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1.
Jay D. Evans 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1996,39(4):275-284
In many polygynous ant species, established colonies adopt new queens secondarily. Conflicts over queen adoption might arise
between queens and workers of established colonies and the newly mated females seeking adoption into nests. Colony members
are predicted to base adoption decisions on their relatednesses to other participants, on competition between queens for colony
resources, and on the effects that adopted queens have on colony survivorship and productivity. To provide a better understanding
of queen-adoption dynamics in a facultatively polygynous ant, colonies of Myrmica tahoensis were observed in the field for 4 consecutive years and analyzed genetically using highly polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers.
The extreme rarity of newly founded colonies suggests that most newly mated queens that succeed do so by entering established
nests. Queens are closely related on average (rˉ = 0.58), although a sizable minority of queen pairs (29%) are not close relatives. An experiment involving transfers of queens
among nests showed that queens are often accepted by workers to which they are completely unrelated. Average queen numbers
estimated from nest excavations (harmonic mean = 1.4) are broadly similar to effective queen numbers inferred from the genetic
relatedness of colony members, suggesting that reproductive skew is low in this species. Queens appear to have reproductive
lifespans of only 1 or 2 years. As a result, queens transmit a substantial fraction of their genes posthumously (through the
reproduction of related nestmates), in comparison to direct and indirect reproduction while they are alive. Thus queens and
other colony members should often accept new queens when doing so will increase colony survivorship, in some cases even when
the adopted queens are not close relatives.
Received: 20 February 1996/Accepted after revision: 25 May 1996 相似文献
2.
In ant societies, workers do not usually reproduce but gain indirect fitness benefits from raising related offspring produced
by the queen. One of the preconditions of this worker self-restraint is sufficient fertility of the queen. The queen is, therefore,
expected to signal her fertility. In Camponotus floridanus, workers can recognize the presence of a highly fertile queen via her eggs, which are marked with the queen's specific hydrocarbon
profile. If information on fertility is encoded in the hydrocarbon profile of eggs, we expect workers to be able to differentiate
between eggs from highly and weakly fertile queens. We found that workers discriminate between these eggs solely on the basis
of their hydrocarbon profiles which differ both qualitatively and quantitatively. This pattern is further supported by the
similarity of the egg profiles of workers and weakly fertile queens and the similar treatment of both kinds of eggs. Profiles
of queen eggs correspond to the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of the respective queens. Changes in the cuticular profiles
are associated with the size of the colony the queen originates from and her current egg-laying rate. However, partial correlation
analysis indicates that only colony size predicts the cuticular profile. Colony size is a buffered indicator of queen fertility
as it is a consequence of queen productivity within a certain period of time, whereas daily egg-laying rate varies due to
cyclical oviposition. We conclude that surface hydrocarbons of eggs and the cuticular profiles of queens both signal queen
fertility, suggesting a major role of fertility signals in the regulation of reproduction in social insects. 相似文献
3.
Audrey Dussutour Stamatios C. Nicolis Jean-Louis Deneubourg Vincent Fourcassié 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,61(1):17-30
In this paper we examine the effect of crowding on the selection of a path in the mass-recruiting ant Lasius niger. In our experiment, ants had to go from their nest to a food source by crossing a diamond-shaped bridge, giving the choice between two paths. Two types of bridges were used: the first had two branches of equal length but different width while the second had two branches of different length and width. Experiments at high traffic volume always ended up with the selection of the wider branch, even if it was longer. This result shows that overcrowding on the narrow branch plays an essential role in the mechanism underlying the choice of route in ants. A mathematical model was developed to evaluate the importance of two mechanisms that could account for this result. The first is based on the difference in travel duration between the two paths. The second is based on the repulsive interactions between workers making head-on encounters. The model shows that travel duration per se is not sufficient to explain path choice. Rather, it is the interplay between trail following behaviour and repulsive interactions that allows ants to choose the path that minimizes their travel time. When choosing a path ants thus prefer to trade time against energy. Our results demonstrate that any environmental constraint that alters the dynamics of trail recruitment can lead to the emergence of adaptive foraging decisions without any explicit coding of information by the foragers at the individual level. 相似文献
4.
Summary. Geographic variations in the correspondence between diaspore phenotypes and disperser behavior are thought to determine the
evolution of plant-animal dispersal mutualisms. Helleborus foetidus is a widely distributed plant in Western Europe, which seeds bear a lipid rich elaiosome attracting ant dispersers. Laboratory
cross-tests were conducted to check the correspondence between diaspore phenotypes and ant preference in two localities of
the Iberian Peninsula, Caurel and Cazorla, separated by 750 km. Diaspores from Caurel were systematically preferred to those
from Cazorla by Formica lugubris (the major disperser at Caurel), and Aphaenogatser iberica and Camponotus cruentatus (both major dispersers at Cazorla). Further bioassays conducted on A. iberica only showed that differences in elaiosome traits were sufficient to explain ant preference. Separation of the lipid fractions
composing the elaiosome revealed that triglycerides, diglycerides and free fatty acids were all dominated by oleic acid. The
elaiosomes from Caurel contained relatively more free oleic acid but were less concentrated in linoleyl-containing triglycerides,
free palmitic acid and free linoleic acid than those from Cazorla. The three lipid fractions were attractive to ants but dummies
soaked with the free fatty acids extracted from Caurel were preferred to those from Cazorla. Taken together, these results
reinforce the idea that oleic acid is a major releaser of seed collection by ants and suggest that geographic variations in
free fatty acid composition affect the probability of diaspore removal by ants which in turn potentially determine plant demography. 相似文献
5.
The ant genus Cardiocondyla is characterized by a bizarre male polymorphism with wingless fighter males and winged disperser males. Winged males have
been lost convergently in several clades, and in at least one of them, wingless males have evolved mutual tolerance. To better
understand the evolutionary pathways of reproductive tactics, we investigated Cardiocondyla venustula, a species, which in a phylogenetic analysis clusters with species with fighting and species with mutually tolerant, wingless
males. Wingless males of C. venustula use their strong mandibles to kill freshly eclosed rival males and also engage in short fights with other adult males, but
in addition show a novel behavior hitherto not reported from social insect males: they spread out in the natal nest and defend
“territories” against other males. Ant males therefore show a much larger variety of reproductive tactics than previously
assumed. 相似文献
6.
Nicola M. Marples 《Chemoecology》1993,4(1):29-32
Garden black ants,Lasius niger L., in a laboratory colony, attacked three species of live ladybirds found near their nest, killing the smaller two species. A second colony was offered artificial diets containing crushed ladybirds of two species, and the ants' choice of feeding site noted. Both the diets were aversive compared to control, but that containing 7spot,Coccinella septempunctata L., was more aversive than the diet containing 2spot,Adalia bipunctata L. The implications of this lesser protection for 2spots in terms of the chemical defence of the species are discussed. 相似文献
7.
Athlua B. Attygalle Karla Jessen Hans-Jürgen Bestmann Alfred Buschinger Ulrich Maschwitz 《Chemoecology》1996,7(1):8-12
Summary Gas chromatographic analyses of volatizable material from gaster intersegmental complex glands ofP. tridentata revealed the presence of linoleic acid, palmitic acid, methyl oleate, and several long-chain hydrocarbons as major constituents, which form an oily fluid mixture. The nest relocation communication ofP. tridentata is tandem running. Tandem following is mediated by pheromones as demonstrated by dummy experiments with isolated gasters and thoraces and with glass balls. The secretions of all gaster complex glands, as well as hind gut contents and metapleural gland secretions, were unable to evoke tandem following. Morphology and position of the glands, lack of pheromonal function, oily properties, low volatility, and lack of antibiotic effects of these secretions strongly suggest a function as lubricants for the ants' gastral segments. 相似文献
8.
Summary The antMyrmicaria eumenoides is a significant arthropod predator. For rapid attraction of large numbers of nestmates to newly discovered food sources the ants use an efficient recruitment communication system based on the poison gland secretion. Workers exhibit age-based division of labour. Young workers perform brood-care; their poison gland reservoir develops and reaches its final size of 0.5 µl at an age of 6 weeks, when they become foragers. The secretion deposited during combat with enemies or prey is composed of equal amounts of both a high volatile and a low volatile fraction. Within the high volatile fraction (+)—limonene is the main component (97%) and is the only olfactory trigger to alert ants in the vicinity and to recruit them to places of combat, where they assemble. Ants respond to synthetic (+)—limonene in exactly the same way as to the poison gland secretion when applied at the same airborne concentrations. Further components of the high volatile fraction are four additional monoterpene hydrocarbons and hexanoic nitrile. The high volatile and the low volatile fraction of the poison gland secretion each have dual functions: The low volatiles, of which the main component is an alkaloid, serve as a fixative and extend the effective period of the limonene signal by modifying its evaporation kinetics. On the other hand the high volatile recruitment signal (+)—limonene is also the solvent for the alkaloid and enhances its spreading on the surface of the cuticle of arthropod enemies or prey. 相似文献
9.
Summary We investigated the role of the iridoid glycoside, catalpol, as a deterrent to the predator,Camponotus floridanus. Four laboratory colonies of this ant were offered buckeye caterpillars (Junonia coenia: Nymphalidae) raised on diets with and without catalpol. The same colonies were offered sugar-water solutions containing varying concentrations of catalpol, in both no-choice and choice tests. Regardless of diet, buckeye caterpillars appeared to be morphologically protected from predation by the ants, possibly because of their large spines or tough cuticle. However, buckeyes raised on diets with catalpol had high concentrations of catalpol in their hemolymph; extracts of this high-catalpol hemolymph proved to be an effective deterrent to the ants. When starved ants were not given the choice of food items, they were more likely to consume sucrose solutions that contained 5 mg catalpol/ml or 10 mg catalpol/ml than they were to consume solutions with 20 mg catalpol/ml. When they were given a choice of sugar solution or a sugar solution containing catalpol, the ants avoided solutions with catalpol at any of these concentrations. Ant colony responses to catalpol in sucrose solutions varied considerably over time and among colonies. 相似文献
10.
Evaluating Effects of Habitat Loss and Land-Use Continuity on Ant Species Richness in Seminatural Grassland Remnants 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Abstract: Seminatural grasslands in Europe are susceptible to habitat destruction and fragmentation that result in negative effects on biodiversity because of increased isolation and area effects on extinction rate. However, even small habitat patches of seminatural grasslands might be of value for conservation and restoration of species richness in a landscape with a long history of management, which has been argued to lead to high species richness. We tested whether ant communities have been negatively affected by habitat loss and increased isolation of seminatural grasslands during the twentieth century. We examined species richness and community composition in seminatural grasslands of different size in a mosaic landscape in Central Sweden. Grasslands managed continuously over centuries harbored species-rich and ecologically diverse ant communities. Grassland remnant size had no effect on ant species richness. Small grassland remnants did not harbor a nested subset of the ant species of larger habitats. Community composition of ants was mainly affected by habitat conditions. Our results suggest that the abandonment of traditional land use and the encroachment of trees, rather than the effects of fragmentation, are important for species composition in seminatural grasslands. Our results highlight the importance of considering land-use continuity and dispersal ability of the focal organisms when examining the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity. Landscape history should be considered in conservation programs focusing on effects of land-use change. 相似文献