Showing papers on "Ant colony published in 1989"
TL;DR: The task of studying foraging in ants in simplified by the fact that foragers may do little more than forage during their tenure as food harvesters is simplified, but eusociality penetrates virtually every facet of foraging strategy and adds additional complicating social dimensions to its analysis.
Abstract: integrated groups. Therefore, a great challenge in the socioecology of foraging is to explain how the behavior of such a potentially large and complex system as an ant colony emerges as a function of the properties of its individual components. The task of studying foraging in ants in simplified by the fact that foragers, owing to their sterility, may do little more than forage during their tenure as food harvesters. However, eusociality penetrates virtually every facet of foraging strategy and adds additional complicating social dimensions to its analysis. Individual and social processes of foraging can be categorized into com ponents to facilitate the analysis of foraging at the level of the single worker, the colony, or the integration of both (Table 1). A generalized ethogram of forager behavior can be described to illustrate these processes. A forager leaves the nest entrance in either a random or a consistent direction. A travel phase ensues, during which the worker maintains a constant compass bearing and moves directly away from the nest. At some point during the travel phase the forager shows a high frequency of turning, marking the beginning of search. During search, food resources are encountered and selected based upon a forager's physical caste, age, and prior experience, the trip distance, thermal stress, resource quality, and the colony's current nutritional status. Depending on the ant species and the size, density, or quality of the food, the forager may communicate information to nestmates about its location and recruit additional foragers. Summing the above-described individual
400 citations
TL;DR: Gas Chromatographic profiles of hexane soaks of various stages of the parasite and host suggest that during development within the ant colony the parasite acquires the colony odor of the host through a passive mechanism, based on simple contact and other social interactions.
Abstract: A wasp (Orasema sp.) parasitic on the fire ant,Solenopsis invicta Buren, develops to the adult stage within the ant colony, where wasp larvae are ectoparasitic on ant pupae. This phase of the parasite's life cycle requires a mechanism of integration into the host colony. Gas Chromatographic profiles of hexane soaks of various stages of the parasite and host suggest that during development within the ant colony the parasite acquires the colony odor of the host through a passive mechanism, based on simple contact and other social interactions. No parasite-specific components were observed. After leaving the host nest as adults, the parasite biosynthesizes a parasite-specific cuticular compound, while retaining residual amounts of the host acquired components. This complicated scenario is consistent with current knowledge of nestmate recognition and the preferential treatment of ant workers to their brood.
91 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) can further distinguish between two kinds of non-nestmates of the same species: neighbors and strangers, which shows that interactions between colonies depend on information about colony identity.
Abstract: Ants are known to distinguish their own nests and nestmates from all others, using colony-specific odors. Here I show that harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) can further distinguish between two kinds of non-nestmates of the same species: neighbors and strangers. Interactions between colonies were thought to depend on the numbers of alien ants that each colony encounters on its territory. The results described here show that such interactions also depend on information about colony identity. Encounters on foraging trails with ants from neighboring colonies, deter foraging more than encounters with ants from distant ones. The history of interactions between particular pairs of colonies may have important effects on intraspecific competition for food.
78 citations
TL;DR: Females of Anthene emolus use the presence of the weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, as oviposition cue, and attract the ants by releasing food recruitment behaviour.
Abstract: Females of Anthene emolus use the presence of the weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, as oviposition cue. Ovipositing females are not attacked by the ants. The first instar larvae are adopted by the ants and carried into their pavilions where the caterpillars feed. Outside the pavilions the larvae cannot survive. The older larvae leave the pavilions and are carried by the ants to their feeding places or back into the pavilions. The larvae are constantly attended by the ants. During the 3rd and 4th instar the caterpillars secrete high amounts of nutritive liquids representing an estimated energy content of 200 J per larva. Thus the larvae are important trophobionts of Oe. smaragdina and attract the ants by releasing food recruitment behaviour. The pupae are not attractive for ants, but are not attacked, either. The emerging adults are not protected from ant attacks and are sometimes killed by their host ants. The costs and benefits of this close obligate myrmecophilous relationship for both the ants and lyc...
63 citations
TL;DR: Contrary to some reports, colony V02 could be accurately estimated from individual V02, population size, mean body mass and temperature; no 'group effect' was found and a technique for quantifying temperature-induced variations in temperature sensitivity is described.
Abstract: Energy flow through ant colonies is an important component of total energy flux in many ecosystems. However, actual estimation of energy flow through ant colonies is complicated by the effects of temperature, body mass, feeding state and group size on the metabolic rate (VO2) of individual ants. Few quantitative data have been published in this area; in particular, the VO2s of intact ant colonies have never been directly measured. In this paper I report the accurate measurement of the V02 of the formicine ant Camponotus fulvopilosus (De Geer) as a function of temperature (10-400C), feeding state (0-14 days post-feeding), body mass (0-011-0-127g) and group size (one, three, five and seven ants, and entire colonies of mean size 1166 ants). Contrary to some reports, colony V02 could be accurately estimated from individual V02, population size, mean body mass and temperature; no 'group effect' was found. Minimum sensitivity of V02 to temperature variation occurred at normal foraging temperatures, thus minimizing performance variability while foraging. A technique for quantifying temperature-induced variations in temperature sensitivity is described. V02 of C. fulvopilosus declined with first order rate kinetics during starvation-induced dormancy. The implications of such dormancy with regard to energy storage strategies and ant speciation in marginal habitats are discussed, together with the ecological correlates of other physiological findings. Key-words: Ant respiration, Camponotus fulvopilosus, colony energetics, dormancy, group effect, temperature effects
57 citations
TL;DR: In the framework of a study of the mechanisms underlying mutual recognition phenomena between members of a Lepthothorax lichtensteini ant colony, two series of experiments were conducted, designed to investigate the effects of an experimental separation of individuals from their colony upon being reintroduced.
34 citations
TL;DR: Wilson et al. as mentioned in this paper reported on the survivorship of 69 nests during the next 33 years, showing a clear exponential growth in mound size in the first half of the colony's life.
Abstract: Of the social Hymenoptera (ants, some bees, and some wasps), colonies of ants appear to live longest. However, little information bearing on ant colony longevity exists (Wilson, 1971; Tschinkel, 1988), and much of it is anecdotal. Darwin (1859), for example, commented that some ant colonies must live as long as a human generation, and Fore1 (1928), fascinated by a colony of Formica pratensis in his childhood, found the nest still active 56 years later. Donisthorpe (191 5) knew of a rufa nest in Weybridge, England, that was active for at least 20 years. More recently, long-term monitoring of mound growth has been conducted in an attempt to understand colony population dynamics (Andrews, 1925; Dreyer and Park, 1932; Dreyer, 1942; Scherba, 1958; Talbot, 1961). Dreyer (1942) projected a 25to 30-year maximum colony lifetime for Formica ulkei Emery, based on average changes in mound size for a population of colonies. Andrews (1925) took mound measurements for 19 years on a single nest of Formica exsectoides Forel, showing a clear exponential growth in mound size in the first half of the colony's life. Recently Tschinkel (1988) found that colony growth in Solenopsis invicta Buren fits a logistic curve, supporting the hypothesis that the growth of social insect colonies is regulated by density-dependent negative feedback mechanisms (Wilson, 1971; Oster and Wilson, 1978; Levings and Traniello, 1981; Holldobler, 1986; Rissing, 1987; Tschinkel, 1988). Individual ant-mounds of the prairie ant, Formica montana Emery, discovered in a prairie remnant in southwestern Wisconsin, were mapped in 1956. Here we report on the survivorship of 69 nests during the next 33 years. We also present 31 years (1957-1987) of data on growth patterns of eight of the original mounds that were
15 citations