Impact of worker longevity and other endogenous factors on colony size in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

Asano, Erika; Cassill, Deby L.

doi:10.1007/s00040-011-0179-5

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Alternatively, Tschinkel () hypothesised that body size and colony size should increase together, given that larger individuals live longer, thus decreasing individual turnover rate. Accordingly, simulations based on the model ant Solenopsis invicta Buren showed that the two main endogenous traits regulating colony size are queen reproductive rate and worker longevity (Asano & Cassill, ), both of which increase with body size across ant species (Shik et al , ). We suggest that this mechanism may also account for the pattern observed within termite lifestyles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology shapes metabolic and life history scalings in termites

Pequeno

Baccaro

Souza

et al. 2016

Ecological Entomology

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1. Metabolic rate (B) is a fundamental property of organisms, and scales with body mass (M) as B = αMβ. There has been much debate on whether scaling parameters should be viewed as constants or variables. However, there is increasing evidence that ecological differentiation can affect both α and β. 2. In colonial organisms such as social insects, individual metabolism is integrated at the colony level. Theory and data suggest that whole‐colony metabolism partly reflects individual‐level metabolic and life‐history scalings, but whether these have been affected by ecological diversification is little known. 3. Here, this issue was addressed using termites. Data from the literature were assembled to assess the interspecific scalings of individual metabolic rate with individual mass, and of individual mass with colony mass. Concurrently, it was tested whether such scalings were affected by two key ecological traits: lifestyle and diet. 4. Individual‐level metabolic scaling was affected by diet, with β = 1.02 in wood feeders and 0.60 in soil feeders. However, there was no difference in α. Further, individual mass scaled to the 0.25 power with colony mass, but forager species had larger colonies and smaller individuals relative to wood‐dwelling, sedentary ones, thus producing a grade shift. 5. Our results show that ecological diversification has affected fundamental metabolic and life‐history scalings in termites. Thus, theory on the energetics and evolution of colonial life should account for this variability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology shapes metabolic and life history scalings in termites

Pequeno

Baccaro

Souza

et al. 2016

Ecological Entomology

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“…When resources are not limiting, colony growth depends on three main factors: egg‐laying rate, worker mortality rate and brood development time (Asano & Cassill , ). Increased temperatures tend to speed up egg‐laying rates (Abril, Oliveras & Gómez ) and brood development (Porter ; Kipyatkov et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When resources are not limiting, colony growth depends on three main factors: egg-laying rate, worker mortality rate and brood development time (Asano & Cassill 2011. Increased temperatures tend to speed up egg-laying rates (Abril, Oliveras & G omez 2008) and brood development (Porter 1988;Kipyatkov et al 2004;Kipyatkov, Lopatina & Imamgaliev 2005;Abril, Oliveras & G omez 2010;Karlick et al 2016) while simultaneously increasing worker mortality (Calabi & Porter 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond thermal limits: comprehensive metrics of performance identify key axes of thermal adaptation in ants

et al. 2017

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Summary How species respond to temperature change depends in large part on their physiology. Physiological traits, such as critical thermal limits (CTmax and CTmin), provide estimates of thermal performance but may not capture the full impacts of temperature on fitness. Rather, thermal performance likely depends on a combination of traits—including thermal limits—that vary among species. Here, we examine how thermal limits correlate with the main components that influence fitness in ants. First, we compare how temperature affected colony survival and growth in two ant species that differ in their responses to warming in the field—Aphaenogaster rudis (heat‐intolerant) and Temnothorax curvispinosus (heat‐tolerant). We then extended our study to compare CTmax, thermal requirements of brood and yearly activity season among a broader set of ant species. While thermal limits were higher for workers of T. curvispinosus than A. rudis, T. curvispinosus colonies also required higher temperatures for survival and colony growth. This pattern generalized across 17 ant species, such that species whose foragers had a high CTmax also required higher temperatures for brood development. Finally, species whose foragers had a high CTmax had relatively short activity seasons compared with less heat‐tolerant species. The relationships between CTmax, thermal requirements of brood and seasonal activity suggest two main strategies for growth and development in changing thermal environments: one where ants forage at higher temperatures over a short activity season and another where ants forage at lower temperatures for an extended activity season. Where species fall on this spectrum may influence a broad range of life‐history characteristics and aid in explaining the current distributions of ants as well as their responses to future climate change. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12816/suppinfo is available for this article.

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“…Al-Khafaji et al (2009) suggest that increasing worker lifespan could interact with worker production rate to shape colony reproduction, depending on environmental conditions. Selection for worker longevity and/or production rate can increase and maintain larger colony size in ants (Asano and Cassill 2011). Honey bee workers in small colonies actually live longer than those in large colonies; this may reflect an increase in risk-taking behavior in large colonies, which are better able to buffer worker loss, or a switch in colony life history stage from growth and survival to reproduction (Rueppell et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Selection for worker longevity in respect to its adaptive impact on colony size has received little attention. Asano and Cassill (2011) found that when egg-laying rate was simulated to vary with the number of 4 th instar larvae, colony size was determined by worker longevity. Relatively short worker lifespans are attributed to extrinsic mortality resulting from high-risk worker behaviors that buffer the queen to environmental hazards (Asano and Cassill 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worker senescence and the sociobiology of aging in ants

Giraldo

Traniello

2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Senescence, the decline in physiological and behavioral function with increasing age, has been the focus of significant theoretical and empirical research in a broad array of animal taxa. Preeminent among invertebrate social models of aging are ants, a diverse and ecologically dominant clade of eusocial insects characterized by reproductive and sterile phenotypes. In this review, we critically examine selection for worker lifespan in ants and discuss the relationship between functional senescence, longevity, task performance, and colony fitness. We did not find strong or consistent support for the hypothesis that demographic senescence in ants is programmed, or its corollary prediction that workers that do not experience extrinsic mortality die at an age approximating their lifespan in nature. We present seven hypotheses concerning how selection could favor extended worker lifespan through its positive relationship to colony size and predict that large colony size, under some conditions, should confer multiple and significant fitness advantages. Fitness benefits derived from long worker lifespan could be mediated by increased resource acquisition, efficient division of labor, accuracy of collective decision-making, enhanced allomaternal care and colony defense, lower infection risk, and decreased energetic costs of workforce maintenance. We suggest future avenues of research to examine the evolution of worker lifespan and its relationship to colony fitness, and conclude that an innovative fusion of sociobiology, senescence theory, and mechanistic studies of aging can improve our understanding of the adaptive nature of worker lifespan in ants.

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Impact of worker longevity and other endogenous factors on colony size in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Ecology shapes metabolic and life history scalings in termites

Ecology shapes metabolic and life history scalings in termites

Beyond thermal limits: comprehensive metrics of performance identify key axes of thermal adaptation in ants

Worker senescence and the sociobiology of aging in ants

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