scholarly journals Cue-Mediated Recruitment in a Swarm-Founding Wasp: Successful Foragers Induce Nestmates to Search Off Nest for a Scented Carbohydrate Resource

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa I. Schueller ◽  
Robert L. Jeanne
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Directional Information ◽  
Polybia Occidentalis ◽  
Insect Colonies ◽  
Foraging Rate ◽  
Average Individual

The ability of social insect colonies to recruit nestmates to profitable resources increases colony-wide foraging efficiency by providing individuals with information that narrows their search for resources. Here we ask if for the Neotropical swarm-founding waspPolybia occidentalisnaïve nestmates are able to use food-scent cues from rich carbohydrate resources brought to the nest by successful foragers to orient to off nest resources. Foragers were allowed to freely visit a training dish containing a scented sucrose solution. At a second location, in a different direction from the nest, two sucrose-filled dishes were offered, one with the training scent and one with an alternate scent. Naïve foragers preferentially chose the training scent over the alternate scent, indicating that natural rates of resource inflow to the nest are sufficient to induce nestmates to forage at resources with a specific scent. Naïve foragers did not forage more often at the location at which the active foragers were foraging, an indication that directional information is not communicated in this species. The total number of foraging trips made by a colony's foragers was not determined by the size of the foraging force, but rather by the average individual foraging rate for the colony.

Scaling of work and energy use in social insect colonies

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 1047-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer H. Fewell ◽  
Jon F. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Insect Colonies ◽  
Work And Energy

On optimal decision making in brains and social insect colonies

2011 ◽  
pp. 500-522
Author(s):  
James A. R Marshall ◽  
Rafal Bogacz ◽  
Anna Dornhaus ◽  
Robert Planqué ◽  
Tim Kovacs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Optimal Decision ◽  
Insect Colonies ◽  
Optimal Decision Making

Recruitment Dynamics of Social Insect Colonies

2021 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 1579-1599
Author(s):  
Tao Feng ◽  
Zhipeng Qiu ◽  
Yun Kang
Keyword(s):  
Social Insect ◽  
Insect Colonies

scholarly journals Emergent behavioral organization in heterogeneous groups of a social insect

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Ulrich ◽  
Mari Kawakatsu ◽  
Christopher K. Tokita ◽  
Jonathan Saragosti ◽  
Vikram Chandra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Insects ◽  
Collective Behavior ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Behavioral Organization ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Mixed Groups

AbstractThe composition of social groups has profound effects on their function, from collective decision-making to foraging efficiency. But few social systems afford sufficient control over group composition to precisely quantify its effects on individual and collective behavior. Here we combine experimental and theoretical approaches to study the effect of group composition on individual behavior and division of labor (DOL) in a social insect. Experimentally, we use automated behavioral tracking to monitor 120 colonies of the clonal raider ant, Ooceraea biroi, with controlled variation in three key correlates of social insect behavior: genotype, age, and morphology. We find that each of these sources of heterogeneity generates a distinct pattern of behavioral organization, including the amplification or dampening of inherent behavioral differences in colonies with mixed types. Theoretically, we use a well-studied model of DOL to explore potential mechanisms underlying the experimental findings. We find that the simplest implementation of this model, which assumes that heterogeneous individuals differ only in response thresholds, could only partially recapitulate the empirically observed patterns of behavior. However, the full spectrum of observed phenomena was recapitulated by extending the model to incorporate two factors that are biologically meaningful but theoretically rarely considered: variation among workers in task performance efficiency and among larvae in task demand. Our results thus show that different sources of heterogeneity within social groups can generate different, sometimes non-intuitive, behavioral effects, but that relatively simple models can capture these dynamics and thereby begin to elucidate the basic organizational principles of DOL in social insects.Significance StatementWhen individuals interact in an aggregate, many factors that are not known a priori affect group dynamics. A social group will therefore show emergent properties that cannot easily be predicted from how its members behave in isolation. This problem is exacerbated in mixed groups, where different individuals have different behavioral tendencies. Here we describe different facets of collective behavioral organization in mixed groups of the clonal raider ant, and show that a simple theoretical model can capture even non-intuitive aspects of the behavioral data. These results begin to reveal the principles underlying emergent behavioral organization in social insects. Importantly, our insights might apply to complex biological systems more generally and be used to help engineer collective behavior in artificial systems.

scholarly journals Pharaoh ant colonies dynamically regulate colony demography by culling young queen and male-destined larvae

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Warner ◽  
Jessica Lipponen ◽  
Timothy A. Linksvayer
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Dynamic Allocation ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Colony Demography ◽  
Insect Colonies ◽  
Egg Density ◽  
Colony Level

AbstractThe success of social insect colonies is dependent upon efficient and dynamic allocation of resources to alternate queen and worker castes. The developmental and molecular mechanisms regulating the caste fate of individual larvae in response to environmental cues have been the focus of intense study. However, the mechanisms regulating colony-level resource allocation into alternate castes (i.e. caste allocation ratios) are less well studied. Here, we systematically manipulate colony demography to elucidate the social regulatory mechanisms of caste allocation in the antMonomorium pharaonis. We find that differences in caste allocation result from differences in timing and efficiency of culling of very young reproductive-destined larvae, which are always present in colonies. Based on our results, we develop a conceptual model depicting how colonies integrate numerous individual-level caste determination decisions to regulate colony-level caste allocation. We propose that adult workers make decisions about culling larvae based on the ratio of the number of workers to the number of eggs contained in colonies, likely signalled by pheromone present on eggs. This strategy is a bet-hedging strategy which enables the dynamic alteration of colony demography in response to internal and external conditions. The strategy is likely key to the ability ofM. pharaonisand similar ants to thrive in disturbed habitats and to become widespread invasive species.Significance StatementThe defining feature of social insect societies is the presence of alternate queen (reproductive) and worker (non-reproductive) castes of individuals. The fitness of social insect colonies is dependent upon efficient allocation of resources to alternate castes, particularly in the case of highly polygynous (multi-queen) societies. However, the mechanisms by which such societies regulate caste allocation are largely unknown. In this study, we show that colonies manipulate their production of queens (and also males) versus workers according to the present density of eggs in the colony, which serves as a reliable indicator of queens’ fertility. Provided egg density is high, colonies kill queen-and male-destined larvae; when egg density falls, colonies begin to rear queens and males. This flexible resource allocation strategy is key to the ability of highly polygynous species to thrive in marginal (often human-associated) habitats.

Two Meanings of Complex Adaptive Systems

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Insect Colonies ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Selection For

In complex systems theory, two meanings of a complex adaptive system (CAS) need to be distinguished. The first, CAS1, refers to a complex system that is adaptive as a system; the second, CAS2, refers to a complex system of agents which follow adaptive strategies. Examples of CAS1 include the brain, the immune system, and social insect colonies. Examples of CAS2 include multispecies ecosystems and the biosphere. This chapter uses multilevel selection theory to clarify the relationships between CAS1 and CAS2. The general rule is that for a complex system to qualify as CAS1, selection must occur at the level of the complex system (e.g., individual-level selection for brains and the immune system, colony-level selection for social insect colonies). Selection below the level of the system tends to undermine system-level functional organization. This general rule applies to human social systems as well as biological systems and has profound consequences for economics and public policy.

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