Comparing ant behaviour indices for fine-scale analyses

Krapf, Patrick; Hochenegger, Nadine; Arthofer, Wolfgang; Schlick-Steiner, Birgit C.; Steiner, Florian M.

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-43313-4

Cited by 5 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Thus, we hypothesize that the survival of T. alpestre may be improved considerably by sugar availability through subterranean aphid farming in an environment otherwise comparatively poor in food sources, and the relevance of this relationship might also be one of the reasons why this ant has to forage less time above ground and often behaves outstandingly peaceful when confronted with conspecifics from another nest ( Krapf et al. 2018 , 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic Signature of Shifts in Selection in a Subalpine Ant and Its Physiological Adaptations

Cicconardi

Krapf

D’Annessa³

et al. 2020

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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Understanding how organisms adapt to extreme environments is fundamental and can provide insightful case studies for both evolutionary biology and climate-change biology. Here, we take advantage of the vast diversity of lifestyles in ants to identify genomic signatures of adaptation to extreme habitats such as high altitude. We hypothesized two parallel patterns would occur in a genome adapting to an extreme habitat: 1) strong positive selection on genes related to adaptation and 2) a relaxation of previous purifying selection. We tested this hypothesis by sequencing the high-elevation specialist Tetramorium alpestre and four other phylogenetically related species. In support of our hypothesis, we recorded a strong shift of selective forces in T. alpestre, in particular a stronger magnitude of diversifying and relaxed selection when compared with all other ants. We further disentangled candidate molecular adaptations in both gene expression and protein-coding sequence that were identified by our genome-wide analyses. In particular, we demonstrate that T. alpestre has 1) a higher level of expression for stv and other heat-shock proteins in chill-shock tests and 2) enzymatic enhancement of Hex-T1, a rate-limiting regulatory enzyme that controls the entry of glucose into the glycolytic pathway. Together, our analyses highlight the adaptive molecular changes that support colonization of high-altitude environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic Signature of Shifts in Selection in a Subalpine Ant and Its Physiological Adaptations

Cicconardi

Krapf

D’Annessa³

et al. 2020

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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“…Although starvation-induced changes in individuals' aggressive behavior were not common, more subtle and unobserved changes in behavior, for example displays or the use of venom that can affect the behavior of the opponent (Tanner & Adler 2009), should not be excluded. Therefore, a more in-depth analysis of the whole spectrum of aggressive responses could be beneficial to the further clarification of patterns of behavior (Krapf et al 2019). Moreover, group size is a factor that may change the aggressiveness of ants (Tanner 2006;Modlmeier et al 2014); therefore, group contests might result in different outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, a more in‐depth analysis of the whole spectrum of aggressive responses could be beneficial to the further clarification of patterns of behavior (Krapf et al . 2019). Moreover, group size is a factor that may change the aggressiveness of ants (Tanner 2006; Modlmeier et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coexistence of ant species is usually facilitated by complex trade-offs between dominance, food discovery, phenotypic plasticity and spatial segregation (Stanton et al 2002;Sarty et al 2006;Santini et al 2007;Stuble et al 2013;Balzani et al 2021), although the role of dominance has been recently contested (Cerd a et al 2013;Stuble et al 2017). The resultant complex network of ecological interactions usually promotes diversity (Adler et al 2007;Andersen 2008;van Oudenhove et al 2018), but the presence of invasive ant species can disrupt this equilibrium as most of the other ant species may be excluded (Lach et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of starvation on the fighting ability of invasive and autochthonous ants

Frizzi

Balzani

Wendt

et al. 2022

Entomological Science

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Ants are widespread in all terrestrial habitats, and competitive interactions between species are common. Although redistribution of food within a colony may buffer the negative effects of temporary resource shortages, colony functionality can be compromised when famine is prolonged. One of the possible effects of famine is impairment of the fighting ability of species, with cascade effects on community. Here, we investigated whether food shortage alters the fighting ability of workers of three dominant species in the Mediterranean area: the invasive alien species, Lasius neglectus and Linepithema humile, and one highly polydomous autochthonous species belonging to the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex. We performed laboratory tests of interspecific one-on-one aggression and pairwise group contests between species, with all possible combinations of artificially satiated and starved groups. Results showed that starvation had a scarce effect on the individual aggressiveness in all three species. Similarly, the outcomes of the group fights were only lightly affected, but with an important exception. The positions of species in the fighting hierarchies were in most cases clear and linear, with L. neglectus at the top. However, we found that L. humile and L. neglectus showed equal mortality when one of the two species was starved and the other satiated. Although we investigated only one aspect of competition, that is, fighting ability, our results provide a piece of the complex jigsaw of competitive interactions of ants, and suggest that food deprivation can be a determinant that alters the relationships between ants and promotes or hampers the coexistence of dominant species.

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“…Tetramorium alpestre displays a social polymorphism (monogyny, polygyny), but the populations used for the experiments here are known to be monogynous (Krapf et al, 2018;Krapf et al, unpublished data). Moreover, this species exhibits broad behavioral plasticity, including peaceful and aggressive behavior among colonies (Krapf et al, 2019(Krapf et al, , 2023.…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging valor linked with aggression: selection against completely abandoning aggression in the high‐elevation ant Tetramorium alpestre?

Contala,

Krapf,

Steiner

et al. 2023

Insect Science

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Aggression has multiple benefits and is often coupled with other behaviors (“behavioral syndromes”). The level of aggressiveness is influenced by an adaptive benefit–cost ratio suggesting that benefits should outweigh the costs of aggression. Here, we assess if several behaviors are coupled in two behaviorally different populations (aggressive, peaceful) of the high‐elevation ant Tetramorium alpestre. For three weeks, we collected colony fragments and analyzed boldness, exploring, foraging, and risk‐taking behaviors. We hypothesized that the aggressive population is bolder, more explorative and risk‐prone, and forages more food than the peaceful population. To test whether (a) the combination of experiments and parameters used yields a good setup, (b) populations differ behaviorally, and (c) populations display behavioral syndromes, we assessed (a) the frequency of repeatable behaviors of each experiment, (b) the behavioral means among populations, and (c) the behavioral repeatability, respectively. We found that (a) boldness and exploring were most repeatable and represent a good experimental setup, (b) the aggressive population was bolder and more explorative and risk‐prone than the peaceful population, (c) boldness and exploring behaviors were highly repeatable in both populations, thus corroborating our hypothesis. The results suggest that boldness, exploring, and risk‐taking but not foraging are presumably coupled with aggression and indicate the presence of behavioral syndromes in this ant. Under specific ecological conditions, aggression may be coupled with other behaviors and important for finding food. Aggression is probably adaptive in T. alpestre, possibly indicating that selection favors aggression at least partially, which may counteract the complete loss of intraspecific aggression.

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Comparing ant behaviour indices for fine-scale analyses

Cited by 5 publications

References 67 publications

Genomic Signature of Shifts in Selection in a Subalpine Ant and Its Physiological Adaptations

Genomic Signature of Shifts in Selection in a Subalpine Ant and Its Physiological Adaptations

Effects of starvation on the fighting ability of invasive and autochthonous ants

Foraging valor linked with aggression: selection against completely abandoning aggression in the high‐elevation ant Tetramorium alpestre?

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