Haemolymph sugar levels in a nectar-feeding ant: dependence on metabolic expenditure and carbohydrate deprivation |
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Authors: | Pablo E Schilman Flavio Roces |
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Institution: | 1. Lehrstuhl für Zoologie II, Theodor-Boveri-Institut der Universit?t Würzburg, Biozentrum, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany 2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, Mail code 0116, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0116, USA
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Abstract: | In nectar-feeding insects, sugars are an important source of fuel and energy storage. Here, we analyzed the haemolymph sugar
levels in foragers of the ant Camponotus rufipes trained to collect nectar from an artificial feeder, and their dependence on the metabolic rate during feeding. The main
sugar found was trehalose, followed by glucose and traces of fructose and sucrose. In foragers, trehalose level was independent
of their activity and metabolic rate while feeding. Carbohydrate deprivation of the colony had a strong effect on the haemolymph
sugar levels of workers, with a significant decrease in trehalose and glucose with increasing starvation. We also found a
correlation between haemolymph sugar levels and behavioral states, with immobile workers having higher trehalose and fructose
levels than active ones. It is suggested that under food deprivation, inside-nest workers initially stay completely immobile
as a strategy to save energy, and only become active and start to search for food when the trehalose levels decrease even
more. Based on a conservative estimation, well-fed ants could travel up to 500 m, or spend more than 20 h inactive at 25°C,
using only the energy provided by the haemolymph trehalose, before reaching the levels found in starved nest-mates. |
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Keywords: | Camponotus rufipes Trehalose Glucose Fructose Sucrose |
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