Petri dish arena. If the male attempts to mate with the female carcass, it confirms that mate recognition signals
are present and intact and behavior is not involved. Cuticular hydrocarbons are then stripped from the female with successive
solvent washes, rendering her unattractive to males and also resulting in a crude extract containing the cuticular hydrocarbons.
To test the bioactivity of the crude extract, the same female is then treated with the extract and presented again to the
male. Males of some species, including Megacyllene robiniae (F?rster), respond less readily to reconstituted females than to those same beetles before they were solvent-extracted. In
the present study, we test the hypothesis that the contact pheromone of M. robiniae, Z9:C25, exists as a layer on the surface of the epicuticle. We used solid phase microextraction (SPME) to sample cuticular hydrocarbons
of female beetles after they were freeze-killed, solvent washed, and treated with crude cuticular extracts. We found that
extracting cuticular hydrocarbons from females and applying the resulting crude extract back onto the solvent-washed cadaver
scrambles the wax layer and decreases the abundance of the contact pheromone presented on the surface of the insect. 相似文献
5.
In most social insect species, individuals recognize and behave aggressively towards non-nestmate conspecifics to maintain
colony integrity. However, introduced populations of the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, exhibit pronounced variation in intraspecific aggression denoting diversity in nestmate recognition behavior, which possibly
shapes their social structure and the varying levels of unicoloniality observed among these populations. One approach to better
understand differential aggression behaviors towards conspecifics and recognition cue perception and response in L. humile is to examine variation in nestmate discrimination capability among genetically distinct colonies under different social
contexts. Consequently, we investigated the dynamics of queen and worker recognition in southeastern US L. humile queenless and queenright colonies by measuring rates of non-nestmate worker and queen adoption and intercolony genetic similarity.
Aggression levels between colony pairs differed and were associated with non-nestmate worker, but not queen adoption. Adoption
of queens and workers was a function of host colony origin, while colony queen number affected adoption of queens, but not
workers, with queens more readily accepted by queenless hosts. Fecundity of adopted non-nestmate queens was comparable to
that of rejected non-nestmate and host colony queens, suggesting that queen fecundity did not affect adoption decisions. Genetic
similarity between colonies ranged from 30 to 77% alleles shared, with more genetically similar colonies showing lower levels
of intraspecific aggression. Non-nestmate queens and workers that were more genetically similar to host colony workers were
more likely to be adopted. We provide the first evidence for the role of L. humile colony queen number on queen discrimination and suggest an effect of resident queens on worker conspecific acceptance thresholds.
Our findings indicate a role for genetically based cues in L. humile nestmate recognition. However, subtle discrimination capability seems to be influenced by the social context, as demonstrated
by more frequent recognition errors in queenless colonies. 相似文献
6.
Summary. An aphidiid wasp, Paralipsis eikoae, was associated with both Lasius niger and L. sakagamii attending the wormwood root aphid Sappaphis piri. An L. sakagamii worker was observed carrying a winged female P. eikoae to its nest with its mandible, but it did not kill the wasp. Once accepted by the ants, the wasp often mounted and rubbed
against the worker ants and sometimes teased them to regurgitate food to itself. No workers in the colony attacked the wasp.
Conspecific foreign workers, however, viciously attacked the wasp when encountered. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses
showed that the accepted wasp had complex cuticular hydrocarbons that were very similar to those of its host ants, whereas
the winged wasps collected outside the ant nest showed only a series of n-alkanes. Additionally, the accepted wasp had a hydrocarbon profile closer to that of its host ants than to the conspecific
foreign ants. We believe the wasp mimics ant cuticular hydrocarbons to integrate into the ant nest, acquiring the hydrocarbons
by mounting and rubbing against the ants. In contrast, the cuticular hydrocarbons of the emerged wasp contained larval and
pupal hydrocarbons of L. sakagamii that were also similar to those of L. niger. Both ant species rejected adult workers of the other species but accepted their larvae and pupae. We suggest that the emerged
P. eikoae mimics the cuticular hydrocarbons of these Lasius larvae and pupae, which allows P. eikoae to be accepted by both L. sakagamii and L. niger.
Received 11 March 1998; accepted 22 July 1998. 相似文献
7.
Summary. Breeding burrows of Parastizopus armaticeps armaticeps, a fossorial desert tenebrionid beetle, are cleptoparasitised by the closely related Eremostibes opacus. Gas chromatographic analyses show a high congruity of the cuticular hydrocarbons of both species. We compare these hydrocarbon
patterns with those of four other Stizopina species and the Scaurini Herpiscius sommeri. In a bioassay, dummies treated with cuticular hydrocarbon extracts of E. opacus and the P. a. bifidus parasite E. bushmanicus were mostly ignored by P. a. armaticeps, whereas dummies with applied extracts of the remaining species were heavily attacked. We show that there is a correlation
between agonistic behaviour of P. a. armaticeps towards the intruder and the chemical similarity of the cuticular hydrocarbons of the two species. Furthermore, we produced
quantitatively modified hydrocarbon patterns of E. barbatus by changing the temperature at which this species was kept. The new 30 °C type was chemically similar to E. opacus, and was frequently ignored by P. a. armaticeps, whereas a reduction of the temperature to 20 °C only had minor effects on the hydrocarbon pattern. Furthermore, we show
that the addition of one single component, heptacosane, to the cuticular hydrocarbon extract of E. opacus alters the host’s reaction. We discuss the role of cuticular hydrocarbons for the recognition of this host-parasite system
and the relevance of quantitative characters in the hydrocarbon pattern for the discrimination of the host. 相似文献
8.
Adrian A. Smith Jocelyn G. Millar Lawrence M. Hanks Andrew V. Suarez 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2012,66(9):1267-1276
Eusociality is characterized by a reproductive division of labor, wherein workers respond to the presence of reproductive individuals by refraining from reproduction themselves and restricting the reproductive efforts of others. Our understanding of how eusociality is maintained therefore depends on characterizing the mechanism by which workers detect the presence of a reproductive. Variations in cuticular hydrocarbons correspond to changes in reproductive ability in ants, and experimental studies are beginning to reveal the function of hydrocarbons as signals. In this study, we compare the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of dominant and reproductive workers and queens of the ant Odontomachus brunneus with profiles of non-reproductive workers. Using split/reunification tests we document the existence of worker policing in both queenless and queenright colonies; supernumerary reproductives were treated aggressively by nestmates. Finally, we induce aggression and replicate queen-like submissive nestmate responses by supplementing the hydrocarbon profile of workers with (Z)-9-nonacosene, a compound that was significantly more abundant on the cuticles of reproductives. In three bioassays, we compare this manipulation to various control manipulations of the hydrocarbon profile and demonstrate that workers gauge the reproductive activity of nestmates through changes in their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. 相似文献
9.
Summary. Neotropical Fungus-growing leaf-cutting ants (tribe Attini) live in
obligatory symbiosis with a fungus, which they grow on fresh leaves harvested by
workers. Colonial recognition is likely based on chemical cues provided by cuticular
hydrocarbons that have been found to be partly influenced by environmental odor
sources. The diet breadth of Acromyrmex
subterraneus subterraneus enabled us to test
the impact of different plant diets on colonial recognition. The intermediary of the
fungus in the ants feeding habit adds a special angle to the question.
From a queenright (QR) mother colony of A. s. subterraneus
we formed several groups of queenless (QL) workers with fungus (approx. 700 ants). The QR
colony and two of the QL-groups were fed with the same diet of fresh bramble leaves. Two other
QL-groups were fed with privet leaves and two with rose flowers. After 4 months, QR workers were
significantly more aggressive towards the QL-group fed with rose flowers or privet
leaves than towards workers of the QL-groups fed with fresh bramble leaves. Rose-fed
QL workers were aggressive towards privet-fed QL workers and vice versa, but never towards
workers of their counterpart group that fed on the same diet. These results suggest
that the absence of the queen or the separation time between groups played a minor
role in shaping nestmate recognition cues as compared to the diet. The behavioral
studies were supplemented by chemical analyses of cuticles, postpharyngeal glands
(PPG) and plant-food extracts revealing profiles variations that were correlated
with the dietary changes. However, although the plant extract contained several
hydrocarbons there was no congruency between the plant profile and the respective
diet-group ants. These results support the hypothesis that the diet influences
indirectly the chemical profiles and consequently the recognition cues in
A. s. subterraneus. 相似文献
10.
Vincent Dietemann Jürgen Liebig Bert Hölldobler Christian Peeters 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2005,58(5):486-496
In social insects, conflicts over male parentage can be resolved by worker policing. However, the evolution of policing behavior is constrained by the ability of individuals to identify reproductive nestmates, or their eggs. We investigated the occurrence of worker policing and its underlying chemical communication in the bulldog ant Myrmecia gulosa. Although workers have functional ovaries and can lay male-destined eggs, they do not reproduce in queenright colonies. To determine if their sterility is a consequence of worker policing, we experimentally induced worker reproduction in the presence of a queen. Some individuals were seized and immobilized by nestmates, and sometimes killed as a consequence. Although the ovarian development of immobilized individuals was variable, their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were intermediate between reproductive and nonreproductive workers, indicating they were in the process of starting to reproduce. Approximately 29% of these incipient reproductive workers were successfully policed. To test for policing on eggs, we transferred viable worker eggs to queenright colonies and monitored their acceptance. Furthermore, we compared the surface hydrocarbons of the different types of eggs to determine whether these chemicals could be involved in egg recognition. We found that although there were differences in hydrocarbon profiles and discrimination between queen and worker-laid eggs, viable eggs were not destroyed. Our results strongly support the idea that cuticular hydrocarbons are involved in the policing of reproductive workers. A low level of worker policing appears sufficient to select for self-restraint in workers when few fitness benefits are gained by selfish reproduction. Policing of eggs may thus be unnecessary. 相似文献
11.
Christine Errard Francisca Ruano Freddie-Jeanne Richard Alain Lenoir Alberto Tinaut Abraham Hefetz 《Chemoecology》2006,16(4):235-240
Summary. Proformica longiseta exists as two populations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain, only one of which is parasitized by the slave-maker ant
Rossomyrmex minuchae. To investigate the possible effect of co-evolutionary pressures on cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles (the presumed nestmate
recognition cues), we performed a comparative analysis of the CHC of R. minuchae and P. longiseta colonies from both the allopatric and sympatric populations; the latter includes samples of enslaved as well as free-living
workers. Discriminant analyses based on these chemical profiles showed two clear profile groups: the first comprised R. minuchae and both enslaved and free-living P. longiseta from the sympatric population; and the second the allopatric P. longiseta workers. As expected, the profiles of the two sympatric P. longiseta groups (enslaved and free-living) were distinct; but, interestingly, those of the enslaved P. longiseta and its parasite R. minuchae were also distinguishable. This indicates that despite their cohabitation each species maintains its own chemical identity.
Profile similarity between the sympatric free-living P. longiseta and its parasite may explain the lower than expected aggression observed during raids. We further speculate that in view
of the differences between the sympatric and allopatric population of P. longiseta, co-evolutionary pressures have driven changes in the profile of the former to better match that of its parasite R. minuchae. Such an adjustment may have enabled nests of the sympatric P. longiseta to endure multiple raids by the parasite (due to the reduced aggression) and thus to continue to reproduce despite the damage
inflicted by the raids. 相似文献
12.
Sandra Steiger Klaus Peschke Josef K. Müller 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2008,62(7):1053-1060
Nestmate recognition in eusocial insects has received a lot of attention in the last decades. Recognition in subsocial species,
in contrast, has been ignored almost completely and consequently, and little is known about proximate mechanisms of recognition
in subsocial systems. We studied one subsocial species, the biparental brood caring burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, an interesting model organism for studies of recognition because of its ability to discriminate between breeding partners
and conspecific competitors. Recognition appears to be based on a chemical cue closely linked to the breeding status of individuals.
Breeding and non-breeding beetles consistently differ in their relative proportions of polyunsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons.
To investigate the function of these polyenes in the burying beetles’ recognition system, we quantified their concentration
on the cuticle during the early state of a breeding attempt and tested the response of breeding beetles in corresponding behavioural
experiments. We observed a rapid increase in the proportion of polyunsaturated hydrocarbons of both males and females after
they were provided with a carcass suitable for reproduction. Furthermore, we found that the relative amount of polyenes on
an individual’s surface was closely correlated with its chance of being accepted as breeding partner. Our results support
the idea that polyunsaturated hydrocarbons are involved in breeding partner recognition in N. vespilloides, functioning as a signal that conveys information about the individual’s breeding status. Breeding females have greater amount
of polyenes than breeding males, and females ingest more carrion during the first days on the carcass, which supports our
hypothesis that precursors for the respective polyenes are derived from ingested carrion. 相似文献
13.
Bo Terning Hansen Lars Erik Johannessen Tore Slagsvold 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2007,61(8):1203-1209
Imprinting plays a key role in the development of species recognition, with young imprinting upon the morphological characters
of their parents. However, the potential role that cultural transmission might play in species recognition remains largely
uninvestigated. Great tits (Parus major) and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) do not normally perceive each other as sexual competitors or potential partners. However, after reciprocal interspecific
cross-fostering, both species may perceive individuals of the foster species as potential rivals or mates. Although the experience
of being raised by heterospecifics clearly has affected the species recognition of cross-fostered birds, some of them breed
naturally with conspecifics. The offspring of such cross-fostered birds (OCF) are hence raised by parents that look like ordinary
conspecifics but display deviant species recognition as compared to controls in terms of aggressive response towards rivals.
Comparing the aggressive behavior of OCF, cross-fostered birds and controls towards territorial intruders may thus help tease
apart the influence of morphological vs behavioral cues of parents in the development of offspring species recognition. To
this end, we compared birds from all three treatments with respect to their aggressive response to territorial intruders of
both species during the breeding season. OCF and controls did not differ in their pattern of response towards heterospecific
and conspecific stimuli. Compared to cross-fostered birds, OCF and controls showed less aggression towards heterospecific
intruders, while the response towards conspecific intruders did not differ between treatments. These results demonstrate that
both tit species imprint on the morphological characters of their parents, but that parental behavior is not important for
the development of species recognition in terms of aggressive response towards territorial intruders. 相似文献
14.
Duccio Lambardi Francesca R. Dani Stefano Turillazzi Jacobus J. Boomsma 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2007,61(6):843-851
Some social parasites of insect societies are known to use brute force when usurping a host colony, but most use more subtle
forms of chemical cheating either by expressing as few recognition cues as possible to avoid being recognized or by producing
similar recognition cues to the host to achieve positive discrimination. The former “chemical insignificance” strategy represents
a more general adaptive syndrome than the latter “chemical mimicry” strategy and is expected to be characteristic of early
evolutionary stages of social parasitism. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally analyzing the efficiency by which Acromyrmex echinatior leaf-cutting ants recognize intruding workers of the incipient social parasite Acromyrmex insinuator. The results were consistent with the parasite being “chemically insignificant” and not with the “chemical mimicry” hypothesis.
Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles showed that social parasite workers produce
significantly fewer hydrocarbons overall and that their typical profiles have very low amounts of hydrocarbons in the “normal”
C29–C35 range but large quantities of unusually heavy C43–C45 hydrocarbons. This suggests that the C29–C35 hydrocarbons are
instrumental in normal host nestmate recognition and that the C43–C45 compounds, all of which are dienes and thus more fluid
than the corresponding saturated compounds, may reinforce “chemical insignificance” by blurring any remaining variation in
recognition cues. 相似文献
15.
Sebastian Pohl Volker Witte Susanne Foitzik 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(11):2029-2036
In social insect societies, division of labor, i.e., workers of a colony specializing in different tasks, is thought to improve
colony performance. Workers of social parasitic slave-making ants focus on a single task, searching for and raiding host colonies
to replenish their slave workforce. However, in the North American slavemaker Protomognathus americanus, some workers do not partake in raids but remain inside the colony. We analyzed raid participation, fertility, and cuticular
hydrocarbon profiles of slavemaker workers and slaves to understand these behavioral differences and the regulation of division
of labor in slavemaker colonies. Raid observations showed that some workers were repeatedly involved in raiding activities
(exterior workers), whereas others stayed inside the nest (interior workers). Exterior workers were always infertile, while
half of the interior workers were fertile. Analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons demonstrated differences between the groups.
We also detected chemical differences between interior and exterior slaves, indicating an influence of the individuals’ tasks
on their cuticular profiles. Task- and fertility-related profiles may allow selective nestmate recruiting. Division of labor
should also adapt to varying conditions. Since slave raids are dangerous, they should only be initiated when the colony needs
additional slaves. Exclusively fed by their slaves, slavemaker workers could determine this need via their nutritional status.
In an experiment with various feeding regimes, colonies subjected to a lower food provisioning rate showed increased proportions
of slavemaker workers searching for host colonies. Division of labor in slave-making ants, therefore, might be flexible and
can change depending on the colonies’ needs. 相似文献
16.
Summary. Individuals in an insect colony need to identify one another according to caste. Nothing is known about the sensory process
allowing nestmates to discriminate minute variations in the cuticular hydrocarbon mixture. The purpose of this study was to
attempt to model caste odors discrimination in four species of Reticulitermes termites for the first time by a non-linear mathematical approach using an "artificial neural network" (ANN). Several rounds
of testing were carried out using 1 – the whole hydrocarbon mixtures 2 – mixtures containing the hydrocarbons selected by
principal component analysis (PCA) as the most implicated in caste discrimination. Discrimination between worker and soldier
castes was tested in all four species. For two species we tested discrimination of four castes (workers, soldiers, nymphs,
neotenics). To test cuticular pattern similarity in two sibling species (R. santonensis and R. flavipes), we performed two experiments using one species for training and the other for query. Using whole hydrocarbons mixtures,
worker/soldier discrimination was always successful in all species. Network performance decreased with the number of hydrocarbons
used as inputs. Four-caste discrimination was less successful. In the experiment with the sibling species, the ANN was able
to distinguish soldiers but not workers. The results of this study suggest that non-linear mathematical analysis is a good
tool for classification of castes based on cuticular hydrocarbon mixture. In addition this study confirms that hydrocarbon
mixtures observed are real chemical entities and constitute a true chemical signature or odor. Whole mixtures are not always
necessary for discrimination.
Received 23 July 1998; accepted 9 October 1998. 相似文献
17.
Sara D. Leonhardt Linda-Maria Jung Thomas Schmitt Nico Blüthgen 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(9):1415-1423
Social insects aggressively defend their nest and surrounding against non-nestmates, which they recognize by an unfamiliar
profile of aliphatic hydrocarbons on the cuticle. Prominent exceptions are communal nest aggregations of stingless bees. Stingless
bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are also unique in possessing cuticular terpenes which are derived from tree resins and have not
yet been reported for any other insect. We showed experimentally that sesquiterpenes from the body surface of the communal
nesting bee Tetragonilla collina reduced aggression in otherwise aggressive bees which did not have sesquiterpenes themselves. In the field, bee species nesting
in aggregations with T. collina often lack sesquiterpenes in their own cuticular profiles. These species show little aggression towards T. collina, whereas it can be heavily attacked by non-aggregated species that also possess cuticular sesquiterpenes. We conclude that
appeasement by sesquiterpenes represents a novel mechanism to achieve interspecific tolerance in social insects. 相似文献
18.
Eldridge S. Adams Lynn Atkinson Mark S. Bulmer 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2007,61(8):1195-1201
Loss of aggression between social groups can have far-reaching effects on the structure of societies and populations. We tested
whether variation in the genetic structure of colonies of the termite Nasutitermes corniger affects the probability of aggression toward non-nestmates and the ability of unrelated colonies to fuse. We determined the
genotypes of workers and soldiers from 120 colonies at seven polymorphic microsatellite loci. Twenty-seven colonies contained
offspring of multiple founding queens or kings, yielding an average within-colony relatedness of 0.33. Genotypes in the remaining
93 colonies were consistent with reproduction by a single queen and king or their progeny, with an average within-colony relatedness
of 0.51. In standardized assays, the probability of aggression between workers and soldiers from different colonies was an
increasing function of within-colony relatedness. The probability of aggression was not affected significantly by the degree
of relatedness between colonies, which was near zero in all cases, or by whether the colonies were neighbors. To test whether
these assays of aggression predict the potential for colony fusion in the field, we transplanted selected nests to new locations.
Workers and soldiers from colonies that were mutually tolerant in laboratory assays joined their nests without fighting, but
workers and soldiers that were mutually aggressive in the assays initiated massive battles. These results suggest that the
presence of multiple unrelated queens or kings promotes recognition errors, which can lead to the formation of more complex
colony structures. 相似文献
19.
Various studies indicate that cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) act as cues for nestmate recognition in paper wasps and other social insects. A recent study showed that associative nest foundation in Polistes dominulus is mainly performed by foundresses coming from the same locality. In the present study, we induced future foundresses of P. dominulus collected in two different localities to hibernate in the laboratory in aggregates of individuals from the same or different localities. After 2 months of hibernation, foundresses from different localities but from the same experimental cluster did not show any preference to associate, at the time of nest foundation, with individuals coming from the same original locality. The cuticular chemical profiles of individuals from the mixed hibernation clusters were quite similar and significantly different from those of individuals which hibernated with other foundresses from the same locality. These findings suggest that, in this species, mechanisms other than nestmate chemical recognition play a major role in the spring association of gynes during the foundation of a new nest.Communicated by R.F.A. Moritz 相似文献
20.
A conflict over male production arises in social insects where workers are able to lay unfertilized male eggs. This happens
because each female (queen or worker) is most closely related to her own sons and is thus predicted to reproduce. The conflict
is modulated by worker policing where workers prevent each other from reproducing by aggression or egg cannibalism. In this
study, we show that in the ant Formica fusca, worker policing occurs by egg cannibalism rather than by overt aggression among workers. Furthermore, we show that, contrary
to bees, wasps and other ant species, egg discrimination in F. fusca is not based only on a universal queen signature chemical and that nest mate recognition of eggs occurs. 相似文献