We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Nutritional Asymmetries Are Related to Division of Labor in a Queenless Ant.
- Authors
Smith, Chris R.; Suarez, Andrew V.; Tsutsui, Neil D.; Wittman, Sarah E.; Edmonds, Benjamin; Freauff, Alex; Tillberg, Chadwick V.
- Abstract
Eusocial species exhibit pronounced division of labor, most notably between reproductive and non-reproductive castes, but also within non-reproductive castes via morphological specialization and temporal polyethism. For species with distinct worker and queen castes, age-related differences in behavior among workers (e.g. within-nest tasks versus foraging) appear to result from physiological changes such as decreased lipid content. However, we know little about how labor is divided among individuals in species that lack a distinct queen caste. In this study, we investigated how fat storage varied among individuals in a species of ant (Dinoponera australis) that lacks a distinct queen caste and in which all individuals are morphologically similar and capable of reproduction (totipotent at birth). We distinguish between two hypotheses, 1) all individuals are physiologically similar, consistent with the possibility that any non-reproductive may eventually become reproductive, and 2) non-reproductive individuals vary in stored fat, similar to highly eusocial species, where depletion is associated with foraging and non-reproductives have lower lipid stores than reproducing individuals. Our data support the latter hypothesis. Location in the nest, the probability of foraging, and foraging effort, were all associated with decreased fat storage.
- Subjects
ANT behavior; LIPIDS; HYPOTHESIS; FORAGING behavior; REPRODUCTION; DIVISION of labor; ANIMAL species; INSECT physiology
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2011, Vol 6, Issue 8, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0024011