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Mogensen AL, Andersen LB, Sørensen JG, Offenberg J. Manipulated ants: inducing loyalty to sugar feeders with an alkaloid. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2024; 80:3445-3450. [PMID: 38407544 DOI: 10.1002/ps.8049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Wood ants are promising biocontrol agents in fruit plantations because they prey on pest insects and inhibit plant diseases. However, these ants also attend plant-feeding homopterans to harvest their honeydew secretions, thereby increasing their numbers. This problem can be solved by offering ants alternative sugar sources that are more attractive than honeydew. From natural interactions, it is known that some species manipulate mutualistic partners toward loyalty by adding alkaloids to the food they offer their mutualists. Inspired by this, the addition of alkaloids might be used to make ants loyal to artificial sugar feeders and thus used to reduce populations of ant-farmed homopterans in ant-mediated biological control. We aimed to explore whether wood ants (Formica polyctena) would develop a taste preference for morphine-containing sugar solutions in two-choice laboratory tests. RESULTS After having fed on a morphine/sugar solution for 1 week, ants showed a significant preference for morphine solutions compared with equal concentration sugar solutions without morphine. Furthermore, ants lost this preference after 6-9 days on a morphine-free diet. CONCLUSION The results show that wood ants react to morphine in their food, enabling chemical manipulation of their behavior, most likely through a taste preference. Thus, ants are susceptible to manipulation by mutualistic partners in natural interactions and furthermore may be manipulated artificially in biocontrol programs to avoid ant-mediated build-up of homopteran populations. © 2024 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anders Lander Mogensen
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Laurits Bundgaard Andersen
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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2
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Galante H, Czaczkes TJ. Invasive ant learning is not affected by seven potential neuroactive chemicals. Curr Zool 2024; 70:87-97. [PMID: 38476136 PMCID: PMC10926265 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoad001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Argentine ants Linepithema humile are one of the most damaging invasive alien species worldwide. Enhancing or disrupting cognitive abilities, such as learning, has the potential to improve management efforts, for example by increasing preference for a bait, or improving ants' ability to learn its characteristics or location. Nectar-feeding insects are often the victims of psychoactive manipulation, with plants lacing their nectar with secondary metabolites such as alkaloids and non-protein amino acids which often alter learning, foraging, or recruitment. However, the effect of neuroactive chemicals has seldomly been explored in ants. Here, we test the effects of seven potential neuroactive chemicals-two alkaloids: caffeine and nicotine; two biogenic amines: dopamine and octopamine, and three nonprotein amino acids: β-alanine, GABA and taurine-on the cognitive abilities of invasive L. humile using bifurcation mazes. Our results confirm that these ants are strong associative learners, requiring as little as one experience to develop an association. However, we show no short-term effect of any of the chemicals tested on spatial learning, and in addition no effect of caffeine on short-term olfactory learning. This lack of effect is surprising, given the extensive reports of the tested chemicals affecting learning and foraging in bees. This mismatch could be due to the heavy bias towards bees in the literature, a positive result publication bias, or differences in methodology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrique Galante
- Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Animal Comparative Economics Laboratory, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Tomer J Czaczkes
- Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Animal Comparative Economics Laboratory, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
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3
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Chandak P, Chakraborti U, Annagiri S. Using pupae as appetitive reinforcement to study visual and tactile associative learning in the Ponerine ant Diacamma indicum. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15609. [PMID: 37731033 PMCID: PMC10511714 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42439-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Associative learning is of great importance to animals, as it enhances their ability to navigate, forage, evade predation and improve fitness. Even though associative learning abilities of Hymenopterans have been explored, many of these studies offered food as appetitive reinforcement. In the current study, we focus on tactile and visual cue learning in an ant Diacamma indicum using a Y-maze setup with pupa as a positive reinforcement. Using pupa as a reward resulted in a significantly higher proportion of ants completing the training in a shorter time as compared to using food as reinforcement. Ants spent significantly more time in the conditioned arm for both visual cues (white dots or black dots) and tactile cues (rough or smooth surfaces) presented on the floor when associated with pupa, thus showing that they were capable of associative learning. On encountering a conflict between visual and tactile cues during the test, ants chose to spend significantly more time on the arm with the tactile cues indicating that they had made a stronger association between pupa and the tactile cue as compared to the visual cue during training. Using pupa as an ecologically relevant reward, we show that these solitary foraging ants living in small colonies are capable of visual and tactile associative learning and are likely to learn tactile cues over visual cues in association with pupa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parth Chandak
- Behaviour and Ecology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohanpur, Kolkata, 741246, India
| | - Udipta Chakraborti
- Behaviour and Ecology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohanpur, Kolkata, 741246, India
| | - Sumana Annagiri
- Behaviour and Ecology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohanpur, Kolkata, 741246, India.
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4
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Poissonnier LA, Hartmann Y, Czaczkes TJ. Ants combine object affordance with latent learning to make efficient foraging decisions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2302654120. [PMID: 37603741 PMCID: PMC10468611 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2302654120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The affordance of an object refers to its functional properties. For example, a bowl has the affordance of holding water, but a sieve does not. Here, we report that ants learn the affordance of a novel object without this attribute being rewarded, and use the memory of this affordance to avoid predicted, but never experienced, crowding. Ants were trained to feeders, which could support either only one ant or many. Two feeders were encountered, each of identical design but differently scented. After training, on the outward journey, half the ants encounter nestmates, which had fed on food matching one of the training feeders. Encountering returning nestmates reduced preference for the feeder matching the scent of the encountered nestmates, but only for ants trained on a limited-access feeder; ants trained on an unlimited feeder were unaffected. In other words, only if ants know that the food access is limited, and receive information that this feeder is heavily visited, do they reduce their preference for this feeder. To achieve this, the ants had to combine memories of the feeders' affordance with the presence of nestmates. Then they had to use semantic knowledge that restricted food access combined with nestmate presence predicts a likelihood of crowding, or a rule such as "if the food is restricted and there are nestmates on the path, go to another food source." Regardless of the mechanism, these results demonstrate that ants latently learn the affordance of their surroundings, an unexpected cognitive ability for an invertebrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laure-Anne Poissonnier
- Animal Comparative Economics Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, RegensburgD-95053, Germany
| | - Yannick Hartmann
- Animal Comparative Economics Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, RegensburgD-95053, Germany
| | - Tomer J. Czaczkes
- Animal Comparative Economics Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, RegensburgD-95053, Germany
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5
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Gilad T, Bahar O, Hasan M, Bar A, Subach A, Scharf I. The combined role of visual and olfactory cues in foraging by Cataglyphis ants in laboratory mazes. Curr Zool 2023; 69:401-408. [PMID: 37614920 PMCID: PMC10443614 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoac058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Foragers use several senses to locate food, and many animals rely on vision and smell. It is beneficial not to rely on a single sense, which might fail under certain conditions. We examined the contribution of vision and smell to foraging and maze exploration under laboratory conditions using Cataglyphis desert ants as a model. Foraging intensity, measured as the number of workers entering the maze and arriving at the target as well as target arrival time, were greater when food, blue light, or both were offered or presented in contrast to a control. Workers trained to forage for a combined food and light cue elevated their foraging intensity with experience. However, foraging intensity was not higher when using both cues simultaneously than in either one of the two alone. Following training, we split between the two cues and moved either the food or the blue light to the opposite maze corner. This manipulation impaired foraging success by either leading to fewer workers arriving at the target cell (when the light stayed and the food was moved) or to more workers arriving at the opposite target cell, empty of food (when the food stayed and the light was moved). This result indicates that ant workers use both senses when foraging for food and readily associate light with food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomer Gilad
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ori Bahar
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Malak Hasan
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Adi Bar
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Aziz Subach
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Inon Scharf
- School of Zoology, George S Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
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Yu JX, Hui YM, Xue JA, Qu JB, Ling SQ, Wang W, Zeng XN, Liu JL. Formation characteristics of long-term memory in Bactrocera dorsalis. INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 30:829-843. [PMID: 36151856 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Studies on insects have contributed significantly to a better understanding of learning and memory, which is a necessary cognitive capability for all animals. Although the formation of memory has been studied in some model insects, more evidence is required to clarify the characteristics of memory formation, especially long-term memory (LTM), which is important for reliably storing information. Here, we explored this question by examining Bactrocera dorsalis, an agricultural pest with excellent learning abilities. Using the classical conditioning paradigm of the olfactory proboscis extension reflex (PER), we found that paired conditioning with multiple trials (>3) spaced with an intertrial interval (≥10 min) resulted in stable memory that lasted for at least 3 d. Furthermore, even a single conditioning trial was sufficient for the formation of a 2-d memory. With the injection of protein inhibitors, protein-synthesis-dependent memory was confirmed to start 4 h after training, and its dependence on translation and transcription differed. Moreover, the results revealed that the dependence of memory on protein translation exhibited a time-window effect (4-6 h). Our findings provide an integrated view of LTM in insects, suggesting common mechanisms in LTM formation that play a key role in the biological basis of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Xin Yu
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yan-Min Hui
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jun-Ao Xue
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jia-Bao Qu
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Si-Quan Ling
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection, and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xin-Nian Zeng
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jia-Li Liu
- Guangdong Engineering Research Center for Insect Behavior Regulation, College of Plant Protection, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
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da Silva RC, Aguiar JMRBV, Oi CA, Batista JE, Giurfa M, do Nascimento FS. Sex and lifestyle dictate learning performance in a neotropical wasp. iScience 2023; 26:106469. [PMID: 37091245 PMCID: PMC10113769 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In contrast to extensive investigations on bee cognition, the cognitive capacities of wasps remain largely unexplored despite their key role as pollinators and predators of insect pests. Here we studied learning and memory in the neotropical wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus using a Pavlovian conditioning in which harnessed wasps respond with conditioned movements of their mouthparts to a learned odorant. We focused on the different castes, sexes, and ages coexisting within a nest and found that adults of M. cerberus learned and memorized efficiently the odor-sugar associations. In contrast, newly emerged females, but not males, were unable to learn odorants. This difference concurs with their different lifestyle as young males perform regular excursions outside the nest while young females remain in it until older age. Our results thus highlight the importance of socio-ecological constraints on wasp cognition and set the basis for mechanistic studies on learning differences across ages and castes.
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8
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Piqueret B, Montaudon É, Devienne P, Leroy C, Marangoni E, Sandoz JC, d'Ettorre P. Ants act as olfactory bio-detectors of tumours in patient-derived xenograft mice. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221962. [PMID: 36695032 PMCID: PMC9874262 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Early detection of cancer is critical in medical sciences, as the sooner a cancer is diagnosed, the higher are the chances of recovery. Tumour cells are characterized by specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used as cancer biomarkers. Through olfactory associative learning, animals can be trained to detect these VOCs. Insects such as ants have a refined sense of smell, and can be easily and rapidly trained with olfactory conditioning. Using urine from patient-derived xenograft mice as stimulus, we demonstrate that individual ants can learn to discriminate the odour of healthy mice from that of tumour-bearing mice and do so after only three conditioning trials. After training, they spend approximately 20% more time in the vicinity of the learned odour than beside the other stimulus. Chemical analyses confirmed that the presence of the tumour changed the urine odour, supporting the behavioural results. Our study demonstrates that ants reliably detect tumour cues in mice urine and have the potential to act as efficient and inexpensive cancer bio-detectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Piqueret
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse UR4443, France
| | - Élodie Montaudon
- Translational Research Department, Institut Curie, 26 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Paul Devienne
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse UR4443, France
| | - Chloé Leroy
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse UR4443, France
| | - Elisabetta Marangoni
- Translational Research Department, Institut Curie, 26 Rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Sandoz
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse UR4443, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
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Piqueret B, Sandoz JC, d’Ettorre P. The neglected potential of invertebrates in detecting disease via olfaction. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.960757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Agents that cause disease alter the cell metabolism of their hosts. Cells with an altered metabolism produce particular profiles of biomolecules, which are different from those of healthy cells. Such differences may be detected by olfaction. Historically, physicians used olfactory cues to diagnose sickness by smelling the breath or the urine of patients. However, other species have been shown to possess excellent olfactory abilities. Dogs, for instance, have been frequently used as biodetectors of human diseases, including cancer, viral and bacterial infections. Other mammalian species, such as rats, have been trained to perform similar tasks, but their disease detection abilities remain poorly explored. Here, we focus on the overlooked potential of invertebrate species and we review the current literature on olfactory detection of diseases by these animals. We discuss the possible advantages of exploring further the abilities of invertebrates as detection tools for human disease.
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Piqueret B, Bourachot B, Leroy C, Devienne P, Mechta-Grigoriou F, d'Ettorre P, Sandoz JC. Ants detect cancer cells through volatile organic compounds. iScience 2022; 25:103959. [PMID: 35281730 PMCID: PMC8914326 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cancer is among the world's leading causes of death. A critical challenge for public health is to develop a noninvasive, inexpensive, and efficient tool for early cancer detection. Cancer cells are characterized by an altered metabolism, producing unique patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used as cancer biomarkers. Dogs can detect VOCs via olfactory associative learning, but training dogs is costly and time-consuming. Insects, such as ants, have a refined sense of smell and can be rapidly trained. We show that individual ants need only a few training trials to learn, memorize, and reliably detect the odor of human cancer cells. These performances rely on specific VOC patterns, as shown by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Our findings suggest that using ants as living tools to detect biomarkers of human cancer is feasible, fast, and less laborious than using other animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Piqueret
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée UR 4443 (LEEC), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Brigitte Bourachot
- Stress and Cancer Laboratory, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Equipe labelisée Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, 26, rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.,Inserm, U830, Paris F-75248, France
| | - Chloé Leroy
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée UR 4443 (LEEC), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Paul Devienne
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée UR 4443 (LEEC), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Fatima Mechta-Grigoriou
- Stress and Cancer Laboratory, Institut Curie, PSL Research University, Equipe labelisée Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, 26, rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.,Inserm, U830, Paris F-75248, France
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée UR 4443 (LEEC), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 93430 Villetaneuse, France.,Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Sandoz
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, CNRS, IRD, Université Paris-Saclay, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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No coordination required for resources allocation during colony fission in a social insect? An individual-based model reproduces empirical patterns. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:463-472. [PMID: 34664156 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01561-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Social insects are classic examples of cooperation and coordination. For instance, laboratory studies of colony relocation, or house-hunting, have investigated how workers coordinate their efforts to swiftly move the colony to the best nesting site available while preserving colony integrity, i.e. avoiding a split. However, several studies have shown that, in some other contexts, individuals may use private rather than social information and may act solitarily rather than in a coordinated way. Here, we study resource allocation by a mature ant colony when it reproduces by fissioning into several colonies. This is a very different task than house hunting in that colony fission seeks the split of the colony. We develop a simple individual-based model to test if colony fission and resource allocation may be carried out by workers acting solitarily with no coordination. Our model reproduces well the pattern of allocation observed in nature (number and size of new colonies). This does not show that workers do not communicate nor coordinate. Rather, it suggests that independent decision making may be an important component of the process of resource allocation.
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12
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de Bruijn JAC, Vet LEM, Smid HM, de Boer JG. Memory extinction and spontaneous recovery shaping parasitoid foraging behavior. Behav Ecol 2021; 32:952-960. [PMID: 34690548 PMCID: PMC8528537 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals can alter their foraging behavior through associative learning, where an encounter with an essential resource (e.g., food or a reproductive opportunity) is associated with nearby environmental cues (e.g., volatiles). This can subsequently improve the animal's foraging efficiency. However, when these associated cues are encountered again, the anticipated resource is not always present. Such an unrewarding experience, also called a memory-extinction experience, can change an animal's response to the associated cues. Although some studies are available on the mechanisms of this process, they rarely focus on cues and rewards that are relevant in an animal's natural habitat. In this study, we tested the effect of different types of ecologically relevant memory-extinction experiences on the conditioned plant volatile preferences of the parasitic wasp Cotesia glomerata that uses these cues to locate its caterpillar hosts. These extinction experiences consisted of contact with only host traces (frass and silk), contact with nonhost traces, or oviposition in a nonhost near host traces, on the conditioned plant species. Our results show that the lack of oviposition, after contacting host traces, led to the temporary alteration of the conditioned plant volatile preference in C. glomerata, but this effect was plant species-specific. These results provide novel insights into how ecologically relevant memory-extinction experiences can fine-tune an animal's foraging behavior. This fine-tuning of learned behavior can be beneficial when the lack of finding a resource accurately predicts current, but not future foraging opportunities. Such continuous reevaluation of obtained information helps animals to prevent maladaptive foraging behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A C de Bruijn
- Laboratory of Entomology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Louise E M Vet
- Laboratory of Entomology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hans M Smid
- Laboratory of Entomology, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jetske G de Boer
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Wissink M, Nehring V. Appetitive olfactory learning suffers in ants when octopamine or dopamine receptors are blocked. J Exp Biol 2021; 224:271209. [PMID: 34357377 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Associative learning relies on the detection of coincidence between a stimulus and a reward or punishment. In the insect brain, this process is carried out in the mushroom bodies under the control of octopaminergic and dopaminergic neurons. It was assumed that appetitive learning is governed by octopaminergic neurons, while dopamine is required for aversive learning. This view has recently been challenged: both neurotransmitters are involved in both types of learning in bees and flies. Here, we tested which neurotransmitters are required for appetitive learning in ants. We trained Lasius niger workers to discriminate two mixtures of linear hydrocarbons and to associate one of them with a sucrose reward. We analysed the walking paths of the ants using machine learning and found that the ants spent more time near the rewarded odour than near the other, a preference that was stable for at least 24 h. We then treated the ants before learning with either epinastine, an octopamine receptor blocker, or flupentixol, a dopamine receptor blocker. Ants with blocked octopamine receptors did not prefer the rewarded odour. Octopamine signalling is thus necessary for appetitive learning of olfactory cues, probably because it signals information about odours or reward to the mushroom body. In contrast, ants with blocked dopamine receptors initially learned the rewarded odour but failed to retrieve this memory 24 h later. Dopamine is thus probably required for long-term memory consolidation, independent of short-term memory formation. Our results show that appetitive olfactory learning depends on both octopamine and dopamine signalling in ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maarten Wissink
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Institute for Biology I (Zoology), University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Volker Nehring
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Institute for Biology I (Zoology), University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
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14
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Field evidence supporting monitoring of chemical information on pathways by male African elephants. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Xu T, Chen L. Chemical communication in ant-hemipteran mutualism: potential implications for ant invasions. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 45:121-129. [PMID: 33901733 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2021.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Ant-hemipteran mutualism is one of the most frequently observed food-for-protection associations in nature, and is recently found to contribute to the invasions of several of the most destructive invasive ants. Chemical communication underlies establishment and maintenance of such associations, in which a multitude of semiochemicals, such as pheromones, cuticular hydrocarbons, honeydew sugars and bacteria-produced honeydew volatiles mediate location, recognition, selection, learning of mutualistic partners. Here, we review what is known about the chemical communication between ants and honeydew-producing hemipterans, and discuss how invasive ants can rapidly recognize and establish a mutualistic relationship with the hemipterans with which they have never coevolved. We also highlight some future directions for a clearer understanding of the chemical communication in ant-hemipteran mutualism and its role in ant invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Xu
- College of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China
| | - Li Chen
- College of Life Science, Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, PR China.
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Reznikova Z. Ants’ Personality and Its Dependence on Foraging Styles: Research Perspectives. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.661066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The paper is devoted to analyzing consistent individual differences in behavior, also known as “personalities,” in the context of a vital ant task—the detection and transportation of food. I am trying to elucidate the extent to which collective cognition is individual-based and whether a single individual’s actions can suffice to direct the entire colony or colony units. The review analyzes personalities in various insects with different life cycles and provides new insights into the role of individuals in directing group actions in ants. Although it is widely accepted that, in eusocial insects, colony personality emerges from the workers’ personalities, there are only a few examples of investigations of personality at the individual level. The central question of the review is how the distribution of behavioral types and cognitive responsibilities within ant colonies depends on a species’ foraging style. In the context of how workers’ behavioral traits display during foraging, a crucial question is what makes an ant a scout that discovers a new food source and mobilizes its nestmates. In mass recruiting, tandem-running, and even in group-recruiting species displaying leadership, the division of labor between scouts and recruits appears to be ephemeral. There is only little, if any, evidence of ants’ careers and behavioral consistency as leaders. Personal traits characterize groups of individuals at the colony level but not performers of functional roles during foraging. The leader-scouting seems to be the only known system that is based on a consistent personal difference between scouting and foraging individuals.
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Irrational risk aversion in an ant. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1237-1245. [PMID: 33939043 PMCID: PMC8492575 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01516-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Animals must often decide between exploiting safe options or risky options with a chance for large gains. Both proximate theories based on perceptual mechanisms, and evolutionary ones based on fitness benefits, have been proposed to explain decisions under risk. Eusocial insects represent a special case of risk sensitivity, as they must often make collective decisions based on resource evaluations from many individuals. Previously, colonies of the ant Lasius niger were found to be risk-neutral, but the risk preference of individual foragers was unknown. Here, we tested individual L. niger in a risk sensitivity paradigm. Ants were trained to associate one scent with 0.55 M sucrose solution and another with an equal chance of either 0.1 or 1.0 M sucrose. Preference was tested in a Y-maze. Ants were extremely risk-averse, with 91% choosing the safe option. Based on the psychophysical Weber-Fechner law, we predicted that ants evaluate resources depending on their logarithmic difference. To test this hypothesis, we designed 4 more experiments by varying the relative differences between the alternatives, making the risky option less, equally or more valuable than the safe one. Our results support the logarithmic origin of risk aversion in ants, and demonstrate that the behaviour of individual foragers can be a very poor predictor of colony-level behaviour.
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Rossi N, Pereyra M, Moauro MA, Giurfa M, d'Ettorre P, Josens R. Trail pheromone modulates subjective reward evaluation in Argentine ants. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb230532. [PMID: 32680904 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.230532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is native to South America but has become one of the most invasive species in the world. These ants heavily rely on trail pheromones for foraging, and previous studies have focused on such signals to develop a strategy for chemical control. Here, we studied the effects of pre-exposure to the trail pheromone on sugar acceptance and olfactory learning in Argentine ants. We used the synthetic trail pheromone component (Z)-9-hexadecenal, which triggers the same attraction and trail-following behavior as the natural trail pheromone. We found that pre-exposure to (Z)-9-hexadecenal increases the acceptance of sucrose solutions of different concentrations, thus changing the ants' subjective evaluation of a food reward. However, although ants learned to associate an odor with a sucrose reward, pheromone pre-exposure affected neither the learning nor the mid-term memory of the odor-reward association. Taking into account the importance of the Argentine ant as a pest and invasive organism, our results highlight the importance of pheromonal cues in resource evaluation, a fact that could be useful in control strategies implemented for this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natacha Rossi
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE, CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II. (C1428 EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, CNRS, University of Toulouse, F-31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France
| | - Muriel Pereyra
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE, CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II. (C1428 EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariel A Moauro
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE, CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II. (C1428 EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martin Giurfa
- Research Centre on Animal Cognition, Center for Integrative Biology, CNRS, University of Toulouse, F-31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, UR4443, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
| | - Roxana Josens
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE, CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria Pab. II. (C1428 EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Spatial cognition in the context of foraging styles and information transfer in ants. Anim Cogn 2020; 23:1143-1159. [PMID: 32840698 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01423-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 05/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Ants are central-place foragers: they always return to the nest, and this requires the ability to remember relationships between features of the environment, or an individual's path through the landscape. The distribution of these cognitive responsibilities within a colony depends on a species' foraging style. Solitary foraging as well as leader-scouting, which is based on information transmission about a distant targets from scouts to foragers, can be considered the most challenging tasks in the context of ants' spatial cognition. Solitary foraging is found in species of almost all subfamilies of ants, whereas leader-scouting has been discovered as yet only in the Formica rufa group of species (red wood ants). Solitary foraging and leader-scouting ant species, although enormously different in their levels of sociality and ecological specificities, have many common traits of individual cognitive navigation, such as the primary use of visual navigation, excellent visual landmark memories, and the subordinate role of odour orientation. In leader-scouting species, spatial cognition and the ability to transfer information about a distant target dramatically differ among scouts and foragers, suggesting individual cognitive specialization. I suggest that the leader-scouting style of recruitment is closely connected with the ecological niche of a defined group of species, in particular, their searching patterns within the tree crown. There is much work to be done to understand what cognitive mechanisms underpin route planning and communication about locations in ants.
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Villar ME, Marchal P, Viola H, Giurfa M. Redefining Single-Trial Memories in the Honeybee. Cell Rep 2020; 30:2603-2613.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.01.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 11/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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