Queen location and nest site preference influence colony reunification by the ant Temnothorax rugatulus
Queen location and nest site preference influence colony reunification by the ant Temnothorax rugatulus
复制标题
蚁后位置和巢穴偏好影响蚂蚁 Temnothorax rugatulus 的蚁群重新统一
DOI：
10.1007/s00040-016-0503-1
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
Stephen C. Pratt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
G. N. Doering;Stephen C. Pratt
群居昆虫群体熟练地做出共识决策，这些决策来自群体成员之间的分布式互动。当一个分裂的决策需要解决时，如何达成共识还不清楚。我们研究了殖民地的重新统一过程中移居的裂缝居住的蚂蚁Temnothorax rugatulus。蚁群可以选择最喜欢的几个替代巢腔，但殖民地有时最初分裂的网站和实现共识后，通过二次迁移。我们探讨了使用人为分裂的殖民地来管理统一的决策规则。当一夫一妻制的蚁群平均分布在相同的地点时，蚁后的位置起了决定性的作用，16个蚁群中有14个在蚁后所在的地点团聚。这表明了一种群体策略，通过避免不必要的行动来最大限度地减少对女王的风险。当蚁后被安置在两个不太喜欢的地点时，尽管不得不移动蚁后，但所有14个重新团聚的蚁群都在首选的巢穴中团聚。这些结果表明，当达成共识时，殖民地会平衡多种因素，对环境物理特征的偏好可能超过女王的影响。
Social insect colonies adeptly make consensus decisions that emerge from distributed interactions among colony members. How consensus is accomplished when a split decision requires resolution is poorly understood. We studied colony reunification during emigrations of the crevice-dwelling ant Temnothorax rugatulus. Colonies can choose the most preferred of several alternative nest cavities, but the colony sometimes initially splits between sites and achieves consensus later via secondary emigrations. We explored the decision rules that govern reunification using artificially split colonies. When monogynous colonies were evenly divided between identical sites, the location of the queen played a decisive role, with 14 of the 16 colonies reuniting at the site that held the queen. This suggests a group-level strategy for minimizing risk to the queen by avoiding unnecessary moves. When the queen was placed in the less preferred of two sites, all 14 colonies that reunited did so at the preferred nest, despite having to move the queen. These results show that colonies balance multiple factors when reaching consensus, and that preferences for physical features of the environment can outweigh the queen’s influence.