scholarly journals Comparison of foraging tool use in two species of myrmicine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gábor Módra ◽  
István Maák ◽  
Ádám Lőrincz ◽  
Gábor Lőrinczi
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Pine Needles ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Liquid Food ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Feeding Preferences ◽  
Myrmicine Ants ◽  
Large Soil

AbstractMany ant species are known to exhibit foraging tool use, during which ants place various debris items (e.g., pieces of soil, leaves, pine needles, etc.) into liquid food, and then they carry the food-soaked tools back to the nest. In the present study, we compared the tool-using behavior in captive colonies of two closely related myrmicine ants with different feeding preferences: Aphaenogaster subterranea, an omnivorous species, and Messor structor, a mainly granivorous seed-harvester species. We supplied foraging ants with honey-water baits and six types of objects they could use as tools: sand grains, small soil grains, large soil grains, pine needles, leaves, and sponges. We found that the workers of A. subterranea both dropped more tools into honey-water baits and retrieved more of these tools than the workers of M. structor. While A. subterranea preferred smaller tools over larger ones, tool preferences for M. structor did not differ significantly from random. In addition, tool dropping was significantly faster in A. subterranea, and both the dropping and retrieving of tools began significantly earlier than in M. structor. For Aphaenogaster species that regularly utilize and compete for liquid food sources, the ability to efficiently transport liquid food via tools may be more important than it is for seed-harvester ants. Dropping tools into liquids, however, may still be useful for seed-harvester species as a means to supplement diet with liquid food during periods of seed shortage and also to serve as a means of getting rid of unwanted liquids close to the nest.

A crossover design to assess feeding preferences in terrestrial isopods: A case study in a Mediterranean species

Biologia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Montesanto ◽  
Sofia Cividini
Keyword(s):  
Food Preferences ◽  
Crossover Design ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Feeding Preferences ◽  
Mediterranean Species ◽  
Terrestrial Isopods

AbstractA crossover design was used to study food preferences and capability of nutritional acclimation to different food sources in terrestrial isopods, which live in xeric environments, by using

scholarly journals Ants Sense, and Follow, Trail Pheromones of Ant Community Members

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime M. Chalissery ◽  
Asim Renyard ◽  
Regine Gries ◽  
Danielle Hoefele ◽  
Santosh Kumar Alamsetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trail Pheromone ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Trail Following ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Trail Pheromones ◽  
Ant Community ◽  
Carpenter Ants ◽  
Electroantennographic Detection

Ants deposit trail pheromones that guide nestmates to food sources. We tested the hypotheses that ant community members (Western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc; black garden ants, Lasius niger; European fire ants, Myrmica rubra) (1) sense, and follow, each other’s trail pheromones, and (2) fail to recognize trail pheromones of allopatric ants (pavement ants, Tetramorium caespitum; desert harvester ants, Novomessor albisetosus; Argentine ants, Linepithema humilis). In gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection analyses of a six-species synthetic trail pheromone blend (6-TPB), La. niger, Ca. modoc, and M. rubra sensed the trail pheromones of all community members and unexpectedly that of T. caespitum. Except for La. niger, all species did not recognize the trail pheromones of N. albisetosus and Li. humilis. In bioassays, La. niger workers followed the 6-TPB trail for longer distances than their own trail pheromone, indicating an additive effect of con- and hetero-specific pheromones on trail-following. Moreover, Ca. modoc workers followed the 6-TPB and their own trail pheromones for similar distances, indicating no adverse effects of heterospecific pheromones on trail-following. Our data show that ant community members eavesdrop on each other’s trail pheromones, and that multiple pheromones can be combined in a lure that guides multiple species of pest ants to lethal food baits.

scholarly journals A small number of workers with specific personality traits perform tool use in ants

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
István Maák ◽  
Garyk Roelandt ◽  
Patrizia d'Ettorre
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Exploratory Activity ◽  
Liquid Food ◽  
Personality Tests ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Aphaenogaster Senilis ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
The Individual

Ants use debris as tools to collect and transport liquid food to the nest. Previous studies showed that this behaviour is flexible whereby ants learn to use artificial material that is novel to them and select tools with optimal soaking properties. However, the process of tool use has not been studied at the individual level. We investigated whether workers specialise in tool use and whether there is a link between individual personality traits and tool use in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis. Only a small number of workers performed tool use and they did it repeatedly, although they also collected solid food. Personality predicted the probability to perform tool use: ants that showed higher exploratory activity and were more attracted to a prey in the personality tests became the new tool users when previous tool users were removed from the group. This suggests that, instead of extreme task specialisation, variation in personality traits within the colony may improve division of labour.

EFFECT OF HUNGER ON STARLINGS' PREFERENCES FOR FOOD SOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIABILITY OR UNCERTAINTY

Behaviour ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (9) ◽  
pp. 1223-1235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Giles ◽  
Ian Inglis ◽  
Katja Van Driel ◽  
Janet Talling ◽  
John Young
Keyword(s):  
Food Item ◽  
Choice Point ◽  
The Other ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Feeding Preferences ◽  
Stimulus Uncertainty ◽  
Significant Preference ◽  
Hunger Level ◽  
Risk Sensitive ◽  
Risk Sensitive Foraging

AbstractThe information primacy hypothesis proposes that motivation to perform behaviours that reduce environmental uncertainty is continually present. It predicts that uncertain stimuli are attractive and that this attractiveness declines with increasing hunger. It also draws a distinction between the effects of stimulus uncertainty and those of stimulus variability per se (i.e. predictable variability). Two experiments investigated how hunger level affects the relative feeding preferences of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) for two locations that always contained the same and equal amounts of food. In one experiment the locations differed in variability but not uncertainty (i.e. in one the position of a visible food item was fixed whilst in the other its position randomly varied between trials). In the second experiment the locations differed in uncertainty but not variability (i.e. in both the position of a food item varied randomly between trials but in one of them the food was not visible from the choice point and in the other it was). When satiated the birds significantly preferred to feed from (a) the variable rather than the constant location, and (b) the uncertain and variable location rather than the location that was just variable. When hungry the birds had (a) no significant preference between the constant and the variable locations, and (b) showed a shift in preference away from the uncertain location. In both experiments hunger increased the incidence of side preferences. These findings are considered in relation to both predictions derived from the information primacy hypothesis, and findings from risk-sensitive foraging experiments.

Dietary preferences and diet effects on life-history traits of tardigrades

2020 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michala Bryndová ◽  
Daniel Stec ◽  
Ralph O Schill ◽  
Łukasz Michalczyk ◽  
Miloslav Devetter
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Other ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Feeding Preferences ◽  
Dietary Preferences ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Potential Food ◽  
Two Age Groups

Abstract Tardigrades may be divided into the following feeding groups: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. However, little is known about their specific feeding preferences. Here, we used a number of laboratory experiments with 18 potential food sources, representing a wide variety of organisms, to test feeding preferences, survival and fecundity of three tardigrade species, representing different feeding modes. We also tested for differences in preferences between juveniles and adults, and differences in survival between two age groups: one that started the experiment as juveniles and the other as adults. In our experiments, Milnesium inceptum is confirmed to be a carnivore, being able to reproduce only on animal prey. We also show that Hypsibius exemplaris is a herbivore, feeding on cyanobacteria, algae and fungi. Paramacrobiotus fairbanksi, on the other hand, is demonstrated to be an omnivore, feeding on cyanobacteria, algae, fungi and animals. In some cases, juveniles preferred different types of food than adults. Reproduction was strongly affected by food type. Finally, we demonstrate that tardigrades may ingest food types that they are not able to digest. Thus, gut content analysis may be misleading as a method of studying tardigrade feeding habits.

scholarly journals Altered food habits? Understanding the feeding preference of free-ranging Grey langur (Semnopithecus entellus) within an urban settlement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dishari Dasgupta ◽  
Arnab Banerjee ◽  
Rikita Karar ◽  
Debolina Banerjee ◽  
Shohini Mitra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Natural Food ◽  
List Type ◽  
Feeding Preferences ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Free Ranging

ABSTRACTUrbanization affects concurrent human-animal movements as a result of altered resource availability and land use pattern, which leads to considerable ecological consequences. While some animals find themselves adrift, homeless with the uncertainty of resources resulting from the urban encroachment, few of them manage to survive by altering their natural behavioural patterns, and co-exist with humans. Folivorous colobines, such as grey langur, whose feeding repertoire largely consists of plant parts, tend to be more attuned to the urban high-calorie food sources to attain maximum fitness benefits within the concrete jungle having an insignificant green cover. However, such a mismatch between their generalized feeding behaviour and specialized gut physiology reminds us of the Liem’s paradox and demands considerable scientific attention which could tell us the story behind colobines’ successful co-existence within human settlements. Besides understanding their population dynamics, the effective management of these urbanized, free-ranging, non-human primate populations also depends on their altered feeding preferences, altogether which could lead us to the development of an ecologically sound urban ecosystem. Here, we have used a field-based experimental set up which allows langurs to choose between natural and urban food options, being independent of any inter-specific conflicts over resources due to food scarcity. The multinomial logit model reveals the choice-based decision making of these free-ranging grey langurs in an urban settlement of West Bengal, India, where they have not only learned to approach the human-provisioned urban food items but also shown a keen interest in it. While urbanization imposes tremendous survival challenges to these animals, it also opens up for various alternative options for human-animal co-existence which is reflected in this study, and could guide us for the establishment of a sustainable urban ecosystem in the future.HIGHLIGHTSThe feeding repertoire of free-ranging grey langurs at Dakshineswar largely consists of urban food items in contrast to the langurs of Nangi, and Nalpur who mostly depend on natural food sources.High human-langur interactions together with the scarcity of natural plant-based food sources could be considered as an intriguing driving force behind langurs’ altered feeding habits in Dakhineswar.The field-based experimental set up allows free-ranging langurs to choose between natural and urban food options in an urban settlement like Dakhineswar.Urban food items outperformed natural food items as the most chosen one, indicating langurs’ altered feeding preferences which facilitate their successful co-existence within an urban ecosystem.

scholarly journals Notes on ecology of wild goffin’s cockatoo in the late dry season with emphasis on feeding ecology

TREUBIA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 85-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenika Monika Mioduszewska ◽  
Mark Christopher O’Hara ◽  
Tri Haryoko ◽  
Alice Marie Isabel Auersperg ◽  
Ludwig Huber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Breeding Behavior ◽  
Flexible Tool ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Respective Species

Experimental work on captive Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) has highlighted the remarkable cognitive abilities of this species. However, little is known about its behavior in the natural habitat on the Tanimbar Archipelago in Indonesia. In order to fully understand the evolutionary roots leading to cognitively advanced skills, such as multi-step problem solving or flexible tool use and manufacture, it is crucial to study the ecological challenges faced by the respective species in the wild. The three-month expedition presented here aimed at gaining first insights into the cockatoos’ feeding ecology and breeding behavior. We could confirm previous predictions that Goffin’s cockatoos are opportunistic foragers and consume a variety of resources (seeds, fruit, inflorescence, roots). Their breeding season may be estimated to start between June and early July and they face potential predation from ground and aerial predators. Additionally, the observational data provide indications that Goffin’s cockatoos are extractive foragers, which together with relying on multiple food sources might be considered a prerequisite of tool use.

Biomechanical Analysis of Tool Use

2012 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Biryukova ◽  
Blandine Bril
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Biomechanical Analysis
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