scholarly journals Testing the adjustable threshold model for intruder recognition on Myrmica ants in the context of a social parasite

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1728) ◽  
pp. 516-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias A. Fürst ◽  
Maëlle Durey ◽  
David R. Nash
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Myrmica Rubra ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Viscous Population ◽  
Maculinea Alcon

Social insect colonies are like fortresses, well protected and rich in shared stored resources. This makes them ideal targets for exploitation by predators, parasites and competitors. Colonies of Myrmica rubra ants are sometimes exploited by the parasitic butterfly Maculinea alcon . Maculinea alcon gains access to the ants' nests by mimicking their cuticular hydrocarbon recognition cues, which allows the parasites to blend in with their host ants. Myrmica rubra may be particularly susceptible to exploitation in this fashion as it has large, polydomous colonies with many queens and a very viscous population structure. We studied the mutual aggressive behaviour of My. rubra colonies based on predictions for recognition effectiveness. Three hypotheses were tested: first, that aggression increases with distance (geographical, genetic and chemical); second, that the more queens present in a colony and therefore the less-related workers within a colony, the less aggressively they will behave; and that colonies facing parasitism will be more aggressive than colonies experiencing less parasite pressure. Our results confirm all these predictions, supporting flexible aggression behaviour in Myrmica ants depending on context.

Molecular advances in understanding social insect population structure

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1672-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross H. Crozier ◽  
Ben P. Oldroyd ◽  
W. Tek Tay ◽  
Bernard E. Kaufmann ◽  
Rebecca N. Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Insect Population

scholarly journals Recognition of nestmate eggs in the ant Formica fusca is based on queen derived cues

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Helanterä ◽  
Stephen J. Martin ◽  
Francis L.W. Ratnieks
Keyword(s):  
Nestmate Recognition ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Egg Recognition ◽  
Formica Fusca ◽  
Fitness Benefits ◽  
The Right

Abstract Inclusive fitness benefits depend on recognizing the right individuals to interact with. Social insect nests protect themselves from non-kin intruders through nestmate recognition based on chemical cues. The recognition cues on adult individuals are from a mixture of genetic and environmental sources, but the ontogeny and use of recognition cues on eggs has not been previously assessed. We studied recognition by workers of eggs that were either nestmates or non-nestmates. and the ontogeny of recognition cues on eggs in the ant Formica fusca, a species with precise egg recognition abilities. Workers were able to discriminate among freshly laid eggs with no nest derived cues on them, and the egg surface chemicals varied among nests in these eggs, suggesting that queen derived cues are used in nestmate recognition. The results are discussed in the light of their implications on deceptive social parasite strategies and within colony conflicts.

scholarly journals The cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of honey bee workers develop via a socially-modulated innate process

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassondra L Vernier ◽  
Joshua J Krupp ◽  
Katelyn Marcus ◽  
Abraham Hefetz ◽  
Joel D Levine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bee ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Behavioral Interactions ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Chemical Profiles ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Environmentally Sensitive ◽  
Honey Bee Workers

Large social insect colonies exhibit a remarkable ability for recognizing group members via colony-specific cuticular pheromonal signatures. Previous work suggested that in some ant species, colony-specific pheromonal profiles are generated through a mechanism involving the transfer and homogenization of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) across members of the colony. However, how colony-specific chemical profiles are generated in other social insect clades remains mostly unknown. Here we show that in the honey bee (Apis mellifera), the colony-specific CHC profile completes its maturation in foragers via a sequence of stereotypic age-dependent quantitative and qualitative chemical transitions, which are driven by environmentally-sensitive intrinsic biosynthetic pathways. Therefore, the CHC profiles of individual honey bees are not likely produced through homogenization and transfer mechanisms, but instead mature in association with age-dependent division of labor. Furthermore, non-nestmate rejection behaviors seem to be contextually restricted to behavioral interactions between entering foragers and guards at the hive entrance.

scholarly journals Local host ant specificity of Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius butterfly, an obligatory social parasite of Myrmica ants

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 557-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAGDALENA WITEK ◽  
PIOTR NOWICKI ◽  
EWA B. ŚLIWIŃSKA ◽  
PIOTR SKÓRKA ◽  
JOSEF SETTELE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Parasite ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Local Host ◽  
Maculinea Teleius

scholarly journals Learning and discrimination of cuticular hydrocarbons in a social insect

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen van Wilgenburg ◽  
Antoine Felden ◽  
Dong-Hwan Choe ◽  
Robert Sulc ◽  
Jun Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chain Length ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Olfactory Conditioning ◽  
Argentine Ants ◽  
Nest Mate ◽  
Chemical Signalling ◽  
Branching Patterns

Social insect cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) mixtures are among the most complex chemical cues known and are important in nest-mate, caste and species recognition. Despite our growing knowledge of the nature of these cues, we have very little insight into how social insects actually perceive and discriminate among these chemicals. In this study, we use the newly developed technique of differential olfactory conditioning to pure, custom-designed synthetic colony odours to analyse signal discrimination in Argentine ants, Linepithema humile . Our results show that tri-methyl alkanes are more easily learned than single-methyl or straight-chain alkanes. In addition, we reveal that Argentine ants can discriminate between hydrocarbons with different branching patterns and the same chain length, but not always between hydrocarbons with the same branching patterns but different chain length. Our data thus show that biochemical characteristics influence those compounds that ants can discriminate between, and which thus potentially play a role in chemical signalling and nest-mate recognition.

scholarly journals Distribution, host specificity, and the potential for cryptic speciation in hoverfly Microdon myrmicae (Diptera: Syrphidae), a social parasite of Myrmica ants

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMONA BONELLI ◽  
MAGDALENA WITEK ◽  
SARA CANTERINO ◽  
MARCIN SIELEZNIEW ◽  
ANNA STANKIEWICZ-FIEDUREK ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Cryptic Speciation ◽  
Myrmica Ants

scholarly journals Distinct chemical blends produced by different reproductive castes in the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-André Eyer ◽  
Jared Salin ◽  
Anjel M. Helms ◽  
Edward L. Vargo
Keyword(s):  
Cuticular Hydrocarbons ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Reticulitermes Flavipes ◽  
Reproductive Status ◽  
Social Regulation ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Termite Species ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Primary Reproductives

AbstractThe production of royal pheromones by reproductives (queens and kings) enables social insect colonies to allocate individuals into reproductive and non-reproductive roles. In many termite species, nestmates can develop into neotenics when the primary king or queen dies, which then inhibit the production of additional reproductives. This suggests that primary reproductives and neotenics produce royal pheromones. The cuticular hydrocarbon heneicosane was identified as a royal pheromone in Reticulitermes flavipes neotenics. Here, we investigated the presence of this and other cuticular hydrocarbons in primary reproductives and neotenics of this species, and the ontogeny of their production in primary reproductives. Our results revealed that heneicosane was produced by most neotenics, raising the question of whether reproductive status may trigger its production. Neotenics produced six additional cuticular hydrocarbons absent from workers and nymphs. Remarkably, heneicosane and four of these compounds were absent in primary reproductives, and the other two compounds were present in lower quantities. Neotenics therefore have a distinct ‘royal’ blend from primary reproductives, and potentially over-signal their reproductive status. Our results suggest that primary reproductives and neotenics may face different social pressures. Future studies of these pressures should provide a more complete understanding of the mechanisms underlying social regulation in termites.

scholarly journals An unexpected record of Myrmica schencki EMERY, 1895 as a secondary host ant of the hygrophilous form of a small and isolated population of the Alcon Blue butterfly Phengaris (=Maculinea) alcon (DENIS et SCHIFFERMÜLLER, 1775) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) in NE Poland

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Sielezniew ◽  
Cezary Bystrowski ◽  
Krzysztof Deoniziak ◽  
João Matos Da Costa
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Larval Food ◽  
Ne Poland ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Egg Shells ◽  
A Site ◽  
Larval Food Plant ◽  
Maculinea Alcon

Abstract Phengaris alcon is a socially parasitic butterfly species showing ecological variation across its distribution range. Host ant specificity was studied on a site (a mineral island surrounded by wetlands) in the Narew National Park in NE Poland, inhabited by a highly isolated and small population (estimated at several dozen individuals). We examined nests of their potential hosts, i.e. Myrmica ants, in patches of habitat where the initial larval food plant i.e. Gentiana pneumonanthe was recorded. The Myrmica species composition was shown to be unusual for such habitats because of the presence of M. schencki together with the dominant M. scabrinodis. In 2013 we found just one prepupa of P. alcon in a nest of M. schencki, which had never yet been recorded as a host of the hygrophilous form of this butterfly, and none of the M. scabrinodis nests were infested. However, in 2014 a very typical pattern for eastern Europe was observed, i.e. larvae were recorded exclusively in M. scabrinodis colonies and the parasitisation rate was 33%. In both seasons we recorded similar numbers of egg shells on gentians, which indicated a similar population size of adult butterflies. The results are discussed in the context of the ecology and conservation of P. alcon as well as the sampling design.

Genetic differentiation between the ant Myrmica rubra and its microgynous social parasite

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Vepsäläinen ◽  
J. R. Ebsen ◽  
R. Savolainen ◽  
J. J. Boomsma
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Myrmica Rubra

scholarly journals Location-specific cuticular hydrocarbon signals in a social insect

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1827) ◽  
pp. 20160310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qike Wang ◽  
Jason Q. D. Goodger ◽  
Ian E. Woodrow ◽  
Mark A. Elgar
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Signal Function ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Specific Identification ◽  
Signal Functions ◽  
Nest Mate ◽  
Chemical Signalling ◽  
Novel Approach

Social insects use cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to convey different social signals, including colony or nest identity. Despite extensive investigations, the exact source and identity of CHCs that act as nest-specific identification signals remain largely unknown. Perhaps this is because studies that identify CHC signals typically use organic solvents to extract a single sample from the entire animal, thereby analysing a cocktail of chemicals that may serve several signal functions. We took a novel approach by first identifying CHC profiles from different body parts of ants ( Iridomyrmex purpureus ), then used behavioural bioassays to reveal the location of specific social signals. The CHC profiles of both workers and alates varied between different body parts, and workers paid more attention to the antennae of non-nest-mate and the legs of nest-mate workers. Workers responded less aggressively to non-nest-mate workers if the CHCs on the antennae of their opponents were removed with a solvent. These data indicate that CHCs located on the antennae reveal nest-mate identity and, remarkably, that antennae both convey and receive social signals. Our approach and findings could be valuably applied to chemical signalling in other behavioural contexts, and provide insights that were otherwise obscured by including chemicals that either have no signal function or may be used in other contexts.

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