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Test of the negative feedback hypothesis of colony size sensing in social insects.
Kikuchi, T; Hayashi, Y; Fujito, Y; Fujiwara-Tsujii, N; Kawabata, S; Sugawara, K; Yamaoka, R; Tsuji, Kazuki.
Afiliación
  • Kikuchi T; Marine Biosystems Research Center, Chiba University, Tokawa 1 , Choshi City, Chiba 288-0014, Japan.
  • Hayashi Y; Biomedical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading , Berkshire RG6 6AH, UK.
  • Fujito Y; Division of Analytical and Measuring Instruments, Shimadzu Corporation, 1 Kuwabaracho Nishinokyo Nakagyo-ku , Kyoto 604-8511, Japan.
  • Fujiwara-Tsujii N; Division of Core Technology for Pest Control Reserach, Institute for Plant Protection, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization , Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8666, Japan.
  • Kawabata S; Department of Biology, Toyama University , Toyama 930-8555, Japan.
  • Sugawara K; Department of Information Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Tohoku-gakuin University, 2-1-1, Tenjinzawa, Izumi , Sendai, Miyagi 981-3193, Japan.
  • Yamaoka R; Division of Applied Biology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology (Emeritus) , Kyoto 606-8287, Japan.
  • Tsuji K; Department of Subtropical Agro-Environmental Sciences, University of the Ryukyus , Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan.
Biol Lett ; 20(6): 20240102, 2024 Jun.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38889776
ABSTRACT
Social insects can sense colony size-even without visual information in a dark environment. How they achieve this is yet largely unknown. We empirically tested a hypothesis on the proximate mechanism using ant colonies. In Diacamma colonies, the monogynous queen is known to increase the effort devoted to queen pheromone transmission behaviour (patrolling) as the colony grows, as if she perceives colony size. The negative feedback hypothesis assumes that, through repeated physical contact with workers, the queen monitors the physiological state (fertility) of workers and increases her patrolling effort when she encounters more fertile workers. Supporting this hypothesis, we found that the queen increased her patrolling effort in response to a higher ratio of fertile workers under the experimental condition of constant colony size. Furthermore, chemical analyses and bioassays suggested that cuticular hydrocarbons have queen pheromone activity and can mediate the observed queen-worker communication of fertility state. Such a self-organizing mechanism of sensing colony size may also operate in other social insects living in small colonies.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Hormigas / Feromonas / Conducta Social Límite: Animals Idioma: En Revista: Biol Lett Asunto de la revista: BIOLOGIA Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Japón Pais de publicación: Reino Unido
Texto completo
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Asunto principal: Hormigas / Feromonas / Conducta Social Límite: Animals Idioma: En Revista: Biol Lett Asunto de la revista: BIOLOGIA Año: 2024 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Japón Pais de publicación: Reino Unido