scholarly journals The role of juvenile hormone in regulating reproductive physiology and dominance in Dinoponera quadriceps ants

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria C. Norman ◽  
Tobias Pamminger ◽  
Fabio Nascimento ◽  
William O.H. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Hormone ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Reproductive Physiology ◽  
Regulatory Role ◽  
Ovary Development ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Behavioural Interactions ◽  
Group Members

Unequal reproductive output among members of the same sex (reproductive skew) is a common phenomenon in a wide range of communally breeding animals. In such species, reproductive dominance is often acquired during antagonistic interactions between group members that establish a reproductive hierarchy in which only a few individuals reproduce. Rank-specific syndromes of behavioural and physiological traits characterize such hierarchies, but how antagonistic behavioural interactions translate into stable rank-specific syndromes remains poorly understood. The pleiotropic nature of hormones makes them prime candidates for generating such syndromes as they physiologically integrate environmental (social) information, and often affect reproduction and behaviour simultaneously. Juvenile hormone (JH) is one of several hormones that occupy such a central regulatory role in insects and has been suggested to regulate reproductive hierarchies in a wide range of social insects including ants. Here we use experimental manipulation to investigate the effect of JH levels on reproductive physiology and social dominance in high-ranked workers of the eusocial ant Dinoponera quadriceps, a species that has secondarily reverted to queenless, simple societies. We show that JH regulated reproductive physiology, with ants in which JH levels were experimentally elevated having more regressed ovaries. In contrast, we found no evidence of JH levels affecting dominance in social interactions. This could indicate that JH and ovary development are decoupled from dominance in this species, however only high-ranked workers were investigated. The results therefore confirm that the regulatory role of JH in reproductive physiology in this ant species is in keeping with its highly eusocial ancestors rather than its secondary reversion to simple societies, but more investigation is needed to disentangle the relationships between hormones, behaviour and hierarchies.

scholarly journals Exploring Interactions between the Gut Microbiota and Social Behavior through Nutrition

Genes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Pasquaretta ◽  
Tamara Gómez-Moracho ◽  
Philipp Heeb ◽  
Mathieu Lihoreau
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Nutritional Ecology ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Nutritional Geometry ◽  
Social Animals

Microbes influence a wide range of host social behaviors and vice versa. So far, however, the mechanisms underpinning these complex interactions remain poorly understood. In social animals, where individuals share microbes and interact around foods, the gut microbiota may have considerable consequences on host social interactions by acting upon the nutritional behavior of individual animals. Here we illustrate how conceptual advances in nutritional ecology can help the study of these processes and allow the formulation of new empirically testable predictions. First, we review key evidence showing that gut microbes influence the nutrition of individual animals, through modifications of their nutritional state and feeding decisions. Next, we describe how these microbial influences and their social consequences can be studied by modelling populations of hosts and their gut microbiota into a single conceptual framework derived from nutritional geometry. Our approach raises new perspectives for the study of holobiont nutrition and will facilitate theoretical and experimental research on the role of the gut microbiota in the mechanisms and evolution of social behavior.

scholarly journals Rapid juvenile hormone downregulation in subordinate wasp queens facilitates stable cooperation

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1872) ◽  
pp. 20172645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Tibbetts ◽  
Michelle L. Fearon ◽  
Ellery Wong ◽  
Zachary Y. Huang ◽  
Robin M. Tinghitella
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Hormone ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Reproductive Hormones ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Cooperative Groups ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Polistes Dominula ◽  
Group Members

In many cooperatively breeding animals, subordinate group members have lower reproductive capacity than dominant group members. Theory suggests subordinates may downregulate their reproductive capacity because dominants punish subordinates who maintain high fertility. However, there is little direct experimental evidence that dominants cause physiological suppression in subordinates. Here, we experimentally test how social interactions influence subordinate reproductive hormones in Polistes dominula paper wasps. Polistes dominula queens commonly found nests in cooperative groups where the dominant queen is more fertile than the subordinate queen. In this study, we randomly assigned wasps to cooperative groups, assessed dominance behaviour during group formation, then measured levels of juvenile hormone (JH), a hormone that mediates Polistes fertility. Within three hours, lowest ranking subordinates had less JH than dominants or solitary controls, indicating that group formation caused rapid JH reduction in low-ranking subordinates. In a second experiment, we measured the behavioural consequences of experimentally increasing subordinate JH. Subordinates with high JH-titres received significantly more aggression than control subordinates or subordinates from groups where the dominant's JH was increased. These results suggest that dominants aggressively punished subordinates who attempted to maintain high fertility. Low-ranked subordinates may rapidly downregulate reproductive capacity to reduce costly social interactions with dominants. Rapid modulation of subordinate reproductive physiology may be an important adaptation to facilitate the formation of stable, cooperative groups.

scholarly journals Rat ultrasonic vocalizations and novelty-induced social and non-social investigation behavior in a seminatural environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indrek Heinla ◽  
Xi Chu ◽  
Anders Agmo ◽  
Eelke Snoeren
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Ultrasonic Vocalizations ◽  
Sensory Cues ◽  
Social Investigation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Transfer Of Information

Although rats are known to emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), it remains unclear whether these calls serve an auditory communication purpose. For USVs to be part of communication, the vocal signals will need to be a transfer of information between two or more conspecifics, and with the possibility to induce changes in the behavior of the recipient. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the role of USVs in rats' social and non-social investigation strategies when introduced into a large novel environment with unfamiliar conspecifics. We quantified a wide range of social and non-social behaviors in the seminatural environment, which could be affected by subtle signals, including USVs. We found that during the first hour in the seminatural environment the ability to vocalize did not affect how quickly rats met each other, their overall social investigation behavior, their passive social behavior nor their aggressive behavior. Furthermore, the non-social exploratory behaviors and behaviors reflecting anxiety/stress-like states were also unaffected. These results demonstrated that a disability to vocalize did not result in significant disadvantages (or changes) compared to intact conspecifics regarding social and non-social behaviors. This suggests that other (multi)sensory cues are more relevant in social interactions than USVs.

scholarly journals Genotype-by-genotype epistasis for exploratory behaviour in D. simulans

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1928) ◽  
pp. 20200057
Author(s):  
Allison Jaffe ◽  
Madeline P. Burns ◽  
Julia B. Saltz
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Genetic Architecture ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Exploratory Behaviour ◽  
Genotype Group ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Social Plasticity ◽  
Group Members

Social interactions can influence the expression and underlying genetic basis of many traits. Yet, empirical investigations of indirect genetic effects (IGEs) and genotype-by-genotype epistasis—quantitative genetics parameters representing the role of genetic variation in a focal individual and its interacting partners in producing the observed trait values—are still scarce. While it is commonly observed that an individual's traits are influenced by the traits of interacting conspecifics, representing social plasticity, studying this social plasticity and its quantitative-genetic basis is notoriously challenging. These challenges are compounded when individuals interact in groups, rather than (simpler) dyads. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of social plasticity for exploratory behaviour, one of the most intensively studied behaviours in recent decades. Using genotypes of Drosophila simulans , we measured genotypes both alone, and in social groups representing a mix of two genotypes. We found that females adjusted their exploratory behaviour based on the behaviour of others in the group, representing social plasticity. However, the direction of this plasticity depended on the identity of group members: focal individuals were more likely to emerge from a refuge if group members who were the same genotype as the focal remained inside for longer. By contrast, focal individuals were less likely to emerge from a refuge if partner-genotype group members remained inside for longer. Exploratory behaviour also depended on the identities of both genotypes that composed the group. Together, these findings demonstrate genotype-by-genotype epistasis for exploratory behaviour both within and among groups.

scholarly journals Ethnic markers and the emergence of group-specific norms

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Ozaita ◽  
Andrea Baronchelli ◽  
Angel Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Coordination Games ◽  
Microscopic Mechanism ◽  
Social Traits ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Globalized World

AbstractObservable social traits determine how we interact meaningfully in society even in our globalized world. While a popular hypothesis states that observable traits may help promote cooperation, the alternative explanation that they facilitate coordination has gained ground in recent years. Here we explore this possibility and present a model that investigates the role of ethnic markers in coordination games. In particular, we aim to test the role of reinforcement learning as the microscopic mechanism used by the agents to update their strategies in the game. For a wide range of parameters, we observe the emergence of a collective equilibrium in which markers play an assorting role. However, if individuals are too conformist or too greedy, markers fail to shape social interactions. These results extend and complement previous work focused on agent imitation and show that reinforcement learning is a good candidate to explain many instances where ethnic markers influence coordination.

scholarly journals On the Problem of Social Determination of Tool Behavior of Higher Animals: Structure and Features of "Social Contexts”

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
E.Y. Fedorovich ◽  
E.E. Sokolova
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Wild Population ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Population Research ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Skilled Group

The article provides a review and critical analysis of recent primate wild population research revealing the significance of social interactions ("social contexts") for the development and maintenance of tool behavior in animals from the perspective of the Vygotsky — Leontiev school. As social contexts, we consider the role of "skilled" group members, primarily maternal individuals, as well as artifacts of animal tool activity. We argue that these new data don’t contradict the main statements of cultural and activity psychology regarding the fundamental differences between the psychological mechanisms underlying the process of social determination of animal and humans tool activity: namely, "skilled" animals, unlike humans, do not teach or encourage intentionally the attempts of naive individuals to develop tool actions, nor form their specific ways of handling tools; young primates do not seek help and support in acquiring and performing these actions. In addition, artifacts are perceived by animals primarily as preferred objects that have certain physical characteristics, for example, for extracting food, in contrast to human children, who adopt socially accepted techniques for handling them.

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