A preliminary survey of colony division and related processes in two species of terrestrial army ants

Schneirla, T. C.

doi:10.1007/bf02230667

Cited by 25 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…First, resource abundance (density of ant swarms and insects flushed by ant swarms) was remarkably similar at the time of this study between the competitor‐absent and competitor‐present sites (Touchton & Smith ). Second, the army ant density documented at the time of this study (Touchton & Smith ) is similar to previous reports in the competitor‐absent site from multiple censuses that have occurred over time since 1949 to the present day, prior to (Schneirla , ; Willis ), and following the demise (Franks ; Touchton & Smith ) of ocellated antbirds. Yet, though recent differences in foraging resources are not observed, differences in prey density or behaviour could have occurred between 1970 and the present.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Touchton

Wikelski

2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. Loss of a dominant competitor can open ecological opportunities. Ecological opportunities are considered prerequisites for adaptive radiations. Nonetheless, initiation of diversification in response to ecological opportunity is seldom observed, so we know little about the stages by which behavioural variation either increases or coalesces into distinct phenotypes. 2. Here, a natural experiment showed that in a tropical island's guild of army ant-following birds, a new behavioural phenotype emerged in subordinate spotted antbirds (Hylophylax naevioides) after the socially dominant ocellated antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani) died out. 3. Individuals with this behavioural phenotype are less territorial; instead, they roam in search of ant swarms where they feed in locations from which dominant competitors formerly excluded them. Roaming individuals fledge more young than territorial individuals. 4. We conclude that ecological opportunity arising from species loss may enhance the success of alternative behavioural phenotypes and can favour further intraspecific diversification in life-history traits in surviving species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Touchton

Wikelski

2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…The following SP, on the other hand, does not differ in length from a SP with an all worker brood. Inside the statary bivouac, however, the workers become increasingly attracted to either the old queen or one of the developing callow queens, which leads to a subdivision of the bivouac and ultimately (when the adult males emerge) to colony fission (for detailed accounts see Schneirla, 1956;1971).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six weeks in the life of a reproducing army ant colony: male parentage and colony behaviour

et al. 2007

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The army ant Eciton burchellii is one of the most conspicuous ant species in New World tropical forests, but studies of colony life histories have been hampered by the nomadic lifestyle of these ants, which alternate between a nomadic phase when the colony relocates frequently, and a statary phase when the colony remains at a fixed site. Here we report on a colony from Venezuela that we studied continuously for six weeks, from the time that the queen produced a reproductive brood until the adult reproductives emerged and the colony entered the next cycle. Our findings support the contention that reproductive larvae develop faster than worker larvae, and that the nomadic phases of colonies with reproductive broods are significantly shorter than those of colonies with worker broods. This strongly suggests that the onset of pupation is linked to the onset of the statary phase. We used microsatellite genotyping to accurately identify male and queen larvae and we describe how they can be distinguished morphologically. Using the same genetic markers, we determined the parentage of 81 males produced by this colony. Only one of the males had a genotype that could not be directly derived from the observed queen genotype, but this mismatch is most probably due to a single mutation at one of the microsatellite loci, rather than this male being a worker son. We therefore conclude that this colony provides no evidence that workers lay eggs that develop into adult males in the presence of the queen, confirming the results of an earlier study on male parentage in an Old World army ant.

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“…This species attacks colonies of social insects in column raids. E. burchelli, in contrast, is a swarm raider and hunts not only social insects but also many other species including crickets, spiders, scorpions, snakes, and nestling birds (Schneirla, 1956;Rettenmeyer, 1963;Vieira and Höfer, 1994). Africa is dominated by army ants of the subfamily Dorylinae.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This subfamily comprises about 60 species of Aenictus, more than 40 of which are distributed in this tropical area (Gotwald, 1995). Schneirla andReyes (1966, 1969) studied the life history of Aenictus species and found that these army ants are nearly monomorphic column raiders and their emigrations seem to be caused by stimulative activities of recently food-depleted larvae. They and Chapman (1964) suggested that the species of Aenictus are almost specialized as ant-eaters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food habits of Aenictus army ants and their effects on the ant community in a rain forest of Borneo

2000

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In a rain forest at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo, we observed the food habits of Aenictus laeviceps and A. gracilis and surveyed the effects of A. laeviceps on the general ant community. We collected totals of 2,360 and 6,268 prey units, respectively, from seven A. laeviceps and six A. gracilis colonies; ants constituted 99.9% of all prey units. Dominant prey genera were Camponotus (48.2% in wet weight), Pseudolasius (20.8%), and Polyrhachis (15.2%) in A. laeviceps and Technomymex (52.1%), Paratrechina (22.4%), and Crematogaster (11.9%) in A. gracilis. A. laeviceps primarily hunted larger ground ants with small-or medium-sized colonies; in contrast, A. gracilis frequently foraged on smaller arboreal ants with larger colonies. Of the total wet weight of prey ants, brood constituted 88.7% in A. laeviceps and only 68.7% in A. gracilis. This was probably because workers of A. gracilis were quicker in behavior and hunted adult workers more frequently than A. laeviceps. While 98.5% of the prey units were transported by single workers of A. gracilis, 71.5% were carried by up to 20 A. laeviceps workers. The numbers of ant colonies and species were significantly smaller in laeviceps-raided quadrats than in controls. This was mostly due to the escape of ants that nested under litter and had relatively larger colonies. Large colonies usually influence the foundation and establishment of incipient small colonies.

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A preliminary survey of colony division and related processes in two species of terrestrial army ants

Cited by 25 publications

References 4 publications

Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Ecological opportunity leads to the emergence of an alternative behavioural phenotype in a tropical bird

Six weeks in the life of a reproducing army ant colony: male parentage and colony behaviour

Food habits of Aenictus army ants and their effects on the ant community in a rain forest of Borneo

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