Temporal polyethism in incipient colonies of the primitive termiteZootermopsis angusticollis: A single multiage caste

Division of labor was studied in incipient colonies of the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollisby recording repertoire size, behavior frequencies, and time budgets of larvae. Behavioral repertoire size increased with age: first- and secondinstar larvae were mainly inactive, whereas larvae of the third through seventh instars performed 64–100% of all tasks. The increase in repertoire size from the second to the third instar was abrupt; repertoire size and composition remained more or less constant for older instars. No correlation between age (instars III–VII) and tasks was identified, suggesting that colony labor is performed by a single functional caste that spans the third to the seventh instar without any age-based division of labor. Small colony size, low oviposition rate, simple nest architecture, a lack of spatial association of tasks, and the potential for attaining reproductive status appear to be associated with the lack of age-related behavioral specialization in Z. angusticollis.In effect, the absence of temporal polyethism in this species is likely a consequence of its nesting habits and physiological and developmental constraints.     

Open-Air Litter Foraging in the Nasute Termite Longipeditermes longipes (Isoptera: Termitidae)

The Southeast Asian nasute termite Longipeditermes longipes forages on the open ground on leaf litter. Its monomorphic workers carry back food balls in their mandibles while dimorphic soldiers defensively surround the marching columns and the foraging patches. When mechanically disturbed, workers hide under the litter, whereas antennating soldiers face as closely as possible the source of disturbance. Foragers prefer the lower, nitrogen-rich layer of the litter. Soldier behavior and column organization (returning workers in the center lanes, outgoing workers in the two flanking lanes) are similar to those in the related genera Hospitalitermes and Lacessititermes, which, however, tend to forage above ground.     

社会性昆虫品级分化的基因调控

品级分化是社会性昆虫的主要特征之一,包括雌性分化为生殖个体和非生殖个体,这一分化过程是受基因调控的。目前对社会性昆虫品级分化相关基因表达研究的报道较多,但是对这一分化的调控机制并不十分清楚,对这些基因的来源还存在争议。文章对社会性昆虫品级分化相关基因的研究概况作一综述,以期对以后相关方面的深入研究有所帮助。     

Division of labor inPonera pennsylvannica (Formicidae: Ponerinae)

Summary We examined division of labor and colony demography in the antPonera pennsylvannica. Observation of three colonies with individually marked workers revealed a high degree of interindividual behavioral variation and a rough but consistent division of labor between brood tenders and foragers. This division was present both in colonies consisting entirely of workers produced in the previous summer and in colonies containing freshly eclosed ants. Two colonies showed typical age-based polyethism, with young ants focusing on brood care and overwintered ants on foraging. No such age basis was detected in the third colony. This difference may relate to variability in brood production schedules. Colonies showing temporal polyethism had two peaks of brood production and thus had relatively large brood populations when the first young workers eclosed, while the third colony had only one peak and little brood for the young workers to tend. Even if young ants have a lower threshold for brood care, it may have been concealed in the latter situation. Demographic data indicate that natural colonies produce one brood per year and that workers typically eclose into colonies with relatively low brood care demands. This suggests that overwintered workers do most of a colony's work and that the division of labor among overwintered ants is the more important one under natural conditions. The basis of this division is as yet unknown. These results also suggest that small colony size, univoltine brood schedule and a close association between foraging and brood care do not preclude division of labor among specialized castes, as has been suggested for another ponerine species (Traniello 1978).     

Behavioral flexibility in age castes of the antPheidole dentata

Division of labor among size and age classes in social insect colonies is a fundamental aspect of sociality, with such classes typically showing behavioral specialization and being associated with particular tasks for prolonged periods of time (i.e., forming castes). Theoretically, such specialization and division of labor enhance efficiency and, ultimately, reproductive success, and the ratios among members of those castes are hypothesized to be under selection and adaptive. However, our recent field study of the ant Pheidole dentatashowed no correlation between ecological factors which should affect colony growth and those caste ratios but implied flexibility in the association between minor worker age castes and their tasks. In laboratory experiments on behavioral flexibility in minor age castes of P. dentataold workers in colonies without young workers competently perform both old worker (castetypical) and young worker (atypical) tasks, and vice versa. The implications of these results for ergonomie theory are considered.     

Insights into the dynamics of hind leg development in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen and worker larvae - A morphology/differential gene expression analysis

Phenotypic plasticity is a hallmark of the caste systems of social insects, expressed in their life history and morphological traits. These are best studied in bees. In their co-evolution with angiosperm plants, the females of corbiculate bees have acquired a specialized structure on their hind legs for collecting pollen. In the highly eusocial bees (Apini and Meliponini), this structure is however only present in workers and absent in queens. By means of histological sections and cell proliferation analysis we followed the developmental dynamics of the hind legs of queens and workers in the fourth and fifth larval instars. In parallel, we generated subtractive cDNA libraries for hind leg discs of queen and worker larvae by means of a Representational Difference Analysis (RDA). From the total of 135 unique sequences we selected 19 for RT-qPCR analysis, where six of these were confirmed as differing significantly in their expression between the two castes in the larval spinning stage. The development of complex structures such as the bees’ hind legs, requires diverse patterning mechanisms and signaling modules, as indicated by the set of differentially expressed genes related with cell adhesion and signaling pathways.     

Task-specific distribution of the two worker castes in extranidal activities inMacrotermes bellicosus (Smeathman): Observation of behaviour during food acquisition

Summary Caste-specific division of labour can be observed in extranidal activities inMacrotermes bellicosus. Food is acquired through a sequence of tasks shared between the two worker castes. During the exploration phase, a network of subterranean galleries is built outwards from the nest, almost exclusively by minor workers. The frequency of excursions made by major workers during this building period is low, but increases significantly when food is needed by the colony. After a food-source has been discovered, it is hardly exploited by the minor workers and no recruitment occurs. They continue to construct galleries, while individuals which have contact with the food show local fidelity in their building activities within the gallery nearest to the food. After a single sporadic major worker accidentally comes across a food-source, the ratio of major to minor workers continually increases. New major workers aim for the food, bite off pieces and may transfer them to the minor workers. In general, only major workers are recruited after food has been discovered, and they then orientate towards the food-source more distinctly than the minor workers.     

RNA m6A Modification Functions in Larval Development and Caste Differentiation in Honeybee (Apis mellifera)

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台湾乳白蚁行为多型的研究

本文对台湾乳白蚁的打洞挖掘行为、取水行为、修饰行为和交哺行为进行了比较详细的定量分析,探讨了年龄和品级对台湾乳白蚁群体中行为多型的影响。实验结果表明大（老）龄工蚁承担了台湾乳白蚁群体内大多数的任务,对台湾乳白蚁群体的维持具有重要意义。另外品级也是影响台湾乳白蚁群体内劳动分化的一个重要因素。在营养交哺方面,若蚁尚不具备完好的取食行为,是群体中营养交哺的受益者,而兵蚁在台湾乳白蚁群体中占据着较重要的地位,享受着营养物质优先供应的特殊权利。     

Size and asymmetry: are there costs to winning the royalty race?

Body size and morphology are key fitness-determining traits that can vary genotypically. They are likely to be important in social insect queens, which mate in swarms and found colonies independently, but genetic influences on queen morphology have been little investigated. Here, we show that the body size and morphology of queens are influenced by their genotype in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior, a species in which certain lineages (patrilines) bias their development towards reproductive queens rather than sterile workers. We found no relationship between the queen-worker skew of patrilines and the size or morphology of queens, but there was a significant relationship with fluctuating asymmetry, which was greater in more queen-biased patrilines. Our results suggest that queen-biased patrilines do not incur a fitness cost in terms of body size, but may face more subtle costs in developmental stability. Such costs may constrain the evolution of royal cheating in social insects.     

Characterization and distribution of Pogonomyrmex harvester ant lineages with genetic caste determination

Genetic caste determination has been described in two populations of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants, each comprising a pair of interbreeding lineages. Queens mate with males of their own and of the alternate lineage and produce two types of diploid offspring, those fertilized by males of the queens' lineage which develop into queens and those fertilized by males of the other lineage which develop into workers. Each of the lineages has been shown to be itself of hybrid origin between the species Pogonomyrmex barbatus and Pogonomyrmex rugosus, which both have typical, environmentally determined caste differentiation. In a large scale genetic survey across 35 sites in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, we found that genetic caste determination associated with pairs of interbreeding lineages occurred frequently (in 26 out of the 35 sites). Overall, we identified eight lineages with genetic caste determination that always co-occurred in the same complementary lineage pairs. Three of the four lineage pairs appear to have a common origin while their relationship with the fourth remains unclear. The level of genetic differentiation among these eight lineages was significantly higher than the differentiation between P. rugosus and P. barbatus, which questions the appropriate taxonomic status of these genetic lineages. In addition to being genetically isolated from one another, all lineages with genetic caste determination were genetically distinct from P. rugosus and P. barbatus, even when colonies of interbreeding lineages co-occurred with colonies of either putative parent at the same site. Such nearly complete reproductive isolation between the lineages and the species with environmental caste determination might prevent the genetic caste determination system to be swept away by gene flow.     

The role of prey size and abundance in the geographical distribution of spider sociality

1. Social species in the spider genus Anelosimus predominate in lowland tropical rainforests, while congeneric subsocial species occur at higher elevations or higher latitudes. 2. We conducted a comparative study to determine whether differences in total biomass, insect size or both have been responsible for this pattern. 3. We found that larger average insect size, rather than greater overall biomass per se, is a key characteristic of lowland tropical habitats correlating with greater sociality. 4. Social species occupied environments with insects several times larger than the spiders, while subsocial species nearing dispersal occupied environments with smaller insects in either high or low overall biomass. 5. Similarly, in subsocial spider colonies, individuals lived communally at a time when they were younger and therefore smaller than the average insect landing on their webs. 6. We thus suggest that the availability of large insects may be a critical factor restricting social species to their lowland tropical habitats.