Impact of colony size on survival and sanitary strategies in fungus-infected ant colonies

Leclerc, Jean-Baptiste; Detrain, Claire

doi:10.1007/s00265-017-2415-0

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Accordingly, infected dampwood termites show increased immunocompetence and survivorship when raised within a group rather than singly (Traniello et al, 2002). In addition to termites, larger sub-colonies of fungus-infected ants showed quicker rejection of waste and lower mortality rates than their smaller counterparts (Leclerc and Detrain 2018). For these studies, however, Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-020-00754-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Social benefits require a community: the influence of colony size on behavioral immunity in honey bees

et al. 2020

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Emergent properties of eusocial insect colonies (e.g., nest architecture and defense) highlight benefits of group living. Such emergent properties, however, may only function as a benefit if the group is large enough. We tested the effect of group size on colony-level fever in honey bees. When a colony is infected with Ascosphaera apis , a heat-sensitive brood pathogen, adult bees raise the temperature to kill the pathogen and keep brood disease free. In relatively large colonies, we show a rhythm to honey bee fever: colonies inoculated with A. apis generated a fever in the afternoon and at night but not in the morning. In comparison, relatively small colonies did not generate a fever following inoculation, although they invested more in thermoregulation on a "per bee" basis than control colonies. Thus, in small colonies, honey bee fever could be regarded as a cost of group living: individuals futilely exerted valuable energy towards fighting a pathogen. group size constraints / behavioral immunity / thermoregulation / sociality

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Social benefits require a community: the influence of colony size on behavioral immunity in honey bees

et al. 2020

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“…Due to a plethora of hygienic behaviours (L opez-Riquelme & Fanjul-Moles, 2013;Sun & Zhou, 2013;Cremer et al, 2018), ants living in larger groups have usually lower mortality and decreased pathogen transmission (Hughes et al, 2002;Leclerc & Detrain, 2018). We observed a stronger hygienic activity by workers in bigger colonies, which is consistent with the recent finding that larger colonies of a Myrmica species are faster in rejecting elements of waste infested with the spores of a generalist entomopathogenic fungus (Leclerc & Detrain, 2018). If we take into account that necrophoresis is one of the most important social prophylactic mechanisms (Renucci et al, 2011;Diez et al, 2013), this is not surprising.…”

Section: Hygienic Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other important factors influencing collective behaviour in ants are the colony size (Mailleux et al, 2003;Dornhaus et al, 2012;Leclerc & Detrain, 2018) and the experience gained by certain group members (Jeanson & Weidenm€ uller, 2014). In Temnothorax albipennis, the colony size influences some collective behaviours such as the speed with which workers discover new nest sites but does not affect other decision processes which are based on the proportion of individuals involved in distinct tasks rather than on the absolute number of colony members (Dornhaus et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of colony traits on the collective behaviour ofMyrmica scabrinodisants

Maák

Camera

Casacci

et al. 2019

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Eusocial insects exhibit different kinds of collective behaviours which are the outcomes of interactions among several individuals without central control. Ant societies are ideal models to study group behaviours performed by cooperative individuals at caste or at the colony level. In addition to the ecological constraints, such as the costs of maintaining patterns of interactions, the social structure might also affect the collective behaviour in ants. We tested the effect of Myrmica scabrinodis colony traits (number of queens, colony size, and colony age structure) on four major collective behaviours (aggression against intruders, removal of nestmate corpses, foraging, and colony relocation). Our results showed that neither the number of queens nor the colony size affected the level of aggression against non‐nestmates while the efficiency of corpse removal was positively correlated with both traits. The age structure of the colony influenced both the aggressiveness towards non‐nestmates and the hygienic behaviours. Subcolonies containing a higher proportion of young individuals were more aggressive and less efficient in corpse removal. All studied traits affected foraging activity, as one of the most important behaviour in colony life. Some of the ant collective behaviours, like foraging, are determined by many traits and their interaction, while others are mostly determined by one or a few major colony characteristics. Overall, our results suggest that individual tasks which generate collective behaviours depend on different intrinsic traits of the ant colony that make a timely and appropriate behavioural response possible in every situation.

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“…In sharp contrast with our expectations, around half of the colonies dug most of their nest area in the infected side of the set-up. Excavating in a contaminated substrate appears as a counterintuitive and maladaptive behaviour because Metarhizium brunneum fungus is known to be efficient at killing M. rubra workers [ 32 – 35 ]. These findings also contrast with previous studies reporting that insects actively avoid direct physical contact with entomopathogenic fungi [ 36 – 41 ], possibly by perceiving chemicals emitted by fungal spores [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of soil contamination on the growth and shape of ant nests

Leclerc¹,

Silva²,

Detrain³

2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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As entomopathogens are detrimental to the development or even survival of insect societies, ant colonies should avoid digging into a substrate that is contaminated by fungal spores. Here, we test the hypotheses that Myrmica rubra ant workers (i) detect and avoid fungus-infected substrates and (ii) excavate nest patterns that minimize their exposure to entomopathogenic spores. Small groups of M. rubra workers were allowed to dig their nest in a two-dimensional sand plate of which one half of the substrate contained fungal spores of Metarhizium brunneum, while the other half was spore-free. We found that the overall digging dynamics of M. rubra nests was not altered by the presence of fungus spores. By contrast, the shape of the excavated areas markedly differed: control nests showed rather isotropic patterns, whereas nests that were partially dug into a fungus-contaminated substrate markedly deviated from a circular shape. This demonstrates that the sanitary risks associated with a digging substrate are key factors in nest morphogenesis. We also found that M. rubra colonies were able to discriminate between the two substrates (fungus-infected or not). Furthermore, some colonies unexpectedly showed a high consistency in excavating mainly the infected substrate. This seemingly suboptimal preference for a contaminated soil suggests that non-lethal doses of fungal spores could help ant colonies to trigger ‘immune priming’. The presence of fungi may also indicate favourable ecological conditions, such as humid and humus-rich soil, that ants use as a cue for selecting suitable nesting sites.

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Impact of colony size on survival and sanitary strategies in fungus-infected ant colonies

Cited by 16 publications

References 80 publications

Social benefits require a community: the influence of colony size on behavioral immunity in honey bees

Social benefits require a community: the influence of colony size on behavioral immunity in honey bees

The influence of colony traits on the collective behaviour ofMyrmica scabrinodisants

Impact of soil contamination on the growth and shape of ant nests

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