Workers’ extra-nest behavioral changes during colony fission in dinoponera quadriceps (Santschi)
Ant colonies can reproduce by two strategies: independent foundation, wherein the queen starts a new colony alone, and dependent foundation, in which workers assist the queen. In the queenless species Dinoponera quadriceps (Santschi), the colony reproduces obligatorily by fission, a type of depe...
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Formato: | article |
Idioma: | eng |
Publicado em: |
Springer
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Endereço do item: | https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/24669 |
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Resumo: | Ant colonies can reproduce by two strategies: independent foundation,
wherein the queen starts a new colony alone, and dependent foundation,
in which workers assist the queen. In the queenless species Dinoponera
quadriceps (Santschi), the colony reproduces obligatorily by fission, a type
of dependent foundation, but this process is not well understood. This
study describes a colony fission event of D. quadriceps in the field and
analyzes the influence of the fission process on workers’ extra-nest behavior.
Based on observations of workers outside the nest, five distinct
stages were identified: monodomic stage, polydomic stage, split stage,
conflict stage, and post-conflict stage. The colony was initially monodomic
and then occupied a second nest before it split into two independent
colonies, indicating a gradual and opportunistic dependent foundation.
After the fission event, the daughter colony had aggressive conflicts with
the parental colony, resulting in the latter’s disappearance. Colony fission
affected workers’ extra-nest behavior by increasing the frequency of
rubbing the gaster against the substrate (which probably has a chemical
marking function) and by decreasing the frequency of foraging during the
split stage. After the fission event, the number of foragers was halved and
foragers remained nearer to the nest during extra-nest activity. The spatial
closeness of the parental and daughter colonies led to competition that
caused the extinction or migration of the parental colony. Intraspecific
competition was indicated by foraging directionality at the colony level,
whereby areas of neighbor colonies were avoided; this directionality was
stronger while both colonies coexisted |
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