Glandular sources of recruitment, trail, and propaganda semiochemicals in the slave-making ant<i>Polyergus rufescens</i>

Visicchio, R.; Mori, Alessandra; Grasso, Donató A.; Castracani, Cristina; Moli, F. Le

doi:10.1080/08927014.2001.9522767

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Workers employ a battery of chemical compounds during raids on Formica nests. Polyergus use trail pheromones and propaganda substances that disrupt Formica colony defences (Visicchio et al, 2001). This suggests greater reliance on chemical communication and chemical cognition accompanied the evolution of Polyergus slave-making.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These specialized behavioural acts may involve substantial sensory and cognitive processing. Slave‐maker workers may be more reliant on chemical communication than their Formica host workers because Polyergus employ several functionally distinct pheromones during raids on Formica nests (Visicchio et al ., ). As in other social Hymenoptera, the ant brain is divided among anatomically distinct regions that process sensory input from the antennae (mainly olfactory information) and visual input from the compound eyes (Gronenberg, , ; Gronenberg & Hölldobler, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for adaptive brain tissue reduction in obligate social parasites (Polyergus mexicanus) relative to their hosts (Formica fusca)

Sulger

McAloon

Bulova

et al. 2014

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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Brain investment is evolutionarily constrained by high costs of neural tissue. Several ecological factors favour the evolution of increased brain investment; we predict reduced brain region investment will accompany the evolution of organismal or social parasitism when parasites rely on host behaviour and cognition to solve ecological problems. To test this idea we investigated whether brain region investments differed between obligate slave‐making Polyergus mexicanus ant workers and their Formica fusca slave workers. Polyergus workers perform little labour for their colonies; enslaved workers of Formica host species forage, excavate nests and tend the brood. We focused on the calyces of the mushroom bodies, central processing brain regions that are larger in social insect workers that perform complex tasks. As predicted we found lower relative investment in mushroom body calyx in P. mexicanus workers than in F. fusca workers; by contrast, enslaved and free F. fusca workers did not differ in mushroom body calyx volume. We then tested whether slave‐makers and hosts differed in brain investment among sensory modalities. Polyergus slave‐makers employ several unique classes of pheromones during raids, and eye size relative to head size was smaller in P. mexicanus workers than in F. fusca workers. The size of antennal brain tissues relative to visual tissues was greater in Polyergus, both in the peripheral sensory lobes and in the mushroom body calyx, suggesting greater relative investment in antennal processing by slave‐makers. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113, 415–422.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for adaptive brain tissue reduction in obligate social parasites (Polyergus mexicanus) relative to their hosts (Formica fusca)

Sulger

McAloon

Bulova

et al. 2014

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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“…Dufour's gland is the source of trail pheromone in Solenopsis species (Robert, et al, 1989), in Pheidole fallax Mayr (Wilson 1963), in M. destructor (Ritter et al, 1980), in Gnamptogenys menadensis (subfamily Ponerinae) (Gobin et al, 1998), in the slave-making ant Polyergus rufescens (Visicchio et al, 2001), in M. mayri (Mashaly, 2010), in the samsum ant Pachycondyla sennaarensis (Mashaly et al, 2011) and in Messor meridionalis and M. foreli (Mashaly, 2011).…”

Section: Source Of Trail Pheromonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trail Pheromones in Pest Control

Mashaly¹,

Ali²,

Al‐Khalifa³

2012

New Perspectives in Plant Protection

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“…In the context of interspecific slavery in ants, the reciprocal adaptations of host and parasite species may involve different aspects of their biology, among which the founding stage (by host colony usurpation) and the slave raids have a crucial importance Brandt et al 2005). In both cases, amazing coadaptive responses by hosts and parasites have been described at different levels (see, for example, Billen et al 2001;Lenoir et al 2001;Mori et al 2001;Visicchio et al 2001;Foitzik et al 2003;D'Ettorre et al 2004). Concerning the slave raids, the attacks can be conducted several times per year and have an extremely destructive effect (Hö lldobler & Wilson 1990;Mori et al 1991;Le Moli et al 1994;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The defensive behaviour of twoFormicaslave‐ant species: coevolutive implications with their parasitePolyergus rufescens(Hymenoptera, Formicidae)†

Tamarri

Castracani

Grasso

et al. 2009

Italian Journal of Zoology

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The cooperative defence in ant societies is a suitable system that can keep the integrity of the colonies from threats represented by competitors, predators and parasites. This is due to the presence of a well-organized alarm communication system that induces defensive behaviours. Alarm reaction of Formica cunicularia and F. rufibarbis ant species was investigated by means of laboratory tests presenting different kinds of threatening stimuli (ants from alien colonies, homospecific and heterospecific) to colony fragments. Results show that both species react to a potential threat to the colony with an aggressive alarm instead of a panic alarm, characterized by a prompt exit of workers from the nest, attraction towards the stimulus and aggressive behaviours. Moreover they seem to feature the phenomenon of the 'Enemy Specification' towards their obligate parasite Polyergus rufescens. This could be considered as a result of a reciprocal adaptation between host and parasite. Furthermore, the comparison between the alarm reaction of the two studied species shows that F. rufibarbis seems to be more aggressive than F. cunicularia towards the parasite; this result could add a further clarification about the preference of the parasite towards F. cunicularia as host species.

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Glandular sources of recruitment, trail, and propaganda semiochemicals in the slave-making antPolyergus rufescens

Cited by 26 publications

References 27 publications

Evidence for adaptive brain tissue reduction in obligate social parasites (Polyergus mexicanus) relative to their hosts (Formica fusca)

Evidence for adaptive brain tissue reduction in obligate social parasites (Polyergus mexicanus) relative to their hosts (Formica fusca)

Trail Pheromones in Pest Control

The defensive behaviour of twoFormicaslave‐ant species: coevolutive implications with their parasitePolyergus rufescens(Hymenoptera, Formicidae)†

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