Body Size Differences between Foraging and Intranidal Workers of the Monomorphic Ant Lasius niger

Okrutniak, Mateusz; Rom, Bartosz; Turza, Filip; Grześ, Irena M.

doi:10.3390/insects11070433

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…Older and larger L. niger laboratory colonies tend to produce workers of different sizes with a two-peak size distribution [11]. Recent studies show that in L. niger , worker size is not directly correlated with internal or external labour [64]. We assume that the large differences in worker size are mainly due to differences in the size and thus the age of the colonies, since in other ant species the size of the colonies correlates with the size of the workers [65].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations of serotonin in the visual system of an ant revealed by immunofluorescence and a machine learning approach

Bolder

Jung

Stern³

2022

R. Soc. open sci.

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Hibernation, as an adaptation to seasonal environmental changes in temperate or boreal regions, has profound effects on mammalian brains. Social insects of temperate regions hibernate as well, but despite abundant knowledge on structural and functional plasticity in insect brains, the question of how seasonal activity variations affect insect central nervous systems has not yet been thoroughly addressed. Here, we studied potential variations of serotonin-immunoreactivity in visual information processing centres in the brain of the long-lived ant species Lasius niger . Quantitative immunofluorescence analysis revealed stronger serotonergic signals in the lamina and medulla of the optic lobes of wild or active laboratory workers than in hibernating animals. Instead of statistical inference by testing, differentiability of seasonal serotonin-immunoreactivity was confirmed by a machine learning analysis using convolutional artificial neuronal networks (ANNs) with the digital immunofluorescence images as input information. Machine learning models revealed additional differences in the third visual processing centre, the lobula. We further investigated these results by gradient-weighted class activation mapping. We conclude that seasonal activity variations are represented in the ant brain, and that machine learning by ANNs can contribute to the discovery of such variations.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations of serotonin in the visual system of an ant revealed by immunofluorescence and a machine learning approach

Bolder

Jung

Stern³

2022

R. Soc. open sci.

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“…The black garden ant is a very common species in Western Europe where it predominantly inhabits urban habitats 79 . For this species, the absence of polymorphism between workers 80 , 81 and the monogyny of the colonies reduce the potential sources of variation other than age and caste. In laboratory conditions, black garden ant workers have been shown to live 310 days on average and up to 1094 days, ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Both age and social environment shape the phenotype of ant workers

Quque

Brun

Villette

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Position within the social group has consequences on individual lifespans in diverse taxa. This is especially obvious in eusocial insects, where workers differ in both the tasks they perform and their aging rates. However, in eusocial wasps, bees and ants, the performed task usually depends strongly on age. As such, untangling the effects of social role and age on worker physiology is a key step towards understanding the coevolution of sociality and aging. We performed an experimental protocol that allowed a separate analysis of these two factors using four groups of black garden ant (Lasius niger) workers: young foragers, old foragers, young nest workers, and old nest workers. We highlighted age-related differences in the proteome and metabolome of workers that were primarily related to worker subcaste and only secondarily to age. The relative abundance of proteins and metabolites suggests an improved xenobiotic detoxification, and a fuel metabolism based more on lipid use than carbohydrate use in young ants, regardless of their social role. Regardless of age, proteins related to the digestive function were more abundant in nest workers than in foragers. Old foragers were mostly characterized by weak abundances of molecules with an antibiotic activity or involved in chemical communication. Finally, our results suggest that even in tiny insects, extended lifespan may require to mitigate cancer risks. This is consistent with results found in eusocial rodents and thus opens up the discussion of shared mechanisms among distant taxa and the influence of sociality on life history traits such as longevity.

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“…The black garden ant is a very common species in Western Europe where it predominantly inhabits urban habitats (74). For this species, the absence of dimorphism between workers (discussed in 75, 76) and the monogyny of the colonies reduce the potential sources of variation other than age and caste. In laboratory conditions, black garden ant workers have been shown to live 310 days on average and up to 1094 days, ca.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Both social environment and chronological age shape the physiology of ant workers

Quque¹,

Brun²,

Villette

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Position within the social group has consequences on individual lifespans in diverse taxa. This is especially obvious in eusocial insects, where workers differ in both the tasks they perform and their aging rates. However, in eusocial wasps, bees and ants, the performed task usually depends strongly on age. As such, untangling the effects of social role and age on worker physiology is a key step towards understanding the coevolution of sociality and aging. We performed an experimental protocol that allowed a separate analysis of these two factors using four groups of black garden ant (Lasius niger) workers: young foragers, old foragers, young nest workers, and old nest workers. We highlighted age-related differences in the proteome and metabolome of workers that were primarily related to worker subcaste and only secondarily to age. The relative abundance of proteins and metabolites suggests an improved xenobiotic detoxification, and a fuel metabolism based more on lipid use than carbohydrate use in young ants, regardless of their social role. Regardless of age, proteins related to the digestive function were more abundant in nest workers than in foragers. Old foragers were mostly characterized by weak abundances of molecules with an antibiotic activity or involved in chemical communication. Finally, our results suggest that even in tiny species, extended lifespan may require to mitigate cancer risks. This is consistent with results found in eusocial rodents and thus opens up the discussion of shared mechanisms among distant taxa and the influence of sociality on life history traits such as longevity.

show abstract

Body Size Differences between Foraging and Intranidal Workers of the Monomorphic Ant Lasius niger

Cited by 12 publications

References 38 publications

Seasonal variations of serotonin in the visual system of an ant revealed by immunofluorescence and a machine learning approach

Seasonal variations of serotonin in the visual system of an ant revealed by immunofluorescence and a machine learning approach

Both age and social environment shape the phenotype of ant workers

Both social environment and chronological age shape the physiology of ant workers

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