J Insect Physiol. 2016 Oct 26. pii: S0022-1910(16)30164-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2016.10.016. [Epub ahead of print]
- 1Department of Invertebrate Zoology, University of Białystok, Ciołkowskiego 1J, 15-245 Białystok, Poland. Electronic address: tomwlo@gmail.com.
- 2Department of Chemistry of Environment, University of Białystok, Ciołkowskiego 1K, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.
Abstract
Slave-making
ant species use the host workforce to ensure normal colony functioning.
Slaves are robbed as pupae from their natal nest and after eclosion,
assume the parasite colony as their own. A possible factor promoting the
successful integration of slaves into a foreign colony is congruence
with the slave-makers in terms of cuticular hydrocarbons, which are
known to play the role of recognition cues in social insects. Such an
adaptation is observed in the obligate slave-making ant species, which
are chemically adjusted to their slaves. To date, however, no reports
have been available on facultative slave-making species, which represent
an earlier stage of the evolution of slavery. Such an example is
Formica sanguinea, which exploit F. fusca colonies as their main source
of a slave workforce. Our results show that F. sanguinea ants have a
distinct cuticular hydrocarbon profile, which contains compounds not
present in free-living F. fusca ants from potential target nests.
Moreover, enslaved F. fusca ants acquire hydrocarbons from their
slave-making nestmates to such an extent that they become chemically
differentiated from free-living, conspecific ants. Our study shows that
F. sanguinea ants promote their own recognition cues in their slaves,
rather than employing the strategy of chemical mimicry. Possible reasons
why F. sanguinea is not chemically well adjusted to its main host
species are discussed in this paper.
Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
KEYWORDS:
Ants; Cuticular hydrocarbons; Nestmate recognition; Slave-making
