Mortality risk versus food quality trade‐offs in ants: patch use over time

Nonacs, Peter; Dill, Lawrence M.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1991.tb00194.x

Cited by 40 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Because the two measurements were made at approximately the same times and places, dimensionless ratios can legitimately be compared across colonies and species. In contrast, neither SUCmin nor AAmin alone can be compared because of possible disparities in proximity to nests, perceived risk while foraging, and other variables influencing feeding selectivity (Davidson 1978;Nonacs and Dill 1991).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Ecological stoichiometry of ants in a New World rain forest

Davidson

2004

Oecologia

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C:N stoichiometry was investigated in relation to diet (delta(15)N), N-deprivation, and worker body size for a diverse assemblage of tropical Amazonian ants. Relative nitrogen (N) deprivation was assayed for 54 species as an exchange ratio (ER), defined as SUCmin/AAmin, or the minimum sucrose concentration, divided by the minimum amino acid concentration, accepted as food by >/=50% of tested workers. On average, N-deprivation (ER) was almost fivefold greater for N-omnivorous and N-herbivorous (N-OH) taxa than for N-carnivores. In two-way ANOVAs at three taxonomic levels (species and species groups, genera, and tribes), higher ER was associated with small body size and (marginally) with less carnivorous diets. ERs did not differ systematically between trophobiont-tending and "leaf-foraging" functional groups, but specialized wound-feeders and coccid-tenders were prominent among high ER taxa. Paradoxically, some high ER taxa were among the most predatory members of their genera or subfamilies. Biomass % N was lower in N-OH taxa than in carnivores and varied inversely with N-deprivation (log ER) in the former taxa only. In an expanded data set, N-content increased allometrically in N-OHs, N-carnivores, and all ants combined, and with carnivory in large-bodied ants only. Exceptional taxa included small-bodied and predaceous Wasmannia, with high % N despite high ER, and Linepithema, with the lowest % N despite high delta(15)N. Patterns in C:N stoichiometry are explained largely at the genus level and above by elemental composition of alarm/defensive/offensive chemical weaponry and, perhaps in some cases, by reduced N investment in cuticle in taxa with high surface:volume ratios. Several consequences of C:N stoichiometry identify Azteca, and possibly Crematogaster, as taxa preadapted for their roles as prominent associates of myrmecophytes. C:N stoichiometry of ants should be incorporated into models of strategic colony design and examined in a phylogenetic context as opportunities permit.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Ecological stoichiometry of ants in a New World rain forest

Davidson

2004

Oecologia

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“…All colonies experienced at least one trial with risk and one trial without risk for each of the four possible relative differences in patch concentrations (but not all of the 10 possible pairings of absolute patch value). One trial (either 4 or 24 h long) was run every 2nd d. With respect to the goals of this study, trial length was not a significant factor and the pattern of patch use over time is considered elsewhere (Nonacs and Dill 1990).…”

Section: Patch Choice Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mortality Risk vs. Food Quality Trade‐Offs in a Common Currency: Ant Patch Preferences

Nonacs¹,

Dill²

1990

Ecology

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188

137

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Many studies have shown that predation risk affects foraging behavior, but quantitative predictions are rare because of the lack of a common currency for energy intake and mortality. This problem is soluble in ants. We gave 12 Lasius pallitarsis colonies the choice between foraging in two patches that differed both in food quality and in associated mortality risk. We independently measured the growth that colonies could achieve on the diets offered in those patches. With no risk at either patch, colonies always preferred the higher food quality patch. When mortality risk (a large Formica subnuda ant) was associated with the trail to the higher food quality patch, the use of that patch depended on the magnitude of the growth differential between feeding in risky or safe patches: the greater the benefit of feeding in the risky patch, the greater was its relative usage. Colonies valued risky patches equally to safe patches at the point where forager mortality rates were approximately offset by colony growth gain. This ability to reduce mortality risk while foraging may be a factor that favors insect sociality, in general.

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“…Success in this competition depends on various factors, among which are species-speci®c dierences between the involved homopteran and ant species (Addicott 1978;Bristow 1984), density-dependent eects (Itioka and Inoue 1996), host plant quality (Auclair 1963;Breton and Addicott 1992) and seasonal dierences in the honeydew demand of the ants (Sudd and Sudd 1983;Fischer et al 1997). On the other hand, ants should respond more intensively to more pro®table resources (Davidson 1978;Krebs and Kacelnik 1991;Nonacs and Dill 1991;Roces and Nunez 1993;Bonser et al 1998). In the ant-aphid mutualism, such signi®cant dierences in patch quality may result from dierences in aphid colony size (Addicott 1979), from dierences in colony distance to the nest (Scheurer 1971) and from dierences in honeydew quality (Sudd and Sudd 1983;Cherix 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant-aphid mutualisms: the impact of honeydew production and honeydew sugar composition on ant preferences

et al. 1999

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The honeydew composition and production of four aphid species feeding on Tanacetum vulgare, and mutualistic relationships with the ant Lasius niger were studied. In honeydew of Metopeurum fuscoviride and Brachycaudus cardui, xylose, glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, melezitose, and raffinose were detected. The proportion of trisaccharides (melezitose, raffinose) ranged between 20% and 35%. No trisaccharides were found in honeydew of Aphis fabae, and honeydew of Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria consisted of only xylose, glucose and sucrose. M. fuscoviride produced by far the largest amounts of honeydew per time unit (880 μg/aphid per hour), followed by B. cardui (223 μg/aphid per hour), A. fabae (133 μg/aphid per hour) and M. tanacetaria (46 μg/aphid per hour). The qualitative and quantitative honeydew production of the aphid species corresponded well with the observed attendance by L. niger. L. niger workers preferred trisaccharides over disaccharides and monosaccharides when these sugars were offered in choice tests. The results are consistent with the ants' preference for M. fuscoviride, which produced the largest amount of honeydew including a considerable proportion of the trisaccharides melezitose and raffinose. The preference of L. niger for B. cardui over A. fabae, both producing similar amounts of honeydew, may be explained by the presence of trisaccharides and the higher total sugar concentration in B. cardui honeydew. M. tanacetaria, which produced only low quantities of honeydew with no trisaccharides was not attended at all by L. niger.

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Mortality risk versus food quality trade‐offs in ants: patch use over time

Cited by 40 publications

References 15 publications

Ecological stoichiometry of ants in a New World rain forest

Ecological stoichiometry of ants in a New World rain forest

Mortality Risk vs. Food Quality Trade‐Offs in a Common Currency: Ant Patch Preferences

Ant-aphid mutualisms: the impact of honeydew production and honeydew sugar composition on ant preferences

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