Interspecific Trail Following and Commensalism Between the Ponerine Ant Gnamptogenys menadensis and the Formicine Ant Polyrhachis rufipes |
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Authors: | B. Gobin C. Peeters J. Billen E. D. Morgan |
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Affiliation: | (1) Laboratory of Entomology, University of Leuven, Naamsestraat 59, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium;(2) CNRS URA 667 Laboratoire d'Ethologie experimentale et comparée, Université Paris Nord, F-93430 Villetaneuse, France;(3) Department of Chemistry, Keele University, Keele, ST5 5BG Staffordshire, United Kingdom;(4) CNRS URA 258, Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Université Pierre-et-Marie Curie, 7 quai Saint Bernard, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05, France |
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Abstract: | Gnamptogenys menadensis (subfamily Ponerinae) foragers use chemical trails to home to their nests. Although prey capture and retrieval are generally performed solitarily, trails seem to enhance foraging to areas rich in prey or to sugar sources. Trail laying and following are most conspicuous during nest migration. These trails are laid down by tapping the sting onto the substrate. In laboratory tests, only extracts from the Dufour's gland were readily followed. Workers of Polyrhachis rufipes (Formicinae) use the trails of G. menadensis to gain access to otherwise nonavailable sugar sources. When they encounter Gnamptogenys foragers, P. rufipes workers show a typical aggressive antennal boxing, to which Gnamptogenys reacts with a submissive behavior. This is the first report of commensalism between a ponerine and a formicine ant. |
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Keywords: | Ponerinae Formicinae interspecific interactions trails recruitment |
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