Aggression is task dependent in the red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus)

Behavioral Ecology

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 532-539

  Sturgis, Shelby J ^a   Gordon, Deborah M ^a  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Aggression; Hydrocarbons; Nestmate recognition; Pogonomyrmex barbatus; Task

Indexed keywords

AGGRESSION; ANT; COLONY; CUTICLE; HYDROCARBON; NEST; NESTMATE RECOGNITION; SOCIAL INSECT;

ANIMALIA; FORMICIDAE; HEXAPODA; POGONOMYRMEX BARBATUS;

EID: 84876545791     PISSN: 10452249     EISSN: 14657279     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars194     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Adler FR, Gordon DM. 2003. Optimization, conflict, and nonoverlapping foraging ranges in ants. Am Nat. 162:529-543.
2. Aitchison J. 1986. The statistical analysis of compositional data, monographs on statistics and applied probability. London: Chapman & Hall Ltd.
3. Akino T, Yamamura K, Wakamura S, Yamaoka R. 2004. Direct behavioral evidence for hydrocarbons as nestmate recognition cues in Formica japonica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Appl Entomol Zool. 39:381-387.
4. Bjoerkman-Chiswell B, van Wilgenburg E, Thomas M, Swearer S, Elgar M. 2008. Absence of aggression but not nestmate recognition in an Australian population of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile. Insect Soc. 55:207-212.
5. Bonavita-Cougourdan A, Clément JL, Lange C. 1993. Functional subcaste discrimination (foragers and brood-tenders) in the ant Camponotus vagus Scop. : polymorphism of cuticular hydrocarbon patterns. J Chem Ecol. 19:1461-1477.
6. Boulay R, Katzav-Gozansky T, Vander Meer RK, Hefetz A. 2003. Colony insularity through queen control on worker social motivation in ants. Proc Biol Sci. 270:971-977.
7. Breed MD, Bennett B. 1987. Kin recognition in highly eusocial insects. In: Fletcher DJ, Michener CD, editors. Kin recognition in animals. Chichester (NY): John Wiley & Sons Ltd. pp. 243-285.
8. Brown MJ, Gordon DM. 1997. Individual specialisation and encounters between harvester ant colonies. Behaviour. 134:849-866.
9. Calabi P, Traniello JF. 1989. Behavioral flexibility in age castes of the ant Pheidole dentata. J Insect Behav. 2:663-677.
10. Dani FR, Jones GR, Corsi S, Beard R, Pradella D, Turillazzi S. 2005. Nestmate recognition cues in the honey bee: differential importance of cuticular alkanes and alkenes. Chem Senses. 30:477-489.
11. Dani FR, Jones GR, Destri S, Spencer SH, Turillazzi S. 2001. Deciphering the recognition signature within the cuticular chemical profile of paper wasps. Anim Behav. 62:165-171.
12. Dimarco RD, Farji-Brener AG, Premoli AC. 2010. Dear enemy phenomenon in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex lobicornis: behavioral and genetic evidence. Behav Ecol. 21:304-310.
13. Downs SG, Ratnieks FL. 2000. Adaptive shifts in honeybee (Apis mellifera L. ) guarding behavior support predictions of the acceptance threshold model. Behav Ecol. 11:326-333.
14. Errard C, Guisquet A, Christidès J, Mercier J, Lenoir A, Hefetz A. 2008. Early learning of volatile chemical cues leads to interspecific recognition between two ant species. Insect Soc. 55:115-122.
15. Fleiss JL. 1975. Measuring agreement between two judges on the presence or absence of a trait. Biometrics. 31:651-659.
16. Gibbs AG. 1998. Water-proofing properties of cuticular lipids. Am Zool. 38:471-482.
17. Gibbs AG, Fukuzato F, Matzkin LM. 2003. Evolution of water conservation mechanisms in Drosophila. J Exp Biol. 206:1183-1192.
18. Gordon DM. 1986. The dynamics of the daily round of the harvester ant colony (Pogonomyrmex barbatus). Anim Behav. 34:1402-1419.
19. Gordon DM. 1987. Group-level dynamics in harvester ants: young colonies and the role of patrolling. Anim Behav. 35:833-843.
20. Gordon DM. 1989a. Dynamics of task switching in harvester ants. Anim Behav. 38:194-204.
21. Gordon DM. 1989b. Ants distinguish neighbors from strangers. Oecologia. 81:198-200.
22. Gordon DM. 1991. Behavioral flexibility and the foraging ecology of seed-eating ants. Am Nat. 138:379-411.
23. Gordon DM. 1992. How colony growth affects forager intrusion between neighboring harvester ant colonies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 31:417-427.
24. Gordon DM, Chu J, Lillie A, Tissot M, Pinter N. 2005. Variation in the transition from inside to outside work in the red harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Insect Soc. 52:212-217.
25. Gordon DM, Kulig A. 1996. Founding, foraging, and fighting: colony size and the spatial distribution of harvester ant nests. Ecology. 77:2393-2409.
26. Gordon DM, Mehdiabadi NJ. 1999. Encounter rate and task allocation in harvester ants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 45:370-377.
27. Greene MJ, Gordon DM. 2003a. Social insects: cuticular hydrocarbons inform task decisions. Nature. 423:32.
28. Greene MJ, Gordon DM. 2003b. Cuticular hydrocarbons act as cues in the interaction network regulating harvester ant task allocation. Integr Comp Biol. 43:846.
29. Greene MJ, Gordon DM. 2007a. How patrollers set foraging direction in harvester ants. Am Nat. 170:943-948.
30. Greene MJ, Gordon DM. 2007b. Interaction rate informs harvester ant task decisions. Behav Ecol. 18:451-455.
31. Griskevicius V, Tybur JM, Gangestad SW, Perea EF, Shapiro JR, Kenrick DT. 2009. Aggress to impress: hostility as an evolved context-dependent strategy. J Pers Soc Psychol. 96:980-994.
32. Gronenberg W, Heeren S, Hölldobler B. 1996. Age-dependent and task-related morphological changes in the brain and the mushroom bodies of the ant Camponotus floridanus. J Exp Biol. 199:2011-2019.
33. Guerrieri FJ, Nehring V, Jorgensen CG, Nielsen J, Galizia CG, d' Ettorre P. 2009. Ants recognize foes and not friends. Proc R Soc B. 276:2461-2468.
34. Humfeld SC, Marshall VT, Bee M.A. 2009. Context-dependent plasticity of aggressive signalling in a dynamic social environment. Anim Behav. 78:915-924.
35. Jaffe K, Puche H. 1984. Colony-specific territorial marking with the metapleural gland secretion in the ant Solenopsis geminata (Fabr). J Insect Physiol. 30:265-270.
36. Johnson BR, van Wilgenburg E, Tsutsui ND. 2011. Nestmate recognition in social insects: overcoming physiological constraints with collective decision making. Behav Ecol Sociobiol (Print). 65:935-944.
37. Jones JC, Oldroyd BP. 2006. Nest thermoregulation in social insects. Adv Insect Physiol. 33:153-191.
38. Kaib M, Eisermann B, Schoeters E, Billen J, Franke S, Francke W. 2000. Task-related variation of postpharyngeal and cuticular hydrocarbon compositions in the ant Myrmicaria eumenoides. J Comp Physiol A. 186:939-948.
39. Kaiser HF. 1958. The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis. Psychometrika. 23:187-200.
40. Katzav-Gozansky T, Boulay R, Vander Meer R, Hefetz A. 2004. In-nest environment modulates nestmate recognition in the ant Camponotus fellah. Naturwissenschaften. 91:186-190.
41. Katzav-Gozansky T, Boulay R, Ionescu-Hirsh A, Hefetz A. 2008. Nest volatiles as modulators of nestmate recognition in the ant Camponotus fellah. J Insect Physiol. 54:378-385.
42. Lavine BK, Mirjankar N, Vander Meer RK. 2011. Analysis of chemical signals in red fire ants by gas chromatography and pattern recognition techniques. Talanta. 83:1308-1316.
43. Martin SJ, Drijfhout FP. 2009a. Nestmate and task cues are influenced and encoded differently within ant cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. J Chem Ecol. 35:368-374.
44. Martin SJ, Drijfhout FP. 2009b. How reliable is the analysis of complex cuticular hydrocarbon profiles by multivariate statistical methods? J Chem Ecol. 35:375-382.
45. Martin SJ, Vitikainen E, Helantera H, Drijfhout FP. 2008. Chemical basis of nest-mate discrimination in the ant Formica exsecta. Proc R Soc B. 275:1271-1278.
46. Modlmeier AP, Foitzik S. 2011. Productivity increases with variation in aggression among group members in Temnothorax ants. Behav Ecol. 22:1026-1032.
47. Muscedere ML, Traniello JF. 2012. Division of labor in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole is associated with distinct subcaste-and age-related patterns of worker brain organization. PLoS ONE. 7:e31618.
48. Newey P. 2011. Not one odour but two: a new model for nestmate recognition. J Theor Biol. 270:7-12.
49. Newey PS, Robson SK, Crozier RH. 2010. Weaver ants Oecophylla smaragdina encounter nasty neighbors rather than dear enemies. Ecology. 91:2366-2372.
50. Polizzi JM, Forschler BT. 1999. Factors that affect aggression among the worker caste of Reticulitermes spp. subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). J Insect Behav. 12:133-146.
51. Reyment RA. 1989. Compositional data analysis. Terra Nova. 1:29-34.
52. Robinson EJ, Feinerman O, Franks NR. 2009. Flexible task allocation and the organization of work in ants. Proc R Soc B. 276:4373-4380.
53. Roulston TH, Buczkowski G, Silverman J. 2003. Nestmate discrimination in ants: effect of bioassay on aggressive behavior. Insect Soc. 50:151-159.
54. Seid MA, Traniello JF. 2006. Age-related repertoire expansion and division of labor in Pheidole dentata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a new perspective on temporal polyethism and behavioral plasticity in ants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 60:631-644.
55. Sevala VL, Bagnères AG, Kuenzli M, Blomquist GJ, Schal C. 2000. Cuticular hydrocarbons of the dampwood termite, Zootermopsis nevadensis: caste differences and role of lipophorin in transport of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon metabolites. J Chem Ecol. 26:765-789.
56. Sorrells TR, Kuritzky LY, Kauhanen PG, Fitzgerald K, Sturgis SJ, Chen J, Dijamco CA, Basurto KN, Gordon DM. 2011. Chemical defense by the native winter ant (Prenolepis imparis) against the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). PLoS ONE. 6:e18717.
57. Sturgis SJ, Gordon DM. 2012. Nestmate recognition in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a review. Myrmecol News. 16:101-110.
58. Sturgis SJ, Greene MJ, Gordon DM. 2011. Hydrocarbons on harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) middens guide foragers to the nest. J Chem Ecol. 37:514-524.
59. Tanner C, Adler F. 2009. To fight or not to fight: context-dependent interspecific aggression in competing ants. Anim Behav. 77:297-305.
60. Wagner D, Brown MJ, Broun P, Cuevas W, Moses LE, Chao DL, Gordon DM. 1998. Task-related differences in the cuticular hydrocarbon composition of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. J Chem Ecol. 24:2021-2037.
61. Wagner D, Tissot M, Gordon D. 2001. Task-related environment alters the cuticular hydrocarbon composition of harvester ants. J Chem Ecol. 27:1805-1819.
62. Wenseleers T, Billen J, Hefetz A. 2002. Territorial marking in the desert ant Cataglyphis niger: Does it pay to play bourgeois? J Insect Behav. 15:85-93.
63. van Wilgenburg E, Clémencet J, Tsutsui ND. 2010. Experience influences aggressive behaviour in the Argentine ant. Biol Lett. 6:152-155.
64. Zar JH. 1998. Biostatistical analysis. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall.
65. van Zweden JS, d' Ettorre P. 2010. Nestmate recognition in social insects and the role of hydrocarbons. In: Blomquist GJ, Bagnères AG, editors. Insect hydrocarbons: biology, biochemistry, and chemical ecology. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press. pp. 222-243.