Social Factors in Heat Survival: Multiqueen Desert Ant Colonies Have Higher and More Uniform Heat Tolerance

Baudier, Kaitlin M.; Ostwald, Madeleine M.; Haney, Brian R.; Calixto, Juliana M; Cossio, Frank J.; Fewell, Jennifer H.

doi:10.1086/721251

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Colony differences may be affected by family kinship structure when variable genetic loci contribute to the expression of colony characteristics. In desert seed harvester ants, multi-queen colonies had better ability to forage under high heat conditions than singlequeen colonies, suggesting genetic variability can affect colonylevel thermal physiology (Baudier et al, 2022). Both nuclear and mitochondrial genomic variation could contribute to colony differences in E. b. parvispinum thermal physiology (Berghoff et al, 2008;Soare et al, 2014Soare et al, , 2020.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significant colony differences in thermal tolerances and decoupling of high and low critical temperatures in the army ant Eciton burchellii parvispinum

O’Donnell

Baudier

2023

Ecological Entomology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Differences in behaviour and physiology among social insect colonies provide opportunities for evolutionary responses to environmental selection. Colony differences in thermal physiology can indicate potential for social insect populations to accommodate temperature extremes and determine how populations will respond to changing climates. We tested whether army ant (Eciton burchellii parvispinum) colonies differed in their distributions of worker tolerances of extreme low temperatures (CTmin) and extreme high temperatures (CTmax). We sampled workers across a range of body sizes in each colony, and we collected data from colonies at both warmer low elevation sites and cooler high elevation sites. Colonies differed significantly in the distributions of both CTmin and CTmax; colony mean CTmin and CTmax were not correlated. The colony differences were not associated with worker body size variation. Some thermal physiology differences were associated with local climates: colonies from warmer lower elevation sites had significantly higher CTmin and higher CTmax, but much of the inter‐colony variation was unexplained. If significant colony variation in thermal physiology is associated with genetic differences, thermal environments could drive evolutionary changes in thermal physiology.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Significant colony differences in thermal tolerances and decoupling of high and low critical temperatures in the army ant Eciton burchellii parvispinum

O’Donnell

Baudier

2023

Ecological Entomology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, when just looking at adult stages, tolerance is highest at eclosion and decreases during early adulthood to a stable level with age, but the effect of age on thermal tolerance is complex and species-dependent (Bowler and Terblanche, 2008). Some studies on social insects find no effect of age on thermal tolerance (Oyen and Dillon, 2018;Baudier et al, 2022), and some results are more complex, showing freshly eclosed ants with higher CT min but no effect of age on CT max (Baudier and O'Donnell, 2016). Many of these studies that examine how thermal tolerance changes with age in social insects usually compare young, freshly eclosed adults to all other adults (Baudier and O'Donnell, 2016;Oyen and Dillon, 2018;Roeder et al, 2021;Baudier et al, 2022), or compare life stages such as larvae to adults (Mitchell et al, 1993;Kingsolver and Buckley, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies on social insects find no effect of age on thermal tolerance (Oyen and Dillon, 2018;Baudier et al, 2022), and some results are more complex, showing freshly eclosed ants with higher CT min but no effect of age on CT max (Baudier and O'Donnell, 2016). Many of these studies that examine how thermal tolerance changes with age in social insects usually compare young, freshly eclosed adults to all other adults (Baudier and O'Donnell, 2016;Oyen and Dillon, 2018;Roeder et al, 2021;Baudier et al, 2022), or compare life stages such as larvae to adults (Mitchell et al, 1993;Kingsolver and Buckley, 2020). There is not as much work comparing middleaged adults to older adults (Bowler and Terblanche, 2008), especially for social insects, as would be the case for the comparison between hovering guards to standing guards in T. angustula.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stingless bee foragers experience more thermally stressful microclimates and have wider thermal tolerance breadths than other worker subcastes

Robinson,

Baudier

2024

Front. Ecol. Evol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe current state of anthropogenic climate change is particularly concerning for tropical insects, species predicted to be the most negatively affected. Researching climatic tolerance in social insects is challenging because adaptations exist at both individual and societal levels. Division of labor research helps to bridge the gap between our understanding of these adaptations at different scales, which is important because social insects comprise a tremendous portion of global animal biomass, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Considering how individual physiologies construct group-level adaptations can improve climate change impact assessments for social species. Tetragonisca angustula is a neotropical stingless bee species that exhibits high worker subcaste specialization with a morphologically distinct soldier caste.MethodsWe used this species to investigate 1) whether age- and size-differentiated subcastes differ in thermal tolerance, 2) which worker subcaste operates closest to their thermal limits, and 3) the extent to which this species selects active foraging times to offset thermal stress. We measured the thermal tolerance (CTmax and CTmin) of small-bodied foragers and two soldier subcastes (hovering guards and standing guards) in T. angustula.Results and discussionDespite body size differences between foragers and guards, no differences in the upper or lower thermal limits were observed. However, the average thermal tolerance breadth of foragers was significantly larger than that of guards, and foraging sites were more thermally variable than nest sites, supporting the Climatic Variability Hypothesis at a microclimate scale and in the context of division of labor. Warming tolerance was significantly lower among small-bodied foragers compared to hovering and standing guards. The magnitude of warming tolerances indicated low risk of imminent climate change impacts in this environment but suggests that increasing temperatures and heatwave prevalence may cause foragers to meet their upper thermal limits before other subcastes. Foraging occurred at a narrower range of temperatures than would challenge critical temperatures, with higher morning activity. Directionally increasing temperatures will likely confine these preferred foraging temperatures to a narrower time window. Further study is needed to elucidate how foragers may shift times of activity in response to anthropogenic warming, but changing climates may impact plant pollination rates in natural and agricultural systems.

show abstract

Body mass and cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, but not queen number, underlie worker desiccation resistance in a facultatively polygynous harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus)

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social Factors in Heat Survival: Multiqueen Desert Ant Colonies Have Higher and More Uniform Heat Tolerance

Cited by 3 publications

References 80 publications

Significant colony differences in thermal tolerances and decoupling of high and low critical temperatures in the army ant Eciton burchellii parvispinum

Significant colony differences in thermal tolerances and decoupling of high and low critical temperatures in the army ant Eciton burchellii parvispinum

Stingless bee foragers experience more thermally stressful microclimates and have wider thermal tolerance breadths than other worker subcastes

Body mass and cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, but not queen number, underlie worker desiccation resistance in a facultatively polygynous harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About