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Moore D, Liebig J. Innate and learned components of egg recognition in the ant Camponotus floridanus. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231837. [PMID: 39100179 PMCID: PMC11295788 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
Insect societies discriminate against foreigners to avoid exploitation. In ants, helper workers only accept individuals with the familiar chemical cues of their colony. Similarly, unfamiliar eggs may get rejected at their first appearance in the nest. We investigated egg acceptance mechanisms by introducing different types of foreign eggs into worker groups of the ant Camponotus floridanus. Workers from established colonies familiar with queen-laid eggs always accepted eggs from highly fecund queens, but worker-laid eggs only after exposure for several weeks. Workers naive to eggs only rejected worker-laid eggs once they had prior exposure to eggs laid by highly fecund queens, suggesting that prior exposure to such eggs is necessary for discrimination. The general acceptance of eggs from highly fecund queens, irrespective of previous worker egg exposure, suggests an innate response to the queen pheromone these eggs carry. Workers learned to accept queen-laid eggs from different species, indicating high flexibility in learning egg-recognition cues. In incipient colonies with queen-laid eggs that carry a weak queen pheromone, worker-laid eggs were more likely to get accepted than queen-laid eggs from a different species, suggesting that the similarity of egg-recognition cues between the two types of C. floridanus eggs increases acceptance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dani Moore
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287, USA
| | - Juergen Liebig
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287, USA
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Pathways to parasitic strategies in ants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2115607118. [PMID: 34620717 PMCID: PMC8589076 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115607118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
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3
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Pulliainen U, Bos N, d'Ettorre P, Sundström L. The Scent of Ant Brood: Caste Differences in Surface Hydrocarbons of Formica exsecta Pupae. J Chem Ecol 2021; 47:513-524. [PMID: 33900528 PMCID: PMC8217064 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-021-01275-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Chemical communication is common across all organisms. Insects in particular use predominantly chemical stimuli in assessing their environment and recognizing their social counterparts. One of the chemical stimuli used for recognition in social insects, such as ants, is the suite of long-chain, cuticular hydrocarbons. In addition to providing waterproofing, these surface hydrocarbons serve as a signature mixture, which ants can perceive, and use to distinguish between strangers and colony mates, and to determine caste, sex, and reproductive status of another individual. They can be both environmentally and endogenously acquired. The surface chemistry of adult workers has been studied extensively in ants, yet the pupal stage has rarely been considered. Here we characterized the surface chemistry of pupae of Formica exsecta, and examine differences among sexes, castes (reproductive vs. worker), and types of sample (developing individual vs. cocoon envelope). We found quantitative and qualitative differences among both castes and types of sample, but male and female reproductives did not differ in their surface chemistry. We also found that the pupal surface chemistry was more complex than that of adult workers in this species. These results improve our understanding of the information on which ants base recognition, and highlights the diversity of surface chemistry in social insects across developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unni Pulliainen
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tväminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Nick Bos
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris, 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France
| | - Liselotte Sundström
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Tväminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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Pulliainen U, Helanterä H, Sundström L, Schultner E. The possible role of ant larvae in the defence against social parasites. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20182867. [PMID: 30836870 PMCID: PMC6458323 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/07/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporary social parasite ant queens initiate new colonies by entering colonies of host species, where they begin laying eggs. As the resident queen can be killed during this process, host colonies may lose their entire future reproductive output. Selection thus favours the evolution of defence mechanisms, before and after parasite intrusion. Most studies on social parasites focus on host worker discrimination of parasite queens and their offspring. However, ant larvae can also influence brood composition by consuming eggs. This raises the question whether host larvae can aid in preventing colony takeover by consuming eggs laid by parasite queens. To test whether larvae could play a role in anti-parasite defence, we compared the rates at which larvae of a common host species, Formica fusca, consumed eggs laid by social parasite, non-parasite, nest-mate, or conspecific non-nest-mate queens. Larvae consumed social parasite eggs more than eggs laid by a heterospecific non-parasite queen, irrespective of the chemical distance between the egg cuticular profiles. Also, larvae consumed eggs laid by conspecific non-nest-mate queens more than those laid by nest-mate queens. Our study suggests that larvae may act as players in colony defence against social parasitism, and that social parasitism is a key factor shaping discrimination behaviour in ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unni Pulliainen
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Heikki Helanterä
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Liselotte Sundström
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Eva Schultner
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Biologie I, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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Pulliainen U, Bos N, d'Ettorre P, Sundström L. Caste-dependent brood retrieval by workers in the ant Formica exsecta. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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6
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Lhomme P, Hines HM. Reproductive Dominance Strategies in Insect Social Parasites. J Chem Ecol 2018; 44:838-850. [PMID: 29785629 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-0971-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
In eusocial insects, the high cost of altruistic cooperation between colony members has favoured the evolution of cheaters that exploit social services of other species. In the most extreme forms of insect social parasitism, which has evolved multiple times across most social lineages, obligately parasitic species invade the nests of social species and manipulate the workforce of their hosts to rear their own reproductive offspring. As alien species that have lost their own sociality, these social parasites still face social challenges to infiltrate and control their hosts, thus providing independent replicates for understanding the mechanisms essential to social dominance. This review compares socially parasitic insect lineages to find general trends and build a hypothetical framework for the means by which social parasites achieve reproductive dominance. It highlights how host social organization and social parasite life history traits may impact the way they achieve reproductive supremacy, including the potential role of chemical cues. The review discusses the coevolutionary dynamics between host and parasite during this process. Altogether, this review emphasizes the value of social parasites for understanding social evolution and the need for future research in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Lhomme
- Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
| | - Heather M Hines
- Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
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Lopez-Osorio F, Perrard A, Pickett KM, Carpenter JM, Agnarsson I. Phylogenetic tests reject Emery's rule in the evolution of social parasitism in yellowjackets and hornets (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Vespinae). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2015; 2:150159. [PMID: 26473041 PMCID: PMC4593675 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2015] [Accepted: 08/08/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Social parasites exploit the brood-care behaviour and social structure of one or more host species. Within the social Hymenoptera there are different types of social parasitism. In its extreme form, species of obligate social parasites, or inquilines, do not have the worker caste and depend entirely on the workers of a host species to raise their reproductive offspring. The strict form of Emery's rule states that social parasites share immediate common ancestry with their hosts. Moreover, this rule has been linked with a sympatric origin of inquilines from their hosts. Here, we conduct phylogenetic analyses of yellowjackets and hornets based on 12 gene fragments and evaluate competing evolutionary scenarios to test Emery's rule. We find that inquilines, as well as facultative social parasites, are not the closest relatives of their hosts. Therefore, Emery's rule in its strict sense is rejected, suggesting that social parasites have not evolved sympatrically from their hosts in yellowjackets and hornets. However, the relaxed version of the rule is supported, as inquilines and their hosts belong to the same Dolichovespula clade. Furthermore, inquilinism has evolved only once in Dolichovespula.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Lopez-Osorio
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Room 120A Marsh Life Science Building, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Adrien Perrard
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10023, USA
| | - Kurt M. Pickett
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Room 120A Marsh Life Science Building, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - James M. Carpenter
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10023, USA
| | - Ingi Agnarsson
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Room 120A Marsh Life Science Building, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20004, USA
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Helanterä H, d'Ettorre P. A comparative study of egg recognition signature mixtures in Formica ants. Evolution 2015; 69:520-9. [PMID: 25545864 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2013] [Accepted: 12/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Processing of information from the environment, such as assessing group membership in social contexts, is a major determinant of inclusive fitness. For social insects, recognizing brood origin is crucial for inclusive fitness in many contexts, such as social parasitism and kin conflicts within colonies. Whether a recognition signature is informative in kin conflicts depends on the extent of a genetic contribution into the cues. We investigated colony- and matriline-specific variation in egg surface hydrocarbons in seven species of Formica ants. We show that chemical variance is distributed similarly to genetic variation, suggesting a significant genetic contribution to eggs odors in the genus. Significant among matriline components, and significant correlations between chemical and genetic similarity among individuals also indicate kin informative egg odors in several species. We suggest that egg odor surface variation could play a large role in within colony conflicts, and that a comparative method can reveal novel insight into communication of identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heikki Helanterä
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Bioscience, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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Czechowski W, Godzińska EJ. Enslaved ants: not as helpless as they were thought to be. INSECTES SOCIAUX 2014; 62:9-22. [PMID: 25598547 PMCID: PMC4291515 DOI: 10.1007/s00040-014-0377-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2014] [Revised: 11/24/2014] [Accepted: 11/25/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Slavery in ants involves robbing of brood of host ant species and rearing captured individuals in the enslaver's nest. Whereas slaves of facultative slave-makers increase the workforce of the colony, in obligate slave-makers presence of slaves is vital for colony survival. Until recently, it was generally believed that enslaved workers act solely for the benefit of their social parasite and are wholly lost for their own colony and population. However, evidence that slaves may act also in favour of their own maternal population by engaging in various forms of the so-called slave rebellions is already quite extensive and may be found in both old and recent myrmecological literature, although, unfortunately, these data are often neglected or overlooked. They may be classified into four categories: (1) acts of physical aggression directed by slaves to slave-makers, (2) attempts of slaves to reproduce within a slave-maker colony, (3) 'sabotage', i.e. activities of slaves leading to weakening of the slave-maker colony and population, and (4) slave emancipation, i.e. partial or complete self-liberation of slaves from slave-maker colonies. In this review, we present and discuss all these diverse (often interrelated) expressions of slave opposition to their enslavers, focussing our discussion on both proximate and evolutionary causation of the discussed phenomena. We also indicate some open questions which remain to be answered by future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- W. Czechowski
- Laboratory of Social and Myrmecophilous Insects, Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warsaw, Poland
| | - E. J. Godzińska
- Laboratory of Ethology, Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pasteura 3, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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Van Oystaeyen A, Araujo Alves D, Caliari Oliveira R, Lima do Nascimento D, Santos do Nascimento F, Billen J, Wenseleers T. Sneaky queens in Melipona bees selectively detect and infiltrate queenless colonies. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Colony take-over and brood survival in temporary social parasites of the ant genus Formica. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1496-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Delattre O, Châline N, Chameron S, Lecoutey E, Jaisson P. Social parasite pressure affects brood discrimination of host species in Temnothorax ants. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Lavine BK, Mirjankar N, Vander Meer RK. Analysis of chemical signals in red fire ants by gas chromatography and pattern recognition techniques. Talanta 2011; 83:1308-16. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2010.11.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2010] [Accepted: 11/25/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Analysis of chemical signals in red fire ants by gas chromatography and pattern recognition techniques. Talanta 2010; 83:216-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2010.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2010] [Revised: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 09/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Martin SJ, Helanterä H, Drijfhout FP. Is parasite pressure a driver of chemical cue diversity in ants? Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:496-503. [PMID: 20610426 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasites and pathogens are possibly key evolutionary forces driving recognition systems. However, empirical evidence remains sparse. The ubiquitous pioneering ant Formica fusca is exploited by numerous socially parasitic ant species. We compared the chemical cue diversity, egg and nest mate recognition abilities in two Finnish and two UK populations where parasite pressure is high or absent, respectively. Finnish populations had excellent egg and nest mate discrimination abilities, which were lost in the UK populations. The loss of discrimination behaviour correlates with a loss in key recognition compounds (C(25)-dimethylalkanes). This was not owing to genetic drift or different ecotypes since neutral gene diversity was the same in both countries. Furthermore, it is known that the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of non-host ant species remain stable between Finland and the UK. The most parsimonious explanation for the striking difference in the cue diversity (number of C(25)-dimethylalkanes isomers) between the UK and Finland populations is the large differences in parasite pressure experienced by F. fusca in the two countries. These results have strong parallels with bird (cuckoo) studies and support the hypothesis that parasites are driving recognition cue diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Martin
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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Martin SJ, Takahashi JI, Ono M, Drijfhout FP. Is the social parasite Vespa dybowskii using chemical transparency to get her eggs accepted? JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2008; 54:700-707. [PMID: 18342329 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2008.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2007] [Accepted: 01/22/2008] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Both avian and insect cuckoos must trick their hosts into accepting foreign eggs. In birds this is achieved through egg mimicry. Within the hornets the only known social parasite is the rare Vespa dybowskii. We investigated how the V. dybowskii queen induces tens or hundreds of host workers to accept her eggs and offspring. Since hydrocarbons function as recognition cues in social insects, we investigated these compounds from the surface of eggs and workers of V. dybowskii, both host species (V. simillima and V. crabro) and an additional four non-host species. We found that chemical mimicry of the hosts' colony odour and their eggs normally associated with wasps was not being employed by V. dybowskii. Chemical insignificance is also unlikely as the amounts of hydrocarbons extracted from parasite, host and non-host eggs were similar. Eggs of V. dybowskii may survive in part due to being chemically transparent, as methyl-branched compounds only represent a tiny proportion (<1%) of the parasites hydrocarbon profile but a large proportion (26-41%) in both host species. However, the functions of various hydrocarbon groups need to be investigated in the hornets before this new acceptance mechanism of parasite eggs and adults is understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Martin
- Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
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Why are larvae of the social parasite wasp Polistes sulcifer not removed from the host nest? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2008. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-008-0560-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Sorvari J, Theodora P, Turillazzi S, Hakkarainen H, Sundström L. Food resources, chemical signaling, and nest mate recognition in the ant Formica aquilonia. Behav Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arm160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Prior experience with eggs laid by non-nestmate queens induces egg acceptance errors in ant workers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0456-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Nanork P, Wongsiri S, Oldroyd BP. Preservation and loss of the honey bee (Apis) egg-marking signal across evolutionary time. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0382-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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The genetic population structure of the ant Plagiolepis xene-implications for genetic vulnerability of obligate social parasites. CONSERV GENET 2005. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-005-9003-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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