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- All Subjects: Ants
- Creators: Liebig, Juergen
Description
Of all the signals and cues that orchestrate the activities of a social insect colony, the reproductives' fertility pheromones are perhaps the most fundamental. These pheromones regulate reproductive division of labor, a defining characteristic of eusociality. Despite their critical role, reproductive fertility pheromones are not evenly expressed across the development of a social insect colony and may even be absent in the earliest colony stages. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, queens of incipient colonies do not produce the cuticular hydrocarbons that serve as fertility and egg-marking signals in this species. My dissertation investigates the consequences of the dramatic change in the quantity of these pheromones that occurs as the colony grows. C. floridanus workers from large, established colonies use egg surface hydrocarbons to discriminate among eggs. Eggs with surface hydrocarbons typical of eggs laid by established queens are nurtured, whereas eggs lacking these signals (i.e., eggs laid by workers and incipient queens) are destroyed. I characterized how workers from incipient colonies responded to eggs lacking queen fertility hydrocarbons. I found that established-queen-laid eggs, incipient-queen-laid eggs, and worker-laid eggs were not destroyed by workers at this colony stage. Destruction of worker-laid eggs is a form of policing, and theoretical models predict that policing should be strongest in incipient colonies. Since there was no evidence of policing by egg-eating in incipient C. floridanus colonies, I searched for evidence of another policing mechanism at this colony stage. Finding none, I discuss reasons why policing behavior may not be expressed in incipient colonies. I then considered the mechanism that accounts for the change in workers' response to eggs. By manipulating ants' egg experience and testing their egg-policing decisions, I found that ants use a combination of learned and innate criteria to discriminate between targets of care and destruction. Finally, I investigated how the increasing strength of queen-fertility hydrocarbons affects nestmate recognition, which also relies on cuticular hydrocarbons. I found that queens with strong fertility hydrocarbons can be transferred between established colonies without aggression, but they cannot be introduced into incipient colonies. Queens from incipient colonies cannot be transferred into incipient or established colonies.
ContributorsMoore, Dani (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis advisor) / Gadau, Juergen (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Smith, Brian (Committee member) / Rutowski, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The coordination of group behavior in the social insects is representative of a broader phenomenon in nature, emergent biological complexity. In such systems, it is believed that large-scale patterns result from the interaction of relatively simple subunits. This dissertation involved the study of one such system: the social foraging of the ant Temnothorax rugatulus. Physically tiny with small population sizes, these cavity-dwelling ants provide a good model system to explore the mechanisms and ultimate origins of collective behavior in insect societies. My studies showed that colonies robustly exploit sugar water. Given a choice between feeders unequal in quality, colonies allocate more foragers to the better feeder. If the feeders change in quality, colonies are able to reallocate their foragers to the new location of the better feeder. These qualities of flexibility and allocation could be explained by the nature of positive feedback (tandem run recruitment) that these ants use. By observing foraging colonies with paint-marked ants, I was able to determine the `rules' that individuals follow: foragers recruit more and give up less when they find a better food source. By altering the nutritional condition of colonies, I found that these rules are flexible - attuned to the colony state. In starved colonies, individual ants are more likely to explore and recruit to food sources than in well-fed colonies. Similar to honeybees, Temmnothorax foragers appear to modulate their exploitation and recruitment behavior in response to environmental and social cues. Finally, I explored the influence of ecology (resource distribution) on the foraging success of colonies. Larger colonies showed increased consistency and a greater rate of harvest than smaller colonies, but this advantage was mediated by the distribution of resources. While patchy or rare food sources exaggerated the relative success of large colonies, regularly (or easily found) distributions leveled the playing field for smaller colonies. Social foraging in ant societies can best be understood when we view the colony as a single organism and the phenotype - group size, communication, and individual behavior - as integrated components of a homeostatic unit.
ContributorsShaffer, Zachary (Author) / Pratt, Stephen C (Thesis advisor) / Hölldobler, Bert (Committee member) / Janssen, Marco (Committee member) / Fewell, Jennifer (Committee member) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The repression of reproductive competition and the enforcement of altruism are key components to the success of animal societies. Eusocial insects are defined by having a reproductive division of labor, in which reproduction is relegated to one or few individuals while the rest of the group members maintain the colony and help raise offspring. However, workers have retained the ability to reproduce in most insect societies. In the social Hymenoptera, due to haplodiploidy, workers can lay unfertilized male destined eggs without mating. Potential conflict between workers and queens can arise over male production, and policing behaviors performed by nestmate workers and queens are a means of repressing worker reproduction. This work describes the means and results of the regulation of worker reproduction in the ant species Aphaenogaster cockerelli. Through manipulative laboratory studies on mature colonies, the lack of egg policing and the presence of physical policing by both workers and queens of this species are described. Through chemical analysis and artificial chemical treatments, the role of cuticular hydrocarbons as indicators of fertility status and the informational basis of policing in this species is demonstrated. An additional queen-specific chemical signal in the Dufour's gland is discovered to be used to direct nestmate aggression towards reproductive competitors. Finally, the level of actual worker-derived males in field colonies is measured. Together, these studies demonstrate the effectiveness of policing behaviors on the suppression of worker reproduction in a social insect species, and provide an example of how punishment and the threat of punishment is a powerful force in maintaining cooperative societies.
ContributorsSmith, Adrian A. (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis advisor) / Hoelldobler, Bert (Thesis advisor) / Gadau, Juergen (Committee member) / Johnson, Robert A. (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Insects have intricate systems they depend on for survival. They live in societies where every individual plays an important role. Ants are a great example of this observation. They are known for having structurally sound societies that ensure the livelihood of the colony. The ant species analyzed for this research, Harpegnathos saltator, portrays a structured colony and serves as a useful example of levels of hierarchy. In the colony of H. saltator, one can find a queen, gamergates, workers, and male ants living underground in Southern India. Recording and analyzing egg-laying rates are important in this study because of the amount of information it provides. It is used especially when observing the relationship among the gamergates in colonies with varying colony sizes. Three different methods were used to record the egg-laying rates, each providing insight into valuable information. Results show that the smaller colonies with fewer identified gamergates do share an equal amount of egg-laying. In larger colonies, it appears that there are more active identified gamergates than others. Egg-laying duration times are smaller in colonies with fewer gamergates. It is also found that the presence of brood does not affect egg-laying rates and reproductive inhibition could be a possibility based on two of the colonies observed F65 and F21. Based on the data found, a more active colony that attempts to maintain stability by demonstrating aggression may be affecting the reproduction of gamergates. Future work that would further strengthen the research and conclusions made would involve further observation of colonies, both large and small, with varying numbers of gamergates. More observation involving behavior among gamergates and workers would also be beneficial. Mathematical modeling could also be incorporated to create equations that could determine information about colonies based on size, number of gamergates, and egg-laying rates.
ContributorsMayoral, Alejandra (Author) / Kang, Yun (Thesis director) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Collective decision making in social organism societies involves a large network of communication systems. Studying the processes behind the transmission of information allows for greater understanding of the decision making capabilities of a group. For Temnothorax rugatulus colonies, information is commonly spread in the form of tandem running, a linear recruitment pattern where a leading ant uses a short-ranged pheromone to direct a following ant to a target location (in tandem).The observed phenomenon of reverse tandem running (RTR), where a follower is lead from a target back to the home nest, has not been as extensively studied as forward tandem running and transportation recruitment activities. This study seeks to explain a potential reason for the presence of the RTR behavior; more specifically, the study explores the idea that reverse tandem run followers are being shown a specific route to the home nest by a highly experienced and efficient leading ant. Ten colonies had migrations induced experimentally in order to generate some reverse tandem running activity. Once an RTR has been observed, the follower and leader were studied for behavior and their pathways were analyzed. It was seen that while RTR paths were quite efficient (1.4x a straight line distance), followers did not experience a statistically significant improvement in their pathways between the home and target nests (based on total distance traveled) when compared to similar non-RTR ants. Further, RTR leading ants were no more efficient than other non-RTR ants. It was observed that some followers began recruiting after completion of an RTR, but the number than changed their behavior was not significant. Thus, the results of this experiment cannot conclusively show that RTR followers are utilizing reverse tandem runs to improve their routes between the home and target nests.
ContributorsColling, Blake David (Author) / Pratt, Stephen (Thesis director) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / Sasaki, Takao (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
For colonies of ponerine ant species, sterility regulation after a founding queen's death is not totally achieved in the worker caste, and the possibility of sexual reproduction is opened to workers. The persisting survival of these colonies is dependent on capturing the optimal reproductive ratio; yet, an informational gap bounds the mechanisms detailing the selection of new reproductives and the suppression of ovarian development in rejected reproductives. We investigated the mechanisms of worker policing, one of the primary methods of ovarian suppression, through continuous video observation for a period of five days at the start of colony instability. Observations suggest policing in H. saltator is performed by a majority of a colony, including potential reproductives, and requires multiple events to fully discourage ovarian growth.
ContributorsChien, Jeffrey (Co-author) / Barat Ali, Fatima (Co-author) / Kang, Yun (Thesis director) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Although social hierarchies are commonly found all throughout nature, the underlying mechanisms of their formation are still ambiguous. Hierarchies form through a wide range of interactions between subordinate and dominant individuals, and the ponerine ant Harpegnathos saltator provides the perfect model to explore such dominance behaviors. When the queen is absent or her fecundity levels drop below a certain threshold, H. saltator workers undergo a dominance tournament, in which several individuals emerge as gamergates, reproductive workers that are not queens. During this tournament, several characterizable dominance behaviors are exhibited (antennal dueling, dominance biting, and policing), which can be used to study the behavioral and social dynamics in the formation of a reproductive hierarchy. Colonies of 15, 30, 60, and 120 workers were created in duplicate, and their dominance tournaments were recorded to study how these interactions impact gamergate establishment. Rather than studying these behaviors as isolated incidents, responses to policing behaviors (timid, neutral, or aggressive) and their duration were recorded along with the frequency of dueling. Three groups were determined: dueling future gamergates (DFG), dueling future non-gamergates (DFNG) and non-dueling individuals (ND). DFNG received many more policing attacks and the duration of these interactions lasted much longer. DFG consistently exhibited the most dueling. Timid and neutral responses were more common than aggressive responses, perhaps due to energy conversation purposes. Peaks in dueling correspond to peaks in policing, highlighting the dynamic behavioral interactions necessary for the formation of a reproductive hierarchy.
ContributorsOlivas, Victoria (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis director) / Shaffer, Zachary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
When ants encounter liquid food, they have two options of transporting that food to their nests. The first is the social bucket method in which liquid is carried in the mandibles of the workers back to the nest. The second is trophallaxis in which liquid is imbibed and then transported inside the ant back to the nest. The liquid is then regurgitated to fellow nestmates. Ectatomma have been observed using the social bucket method of transport and were considered members of the Ponerine family. However, a new phylogeny created by Borowiec and Rabeling places Ectatomma near to Formecinae and Myrmicinae, both know for practicing trophallaxis. This seems to suggest either Ectatomma is able to utilize trophallaxis as well or that the evolutionary practice of trophallaxis is more plastic than previously believed. The ability of Ectatomma ruidum to utilize trophallaxis was examined in two experiments. The first experiment examined E. ruidum’s ability to practice worker to worker trophallaxis and the second examined E. ruidum’s ability to perform worker to larva trophallaxis. The results of both experiments indicated that E. ruidum cannot utilize trophallaxis but the larva of E. ruidum may be able to regurgitate to the workers. These results in turn seem to suggest that trophallaxis is a bit more plastic than originally thought.
ContributorsCunningham, Cassius Alexander (Author) / Pratt, Stephen (Thesis director) / Liebig, Juergen (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Adaptation of Camponotus floridanus’ Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile under High Temperature Conditions
Description
Insects are small creatures highly susceptible to water loss. A major factor in the prevention of water loss through an insect’s cuticle are their cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC), a lipid layer consisting mostly of long-chain hydrocarbons. CHCs consist of different molecules called alkanes, alkenes, and methyl branched hydrocarbons which all have varying levels of hydrophobicity. Ants are a massively abundant family of insects with important roles in the ecosystem that also utilize CHCs. Camponotus floridanus isare athe native ant species of the Florida Keys which areis known to have variable environmental temperature. Being exposed to temperatures as high as 35 °C, these ants are expected to have mechanisms that allow them to adapt to their environment. It was hypothesized that CHCs may change in concentration or composition as a means to combat the changes in cuticular permeability due to the variable temperatures that the ants experience. We therefore used C. floridanus worker ants to learn more about CHC plasticity in insects when exposed to elevated temperatures. We found four CHC componentspeaks that showed a statistically significant increase in concentration when comparing the control to treatment colonies: 3,7 dimethyl C31, an underdetermined methyl branched C31, 3,7,11 trimethyl C31, and an undetermined tetramethylbranched C31. These significant changes in concentration occurred on longer chain hydrocarbons. Under further examination, it was found that there was a strong positive correlation between elution time and the differences in medians of peak area between control and treatment colonies. This shows that there was a shift in the CHC profile resulting in an increased concentration of longer chained methyl-branched hydrocarbons. It also suggests that branched hydrocarbons also play some role in the water proofing mechanism of C. floridanus.
ContributorsOn, Thomas (Co-author) / On, Tyler (Co-author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis director) / Harrison, Jon (Committee member) / Murdock, Tyler (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Across the animal kingdom, communication serves a vital purpose. The transfer of information between and among species is often paramount to many behaviors including mating, collaboration, and defense. While research has provided tremendous insight into animal communication and interaction, there is still much that we have yet to understand. Due to their reliance on interactions that maximize efficiency within their complicated colony structure and array of member roles, eusocial insects serve as an excellent model for animal communication. Among eusocial insects, ants are some of the most heavily researched, with a tremendous amount of literature focused on their cuticular hydrocarbons. Along with serving as a waterproofing agent, cuticular hydrocarbons also play a major role in recognition and communication in these insects. By studying the importance of hydrocarbons in ant social structure, their tremendously specialized olfactory system, and the use of learning assays in its study, parallels between communication in ants and other animals are revealed, demonstrating how ants serve as a relevant model for animal communication as a whole.
ContributorsSpirek, Benton Forest Ensminger (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis director) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12