Red wood ants Formica polyctena switch off active thermoregulation of the nest in autumn

Kadochová, Štěpánka; Frouz, Jan

doi:10.1007/s00040-014-0356-4

Cited by 23 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…polyctena nests in early spring. We speculate, based on our observations with video thermography and as previously suggested [2–4, 15, 24, 25], that heat transported by sun-basking ants into the nest may contribute to nest heating, together with other internal heat sources like catabolic heat produced by workers and by the nest material, as discussed above.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…polyctena workers on an artificial hot spot provided by an infrared source, as previously described by [11, 29]. Sun-basking behaviour was similar to that described under field conditions, which is assumed to serve as one of the mechanisms underlying nest heating in early spring [2, 3, 15, 24]. Our results go beyond previous studies on sun basking in wood ants [11, 29] by describing the behaviour of individually-marked workers over several days.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The nests were moved to a temperature-controlled chamber at 10°C (a temperature that approximates the air temperature experienced by field nests in spring [2, 3, 15, 17, 18], and the light-dark cycle was kept at 12h:12h. The colonies were provided with ad libitum water, a honey-water solution ( ca .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…polyctena nest is usually higher and more stable than ambient temperature throughout the whole year [2, 3, 15]. During the period of ant activity and brood production, which averages approximately 100 days [16, 17], ants maintain an area in their nest where the temperature is stable and does not drop below 20°C; this place is called the heat core [2, 15, 18]. High temperatures in spring are required for the development of the sexual brood and for oviposition in queens [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sun Basking in Red Wood Ants Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Individual Behaviour and Temperature-Dependent Respiration Rates

2017

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In early spring, red wood ants Formica polyctena are often observed clustering on the nest surface in large numbers basking in the sun. It has been hypothesized that sun-basking behaviour may contribute to nest heating because of both heat carriage into the nest by sun-basking workers, and catabolic heat production from the mobilization of the workers’ lipid reserves. We investigated sun-basking behaviour in laboratory colonies of F. polyctena exposed to an artificial heat source. Observations on identified individuals revealed that not all ants bask in the sun. Sun-basking and non-sun-basking workers did not differ in body size nor in respiration rates. The number of sun-basking ants and the number of their visits to the hot spot depended on the temperature of both the air and the hot spot. To investigate whether sun basking leads to a physiological activation linked with increased lipolysis, we measured respiration rates of individual workers as a function of temperature, and compared respiration rates of sun-basking workers before and two days after they were allowed to expose themselves to a heat source over 10 days, at self-determined intervals. As expected for ectothermic animals, respiration rates increased with increasing temperatures in the range 5 to 35°C. However, the respiration rates of sun-basking workers measured two days after a long-term exposure to the heat source were similar to those before sun basking, providing no evidence for a sustained increase of the basal metabolic rates after prolonged sun basking. Based on our measurements, we argue that self-heating of the nest mound in early spring has therefore to rely on alternative heat sources, and speculate that physical transport of heat in the ant bodies may have a significant effect.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sun Basking in Red Wood Ants Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Individual Behaviour and Temperature-Dependent Respiration Rates

2017

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“…Nevertheless, the low temperatures prevailing inside the bunker would scarcely allow production of any offspring. True, it is known that wood ants are effective in managing the inner temperatures of the mound and optimise the nest environment of each developmental stage and caste (Horstmann and Schmid 1986, Rosengren et al 1987, Kadachová and Frouz 2014, but that would necessitate huge amounts of food in order to raise the organisational level of the colony to that observed in natural environments (Vepsäläinen and Wuorenrinne 1978, Pisarski and Vepsäläinen 1989, Sorvari and Hakkarainen 2007, Sorvari 2013, Sorvari et al 2014. Because wood-ant workers of queenless colonies as a rule produce workers (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living beyond the limits of survival: wood ants trapped in a gigantic pitfall

Czechowski¹,

Rutkowski²,

Stephan³

et al. 2016

JHR

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A unique accumulation of workers ('colony') of the wood ant Formica polyctena Först., trapped within an old bunker for storing nuclear weapons, is described. The source of the 'colony' is a large colony nesting outdoors, on top of the bunker. Individuals that have fallen down through a ventilation pipe are not able to find their way back to the mother nest. In total darkness, they have constructed an earthen mound, which they have maintained all-year-round by moulding it and keeping the nest entrances open. Judging from the huge deposits of wood-ant corpses in the bunker, the 'colony' has survived for years. Through these years, the mortality has been more than compensated by new workers that fall down during the active season of the free-living colony outside, and at present the number of the bunker workers is counted in hundreds of thousands. The 'colony' has evidently produced no offspring, which is due to low (though relatively stable) temperatures and scanty food in the bunker.

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Structure and thermal biology of subterranean army ant bivouacs in tropical montane forests

Baudier

O’Donnell

2016

Insect. Soc.

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Red wood ants Formica polyctena switch off active thermoregulation of the nest in autumn

Cited by 23 publications

References 20 publications

Sun Basking in Red Wood Ants Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Individual Behaviour and Temperature-Dependent Respiration Rates

Sun Basking in Red Wood Ants Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Individual Behaviour and Temperature-Dependent Respiration Rates

Living beyond the limits of survival: wood ants trapped in a gigantic pitfall

Structure and thermal biology of subterranean army ant bivouacs in tropical montane forests

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