Interspecific variation in neighbour–stranger discrimination in ants of theNeoponera apicaliscomplex

Abstract

1. The ecological success of social insects lies in their ability to prevent the exploitation of colony resources by competitors or parasites. Nestmate recognition is therefore of crucial importance in maintaining the integrity of the colony. Furthermore, inter‐colony competitive relationships are often complex, as many species discriminate between neighbours and strangers, with reduced (the dear enemy phenomenon) or increased levels of aggression towards nearby colonies, depending on the species. In this context, between‐species comparisons could be particularly helpful to investigate the proximate causes underlying this context‐dependent phenomenon, but these are notoriously lacking. 2. Here an attempt was made to circumvent this drawback by studying three closely related sympatric ant species with very similar life histories that belong to the Neoponera apicalis complex. The present study investigated how nestmate recognition and inter‐colony competitive relationships were influenced by spatial, chemical and genetic distances between colonies. 3. It was found that one species, N. apicalis morph 7, showed a clear dear enemy phenomenon with no influence of chemical and genetic distances, suggesting the existence of a learning process. In contrast, N. apicalis morph 4 and Neoponera verenae morph 1 failed to show any strong discrimination between close and distant non‐nestmates. 4. These results are discussed in the light of the observed interspecific variation in nesting preferences, possibly constraining the opportunities of familiarisation between nearby nests, and modulating the competition for resources between colonies. 5. It is argued that this study further reinforces the relative threat level hypothesis as an ultimate explanation for neighbour–stranger discrimination processes.

An Alpine ant’s behavioural polymorphism: monogyny with and without internest aggression inTetramorium alpestre

“…Among the authors of recent behaviour studies, there were both observers blind (Jongepier et al 2015; Purcell et al 2016; Yagound et al 2016) and observers not blind about the origin of workers (Kleeberg & Foitzik 2016; Parmentier et al 2016; Ślipiński & Żmihorski 2016). The aggression indices AI and MMAI yielded different values (Figs 2A–B and 3).…”

The dear enemy effect drives conspecific aggressiveness in an Azteca-Cecropia system

“…Therefore, ants represent appropriate biological models to investigate neighbor-stranger discrimination and aggression. However, like it is also true for other animals, there are mixed pieces of evidence, with some ant behavioral studies pointing to a DE 15 – 17 and others to NN effects 18 – 20 . Besides, there are even some cases where no clear signs of neighbor-stranger discrimination occur 21 , 22 .…”

Nest Architecture and Animals Associated with Neoponera verenae (Forel) (Formicidae, Ponerinae)

“…In general, they are simple nests, with few chambers, little branched and preventing the organization of complex structures of food storage and maintenance of immature (Antonialli-Junior et al, 2015). Although some species may have nests with up to thousands of workers (Leal & Oliveira, 1995), most Neoponera species have nests that rarely surpass 200 individuals (Gobin et al, 2003;Yagound et al, 2017). For this reason, it is expected to find fewer (although equally important and poorly understood) visitor species in comparison with those found in larger nests of other genera such as the Formica (Härkönen & Sorvari, 2014).…”