Nest complexity, group size and brood rearing in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta
Nest complexity, group size and brood rearing in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00040-002-8296-9
复制
发表时间：
2002-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
Vinson, SB
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cassill, D;Tschinkel, WR;Vinson, SB
红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta）是一种单雌蚁（monogyne）的社会形式，每个巢穴可能有50万名工蚁。在空间上将如此庞大的群体组织在一个巢穴的范围内需要一个务实的建筑设计。野外土丘和地下巢室的形态。用几种铸型方法测定了invicta。火蚁巢穴的地面部分，土墩，由密集的狭窄隧道组成。在地面以下，通过草根系统（10-20厘米）挖掘地下竖井和节点，将土墩隧道连接到地下室。腔室平均约为5厘米（2），出现在地面以下10-80厘米的深度。土墩隧道和地下竖井的方向往往是垂直的，而不是水平的，可能有利于殖民地成员的昼夜微迁移来回从地下室的土墩。在地下室的字段巢组的平均大小是非常小的相对于殖民地的大小（类似于200个人每室：50%的工人，50%育雏）。在实验室实验中，拥挤也不巢分区影响育雏。小组的大小和嵌套的复杂性产生本地化或时间释放的通信信号的可能性进行了讨论。
Colonies of the monogyne social form of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, may contain half a million workers per nest. Spatially organizing such a large group within the confines of a single nest requires a pragmatic architectural design. The morphology of field mounds and subterranean nest chambers of S. invicta were determined using several cast methods. The above-ground portion of a fire ant nest, the mound, consisted of a dense matrix of narrow tunnels. Below ground level, subterranean shafts and nodes were excavated through the grass root system (10-20 cm), connecting the mound tunnels to the subterranean chambers. Chambers averaged similar to 5 cm(2) and appeared at depths from 10-80 cm below ground level. The orientation of mound tunnels and subterranean shafts was more often vertical than horizontal, probably facilitating the diurnal micro-migration of colony members back and forth from the subterranean chambers to the mound. The mean size of groups in the subterranean chambers of field nests was remarkably small relative to colony size (similar to 200 individuals per chamber: 50% workers, 50% brood). In laboratory experiments, neither crowding nor nest partitioning affected brood rearing. The possibility that small group size and nest complexity generate localized or time-released communication signals is discussed.