Colony Dehydration and Water Collection by Specialized Caste in the Leaf-Cutting Ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Atta Sexdens Rubropilosa</Emphasis> |
| |
Authors: | Pedro Leite Ribeiro Carlos A Navas |
| |
Institution: | 1.Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociências,Universidade de S?o Paulo,S?o Paulo,Brazil |
| |
Abstract: | Social organization enables leaf-cutting ants to keep appropriate micro-ecological nest conditions for the fungus garden (their
main food), eggs, larvae and adults. To maintain stability while facing changing conditions, individual ants must perceive
destabilising factors and produce a proper behavioral response. We investigated behavioral responses to experimental dehydration
in leaf-cutting ants to verify if task specialization exists, and to quantify the ability of ant sub-colonies for water management.
Our setup consisted of fourteen sub-colonies, ten of which were randomly assigned to different levels of experimental dehydration
with silica gel, whereas the remaining four were controls. The ten experimental sub-colonies were split into two groups, so
that five of them had access to water. Diverse ant morphs searched for water in dehydrated colonies, but mainly a caste of
small ants collected water after sources had been discovered. Size specialization for water collection was replicable in shorter
experiments with three additional colonies. Ants of dehydrated colonies accumulated leaf-fragments on the nest entrance, and
covering the fungus garden. Behaviors that may enhance humidity within the nests were common to all dehydration treatments.
Water availability increased the life span of dehydrated colonies. |
| |
Keywords: | Water stress behavior task specialization water management |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|