Environmental temperature affects the dynamics of ingestion in the nectivorous ant Camponotus mus

Falibene, Agustina; Josens, Roxana

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.09.011

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This may be due to the long exposition to a relatively low temperature (16 h at 25.4°C) experienced by the pupae under the regime with the largest thermal amplitude, suggesting that the growth rate is not a linear function of temperature. It is argued that the physiological responses to temperature depend on the temperature range considered, as known for other temperature-related responses in several insects, including ants (Bollazzi and Roces, 2011 ; Falibene and Josens, 2014 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily Thermal Fluctuations Experienced by Pupae via Rhythmic Nursing Behavior Increase Numbers of Mushroom Body Microglomeruli in the Adult Ant Brain

Falibene

Roces

Rößler

et al. 2016

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Social insects control brood development by using different thermoregulatory strategies. Camponotus mus ants expose their brood to daily temperature fluctuations by translocating them inside the nest following a circadian rhythm of thermal preferences. At the middle of the photophase brood is moved to locations at 30.8°C; 8 h later, during the night, the brood is transferred back to locations at 27.5°C. We investigated whether daily thermal fluctuations experienced by developing pupae affect the neuroarchitecture in the adult brain, in particular in sensory input regions of the mushroom bodies (MB calyces). The complexity of synaptic microcircuits was estimated by quantifying MB-calyx volumes together with densities of presynaptic boutons of microglomeruli (MG) in the olfactory lip and visual collar regions. We compared young adult workers that were reared either under controlled daily thermal fluctuations of different amplitudes, or at different constant temperatures. Thermal regimes significantly affected the large (non-dense) olfactory lip region of the adult MB calyx, while changes in the dense lip and the visual collar were less evident. Thermal fluctuations mimicking the amplitudes of natural temperature fluctuations via circadian rhythmic translocation of pupae by nurses (amplitude 3.3°C) lead to higher numbers of MG in the MB calyces compared to those in pupae reared at smaller or larger thermal amplitudes (0.0, 1.5, 9.6°C), or at constant temperatures (25.4, 35.0°C). We conclude that rhythmic control of brood temperature by nursing ants optimizes brain development by increasing MG densities and numbers in specific brain areas. Resulting differences in synaptic microcircuits are expected to affect sensory processing and learning abilities in adult ants, and may also promote interindividual behavioral variability within colonies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Daily Thermal Fluctuations Experienced by Pupae via Rhythmic Nursing Behavior Increase Numbers of Mushroom Body Microglomeruli in the Adult Ant Brain

Falibene

Roces

Rößler

et al. 2016

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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“…In ants, environmental temperature modified the dynamics of ingestion and feeding behaviour by directly affecting pumping frequency. The ants’ intake rate of sucrose solution increased when ambient temperature and, therefore, body temperature in these poikilothermic insects rose (Falibene and Josens 2014 ). The wasps, by contrast, can actively accelerate their drinking speed by keeping the thoracic temperature at a high level and rather constant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do foraging wasps optimize in a variable environment, energy investment or body temperature?

2015

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Vespine wasps (Vespula sp.) are endowed with a pronounced ability of endothermic heat production. To show how they balance energetics and thermoregulation under variable environmental conditions, we measured the body temperature and respiration of sucrose foragers (1.5 M, unlimited flow) under variable ambient temperature (Ta = 20–35 °C) and solar radiation (20–570 W m−2). Results revealed a graduated balancing of metabolic efforts with thermoregulatory needs. The thoracic temperature in the shade depended on ambient temperature, increasing from ~37 to 39 °C. However, wasps used solar heat gain to regulate their thorax temperature at a rather high level at low Ta (mean Tthorax ~ 39 °C). Only at high Ta they used solar heat to reduce their metabolic rate remarkably. A high body temperature accelerated the suction speed and shortened foraging time. As the costs of foraging strongly depended on duration, the efficiency could be significantly increased with a high body temperature. Heat gain from solar radiation enabled the wasps to enhance foraging efficiency at high ambient temperature (Ta = 30 °C) by up to 63 %. The well-balanced change of economic strategies in response to environmental conditions minimized costs of foraging and optimized energetic efficiency.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00359-015-1033-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…For instance, temperature variation may modify both ant foraging behavior and aggression, thereby changing the competitive interactions and species co-occurrence patterns 28 . Increase of environmental temperature can promote the ingestion dynamics through directly affecting the sucking pump muscles in the nectarivorous ants Camponotus mus 29 . Surface temperature is the main regulatory factor that determines the departure rate of harvester ants Messor barbarus , and the activity of worker ants is positively correlated with surface temperature 30 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature warming strengthens the mutualism between ghost ants and invasive mealybugs

Zhou

Shan

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Although the exogenous forces that directly affect the mutualisms between ants and honeydew-producing hemipterans have been well documented, few studies have been focused on the impacts of environmental warming on ant-hemipteran interactions. Here, we investigated how temperature warming affects the mutualism between ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum and invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis by experimental manipulation of temperature. We found that higher temperatures have significant direct effects on the growth rate of mealybug colony, and the positive effect of ant tending on mealybug colony growth is temperature-dependent. Honeydew excretion by mealybugs was affected by ant tending and temperature warming, and was significantly increased under higher temperature. The effect of ant tending on percentage parasitism was also influenced by temperature warming. Ant performance including tending level, aggression, activity, and honeydew consumption was enhanced by temperature warming, which may provide superior protection to the mealybugs. Our results show that ghost ant-mealybug mutualism is strengthened in a warmer environment. These findings may facilitate the prediction of how each partner in the ant-hemipteran-enemy interactions responds to increasing temperature.

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Environmental temperature affects the dynamics of ingestion in the nectivorous ant Camponotus mus

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Daily Thermal Fluctuations Experienced by Pupae via Rhythmic Nursing Behavior Increase Numbers of Mushroom Body Microglomeruli in the Adult Ant Brain

Daily Thermal Fluctuations Experienced by Pupae via Rhythmic Nursing Behavior Increase Numbers of Mushroom Body Microglomeruli in the Adult Ant Brain

What do foraging wasps optimize in a variable environment, energy investment or body temperature?

Temperature warming strengthens the mutualism between ghost ants and invasive mealybugs

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