Division of labour and seasonality in the ant Leptothorax albipennis: worker corpulence and its influence on behaviour

Blanchard, Guy B.; Orledge, Glenda M.; Reynolds, Stuart E.; Franks, Nigel R.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1999.1374

Cited by 80 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…The data from these species support the hypothesis that lipid depletion is associated with foraging behavior in some ants (Blanchard et al 2000;Smith et al 2011) as well as other social insect species Daugherty et al 2011). Interestingly, two species, S. invicta and F. fusca, did not show the expected pattern in lipid stores, suggesting that the relationship between lipid stores and foraging behavior may not be universal across ant species.…”

Section: Lipid Depletion and Foraging Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…In species with age-related polyethism, foraging tasks tends to be performed by older workers; in species with morphologically distinct sub-castes, foragers specialize in this behavior and rarely perform other behaviors such as brood care or nest maintenance. Advances in understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying the onset of foraging behavior have focused on differences in juvenile hormone (Robinson 1987;Robinson et al 1989, reviewed in Robinson 1992, factors such as ovarian or fat body development (Kondoh 1968;Porter and Jorgensen 1981;MacKay 1983;Hölldobler and Wilson 1990;O'Donnell and Jeanne 1995;Fénéron et al 1996) and on individual and colony nutrient stores (Wheeler and Martinez 1995;Blanchard et al 2000;Hahn 2006;Daugherty et al 2011;Smith et al 2011;Mayack and Naug 2013). In this paper, we focus on the links between foraging behavior, food preference and worker nutrient levels in multiple ant species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All ants have the ability to store nutrients within their crops, fat bodies, and as corporeal protein, including structural, enzymatic, and hemolymph proteins (Stradling 1987) with the most common reserve as internal fat storage (Blanchard et al 2000;Hahn 2006). Protein and lipid stores differ during ant development (Wheeler and Buck 1992;Wheeler and Martinez 1995;Tschinkel 1998) and at different times of the year (Vinson 1968;Tschinkel 1993;Judd 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Protein and lipid stores differ during ant development (Wheeler and Buck 1992;Wheeler and Martinez 1995;Tschinkel 1998) and at different times of the year (Vinson 1968;Tschinkel 1993;Judd 2006). In some ants, lipid or fat stores have been found to be negatively associated with foraging propensity (Tschinkel 1998;Blanchard et al 2000;Hahn 2006); these studies have involved species that utilize a primarily lipid-based energy source. Little is known about ant species that rely on carbohydrate-or protein-based metabolism and whether these species share the negative association between lipid depletion and behavior, or whether reduced stores of alternative energy sources provide foraging cues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutrient stores predict task behaviors in diverse ant species

2016

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In eusocial species, including ants and honeybees, sterile or non-reproductive workers can specialize in task-specific behaviors, such as brood care and foraging for food. The mechanisms underlying task-specific behaviors include genetic, physiological and environmental factors. Here we compare corporeal nutrient storage in nine species that differ in primary food preferences (carbohydrate-, protein-or lipid-based diet) to test whether foraging behavior is associated with lower individual nutrient stores. We also investigate whether low nutrient stores are limited to foragers or occur in other external, morphologically distinct, worker sub-castes. In six out of eight species where both brood care workers and foragers were sampled, foragers had significantly lower nutrient stores relative to brood care workers; the exceptions were two Solenopsis species. Foragers from five of these six species had lower lipid levels, supporting the link between lipid content and foraging behaviors reported in previous studies. Interestingly, three species had lower levels of both lipid and carbohydrate stores in foragers relative to brood care workers, and foragers of one species, Formica fusca, had lower carbohydrate levels but not lipid levels, suggesting that the association between nutrient stores and foraging behavior is not universal across ant species or across all seasons. In all three species with morphologically distinct sub-castes, lipid levels were lowest in non-foraging, external workers, i.e., majors or soldiers, indicating an additional link between nutrient depletion and the allocation of external tasks other than foraging.

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Section: Lipid Depletion and Foraging Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Nutrient stores predict task behaviors in diverse ant species

2016

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“…Large lipid stores may be functionally associated with nursing behavior because bees that are forced to revert from foraging to brood care do not regain large lipid reserves and are not as good at rearing brood as typical nurses (13). The striking loss of abdominal lipid that occurs before the onset of foraging (12) is thought to increase individual foraging performance (14). (iv) Nutritional differences between nurses and foragers occur even though all colony members are exposed to the same food stores inside the hive, further suggesting close coupling of nutritional status and behavior.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Insulin signaling is involved in the regulation of worker division of labor in honey bee colonies

Ament

Corona

Pollock

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

307

341

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It has been proposed that one route of behavioral evolution involves novel regulation of conserved genes. Age-related division of labor in honey bee colonies, a highly derived behavioral system, involves the performance of different feeding-related tasks by different groups of individuals. Older bees acquire the colony's food by foraging for nectar and pollen, and the younger ''nurse'' bees feed larvae processed foods. The transition from hive work to foraging has been shown to be socially regulated and associated both with decreases in abdominal lipid stores and with increases in brain expression of genes implicated in feeding behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. Here we show that division of labor is influenced by a canonical regulator of food intake and energy balance in solitary species, the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) pathway. Foragers had higher levels of IIS gene expression in the brain and abdomen than did nurses, despite their low lipid stores. These differences are likely nutritionally mediated because manipulations that induced low lipid stores in young bees also up-regulated these genes. Changes in IIS also causally influenced the timing of behavioral maturation: inhibition of the insulin-related target of rapamycin pathway delayed the onset of foraging in a seasonally dependent manner. In addition, pathway analyses of microarray data revealed that nurses and foragers differ in brain energy metabolism gene expression, but the differences are opposite predictions based on their insulin-signaling status. These results suggest that changes in the regulation of the IIS pathway are associated with social behavior.Apis mellifera ͉ behavioral maturation ͉ social insect ͉ nutrition ͉ foraging A n important problem in biology is to understand the molecular basis for complex behavior. It has been proposed that one route of behavioral evolution involves novel regulation of conserved genes (1). It is well established that orthologous sets of genes regulate the development of body plans across taxa (2), but this idea has only recently begun to be tested for behavior (3,4).Age-related division of labor in honey bee colonies involves the performance of different food-related tasks by different groups of individuals. Nurse bees feed brood for the first 1-2 weeks of adult life, process and store food for another week, and then shift to foraging for nectar and pollen at Ϸ2-3 weeks of age (5). This division of labor is socially regulated; bees speed up, slow down, or reverse their maturation in response to colony needs (6). Although the mechanics of foraging in honey bees are similar to food-gathering in solitary bees, there are fundamental differences. Honey bees forage to improve the fitness of the colony rather than their own; they collect food when their colony needs it. Honey bees feed on honey before exiting the hive to fuel their foraging flights, and most of the food obtained on a foraging trip is not for their own sustenance.We hypothesized that the regulation of honey bee behavioral mat...

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Methuselah’s daughters: Paternal age has little effect on offspring number and quality in Cardiocondyla ants

Heınze

Hanoeffner

Delabie

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Male age may directly or indirectly affect the fitness of their female mating partners and their joint progeny. While in some taxa of insects, old males make better mates and fathers, young males excel in others. Males of most social Hymenoptera are relatively short lived and because of testis degeneration have only a limited sperm supply. In contrast, the wingless fighter males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior live for several weeks and produce sperm throughout their lives. Wingless males engage in lethal combat with rival males and the winner of such fights can monopolize mating with all female sexuals that emerge in their nests over a prolonged timespan. Here, we investigate if male age has an influence on sperm quality, the queen's lifespan and productivity, and the size and weight of their offspring. Queens mated to one‐week or six‐week‐old males did not differ in life expectancy and offspring production, but the daughters of young males were slightly heavier than those of old males. Our data suggest negligible reproductive senescence of C. obscurior males even at an age, which only few of them reach. This matches the reproductive strategy of Cardiocondyla ants, in which freshly emerging female sexuals rarely have the option to mate with males other than the one present in their natal nest.

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Division of labour and seasonality in the ant Leptothorax albipennis: worker corpulence and its influence on behaviour

Cited by 80 publications

References 47 publications

Nutrient stores predict task behaviors in diverse ant species

Nutrient stores predict task behaviors in diverse ant species

Insulin signaling is involved in the regulation of worker division of labor in honey bee colonies

Methuselah’s daughters: Paternal age has little effect on offspring number and quality in Cardiocondyla ants

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