J Exp Biol. 2016 Dec 19. pii: jeb.150375. [Epub ahead of print]
- 1Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université de Toulouse; CNRS, UPS, France kevin.berthelot@univ-tlse3.fr.
- 2ENFA - Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Université de Toulouse; CNRS, UPS, France.
- 3Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université de Toulouse; CNRS, UPS, France.
Abstract
In
animals, the progress and outcomes of contests can be influenced by an
individual's own condition, its opponent's condition or a combination of
both. The use of chemical information to assess the quality of rivals
has been underestimated despite its central role in the regulation of
social interactions in many taxa. Here, we studied pairwise contests
between founding queens of the ant Lasius niger to investigate whether
the decision to engage in agonistic interactions relies on self or
mutual assessment. Queens modulated their aggressive behaviours
depending both on their own status and their opponent's status. We
showed no influence of lipid stores or size on the onset of fights.
However, differences in cuticular chemical signatures linked to
fertility status accurately predicted the probability of behaving
aggressively in pairs. Our study thus suggests that ant queens could
rely on mutual assessment via chemical cues to make informed decisions
about fight initiation.
© 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
KEYWORDS:
aggression; contests; cuticular hydrocarbons; fertility cues
