Not too big, not too small: raids at moderately sized hosts lead to optimal outcomes for a slave-making ant

Miller, Julie S.

doi:10.1007/s00265-019-2797-2

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In the same study, T. americanus was shown to preferentially raid hosts with more workers (Pohl & Foitzik, 2011). Intriguingly, this is inconsistent with evidence that raiding outcomes are superior when hosts have fewer workers (Miller, 2020b). There are significant costs to raiding hosts with many workers, leading to parasite mortality and injury, sometimes without the success of any stolen brood to compensate (Kleeberg et al., 2014; Miller, 2020b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Intriguingly, this is inconsistent with evidence that raiding outcomes are superior when hosts have fewer workers (Miller, 2020b). There are significant costs to raiding hosts with many workers, leading to parasite mortality and injury, sometimes without the success of any stolen brood to compensate (Kleeberg et al., 2014; Miller, 2020b). Furthermore, the Y‐maze used in this prior work could have led colonies to be less selective by creating the impression of short distances due to a direct path to the nest (Orians & Pearson, 1979; Pohl & Foitzik, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Such readiness to raid suggests that colonies use an opportunistic strategy instead of exercising a clear preference, and that their decision may not be an either/or dilemma. In contrast to this opportunism, laboratory studies of raiding success suggest that parasite colonies would benefit from being more selective (Miller, 2020b). Colonies secure more brood when they raid host nests with fewer total workers and higher brood‐to‐worker ratios.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These phenological data suggest that overwintering brood develop as a cohort in the summer, resulting in a burst of pupae (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990). After this cohort matures into adults, the value of the host nest diminishes substantially because the number of defending workers increases while the number of high‐value, mature brood declines (Miller, 2020b). If colonies take 4 days to find a nest and they have 35–50 days of optimal raiding time, then colonies could hope to raid 8–12 colonies if they raided every nest they found.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peaks in brood production associated with temperate phenology therefore lead to higher payoffs per raid than would be possible in aseasonal climates. Since it is in the interests of parasites to maximize their payoff from each raid, given that mortality costs from raiding are cumulative (Miller, 2020b), temperate climates create conditions that are more conducive to raiding. This hypothesis remains speculative, however, as dormancy and diapause are known in some tropical species from regions with distinct seasonality (Kipyatkov, 2001; Lopatina, 2018), as more data on the phenology in tropical species are needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Collective decision‐making when quantity is more important than quality: Lessons from a kidnapping social parasite

Miller

2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Identifying the general principles that shape mechanisms of collective decision‐making requires studies that span a diversity of ecological contexts. However, collective decision‐making has only been explored in a handful of systems. Here, I investigate the ecologically mediated costs and benefits of collective decisions by socially parasitic kidnapping ants Temnothorax americanus over where to launch raids to steal host brood. I first investigate their sampling strategies and preferences with choice tests. Using more realistic spatial scales, I confirm the findings of others that colonies use a sequential choice strategy, and do not compare options simultaneously. I then ask which ecological conditions could favour the evolution of this strategy by testing the following hypotheses from optimal foraging and mate choice theories: (a) raiding decisions are time constrained or (b) search payoffs are low due to resource uniformity. Spatial distribution and phenological data on nest contents support the time constraints hypothesis. Host nests contain an optimal ratio of brood and workers for a brief period relative to discovery rates. Colonies therefore benefit from raiding most nests they find in this period rather than deliberating over the best choice, favouring host quantity over quality. The decision strategy for raids uncovered here contrasts with best‐of‐n collective decision‐making found in other systems. These findings demonstrate that ecological constraints on information acquisition can alter how collectives process information.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Collective decision‐making when quantity is more important than quality: Lessons from a kidnapping social parasite

Miller

2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Temnothorax longispinosus acorn ant colonies respond to parasitic raids by emigrating

Koenig,

Moreau

2024

Insect. Soc.

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Battles between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a review

Champer,

Schlenoff

2024

Journal of Insect Science

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With their unique colony structure, competition between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) can be particularly intense, with colonies potentially willing to sacrifice large number of individuals to obtain resources or territory under the right circumstances. In this review, we cover circumstances in which ant competition escalates into combat, battle strategies and tactics, and analysis methods for these battles. The trends for when colonies choose to fight can vary greatly dependent on the species and situation, which we review in detail. Because of their large group sizes, ant conflicts can follow different patterns than many other species, with a variety of specialist adaptations and battle strategies, such as specialized worker classes and the need to rapidly recruit large number of compatriots. These same large group sizes also can make ant fighting amenable to mathematical analysis, particularly in the context of Lanchester’s laws that consider how total numbers influence the outcome of a confrontation. Yet, dynamic behavior can often disrupt idealized mathematical predictions in real-world scenarios, even though these can still shed light on the explanations for such behavior. We also systematically cover the literature on battles between groups of ants, presenting several other interesting studies on species with unique colony organization, such as army ants and leafcutter ants.

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Not too big, not too small: raids at moderately sized hosts lead to optimal outcomes for a slave-making ant

Cited by 4 publications

References 50 publications

Collective decision‐making when quantity is more important than quality: Lessons from a kidnapping social parasite

Collective decision‐making when quantity is more important than quality: Lessons from a kidnapping social parasite

Temnothorax longispinosus acorn ant colonies respond to parasitic raids by emigrating

Battles between ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a review

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