Carbohydrate scarcity increases foraging activities and aggressiveness in the ant <i><scp>P</scp>rolasius advenus</i> (<scp>H</scp>ymenoptera: <scp>F</scp>ormicidae)

Grangier, Julien; Lester, Philip J.

doi:10.1111/een.12146

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similarly, carbohydrate availability can increase ant activity and aggression (e.g. Grangier & Lester, 2014;Grover, Kay, Monson, Marsh, & Holway, 2007), and we predict colonies with high sugar availability will also be more exploratory and aggressive. To determine how the process of introduction could influence behavioural variation and plasticity, we tested two F I G U R E 1 (a) Regional populations included in the study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…We also found an association between carbohydrate scarcity and aggression, with sugar‐deprived ants displaying less aggressive behaviour than control ants. Previous studies report evidence for effects of carbohydrate availability on foraging and aggressiveness in ants (Grangier & Lester, ; Grover et al., ). Our results provide further evidence for carbohydrate availability as a key determinant of ant foraging behaviour and aggression in the Argentine ant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…We also found an association between carbohydrate scarcity and aggression, with sugar-deprived ants displaying less aggressive behaviour than control ants. Previous studies report evidence for effects of carbohydrate availability on foraging and aggressiveness in ants (Grangier & Lester, 2014;Grover et al, 2007).…”

Section: Determinants Of Behaviour and Behavioural Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Behavioural variation and plasticity along an invasive ant introduction pathway

Felden

Paris

Chapple

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Once established in new areas, introduced species may exhibit changes in their biology due to phenotypic plasticity, novel selection pressures and genetic drift. Moreover, the introduction process itself has been hypothesised to act as a selective filter for traits that promote invasiveness. We tested the hypothesis that behaviours thought to promote invasiveness-such as increased foraging activity and aggression-are selected for during invasion by comparing traits among native and introduced populations of the widespread Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). We studied Argentine ant populations in the native range in Argentina and in three invaded regions along an introduction pathway: California, Australia and New Zealand. In each region, we set up 32 experimental colonies to measure foraging activity and interspecific aggression in a subset of the study regions. These colonies were subject to experimental manipulation of carbohydrate availability and octopamine, a biogenic amine known to modulate behaviour in insects, to measure variation in behavioural plasticity. We found variation in foraging activity among populations, but this variation was not consistent with selection on behaviour in relation to the invasion process. We found that colonies with limited access to carbohydrates exhibited unchanged exploratory behaviour, but higher exploitation activity and lower aggression. Colonies given octopamine consistently increased foraging behaviour (both exploration and exploitation), as well as aggression when also sugar-deprived. There was no difference in the degree of behavioural response to our experimental treatments along the introduction pathway. We did not find support for selection of behavioural traits associated with invasiveness along the Argentine ant's introduction pathway or clear evidence for an association between the introduction process and variation in behavioural plasticity. These results indicate that mechanisms promote behavioural variation in a similar fashion both in native and introduced ranges. Our results challenge the assumption that introduced populations always perform better in key behavioural traits hypothesised to be associated with invasion success.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Determinants Of Behaviour and Behavioural Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Behavioural variation and plasticity along an invasive ant introduction pathway

Felden

Paris

Chapple

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Vertebrate and invertebrate species have been reported to regulate their foraging, which in turn leads to changes in their foraging range (i.e. in location, size, time and form of foraging) (Tremblay et al ; Westphal et al ; Lanan & Bronstein ; Grangier & Lester ). Shifts in the foraging range can modulate the occurrence of animals in the environment and, consequently, determine species co‐occurrence on both local and global scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource suitability modulating spatial co‐occurrence of soil‐forager termites (Blattodea: Termitoidea)

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Resource can regulate animal foraging range, which in turn determines the chances of species co-occurrence. Here, we addressed the question of whether resource determines the co-occurrence of soil-forager termite species (i.e. those foraging in subterranean tunnels). Eight quadrats (4 × 4 m) were marked in seven sites of Brazilian Atlantic rainforests, giving a total area sampled of 896 m 2 . Inside each quadrat, we measured the co-occurrence of soil forager species and the resource suitability (N:C ratio of the soil and litter biomass). The number of records of more than one soil-forager termite species at a single foraging spot, relative to the total number of foraging spots detected in each forest, was taken as a surrogate for spatial co-occurrence. We tested whether termite co-occurrence was mediated by random or nonrandom processes. Data were subjected to linear regression to test how the termite species co-occurrence responds to resources. We compared this method with a null model analysis. Soil-forager termites comprised 885 records, 20 species and 14 genera. From those records, 29% indicated species co-occurrence. Co-occurrence was not random: occurred more frequently when resource suitability was very high or very low. This result suggests an optimised use of space by termite communities.

show abstract

“…The exploratory activity of ant species was assessed using a modified apparatus originally described by Grangier and Lester [44]. Three cotton plants were placed in a plastic tray (75 × 44 × 12 cm) and each plant was 20 cm apart.…”

Section: Effects Of Interference Competition On the Exploratory Activmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interference Competition for Mutualism between Ant Species Mediates Ant-Mealybug Associations

Liu

et al. 2020

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ant-hemipteran mutualism has been well documented, and many studies have reported the interference competition between ant species for the mutualism. However, little is known on how this interference competition impacts the reciprocally beneficial association. Previous studies demonstrated that the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) has established close mutual relationship with the ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius). The sympatric ants, Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) and Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) were frequently observed to compete for nutrient honeydew produced by P. solenopsis with T. melanocephalum. Herein, we investigated the effects of interference competition between the ant species on the ant-mealybug interactions. Phenacoccus solenopsis benefited from the tending by T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis. Interference competition between T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis interrupted the mutualism, suppressed the trailing activity of both species, but negligibly influenced the parasitism of Aenasius bambawalei Hayat, a solitary endoparasitoid of P. solenopsis. Harmonia axyridis, a predator of P. solenopsis, showed a significant avoidance when encountering with T. melanocephalum or P. longicornis, but not T. bicarinatum. Ant workers showed higher aggressiveness and lower exploratory activity when T. melanocephalum encountered P. longicornis. However, competition between T. melanocephalum and T. bicarinatum seldom influenced the trailing and exploratory activity of T. melanocephalum. It is concluded that interference competition for mutualism between ant species can mediate ant-mealybug associations and the fitness of mealybug colony. Our results also demonstrate that the effects of interference competition between ant species on ant-mealybug mutualism are varied among ant species.

show abstract

Carbohydrate scarcity increases foraging activities and aggressiveness in the ant Prolasius advenus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 15 publications

References 48 publications

Behavioural variation and plasticity along an invasive ant introduction pathway

Behavioural variation and plasticity along an invasive ant introduction pathway

Resource suitability modulating spatial co‐occurrence of soil‐forager termites (Blattodea: Termitoidea)

Interference Competition for Mutualism between Ant Species Mediates Ant-Mealybug Associations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About