Harvester ant nest architecture is more strongly affected by intrinsic than extrinsic factors
Harvester ant nest architecture is more strongly affected by intrinsic than extrinsic factors
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DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arac026
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发表时间：
2022-04-13
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Pinter-Wollman, Noa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
O'Fallon, Sean;Lowell, Eva Sofia Horna;Pinter-Wollman, Noa
行为是由基因、环境和进化历史以不同的方式塑造的。巢结构是动物行为与环境相互作用的结果。蚂蚁建造的巢穴是一种扩展的表型，在物种之间和物种内的殖民地之间存在结构差异，但这些差异的来源仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。为了研究蚁群身份（遗传学）、进化历史（物种）和环境对蚁巢结构的影响，我们比较了两种收获蚁（Pogonomyrmex californicus和Veromessor andrei）在不同环境条件下如何构建它们的蚁巢。对于每一个物种，我们允许来自四个殖民地的工人在不同温度和湿度的环境中挖掘巢穴七天。然后，我们创建了每个巢穴的模型，以比较不同殖民地、不同物种和不同环境条件下的巢穴结构。我们发现不同的巢结构之间的殖民地的同一物种和物种之间。然而，有趣的是，环境条件并没有强烈的影响，在这两个物种的巢结构。我们的研究结果表明，扩展的表型更强烈地由内部因素，如基因和进化历史形成，并且对非生物环境的响应不太灵活，像许多物理和生理表型一样。蚂蚁巢是扩展的表型，由蚂蚁的行为引起。蚂蚁内部和外部的因素都可以影响它们巢穴的结构。通过比较不同蚁群和不同种类的蚂蚁在不同环境下所构建的蚁巢，我们发现内部因素比外部因素对扩展表型的贡献更大。
Behavior is shaped by genes, environment, and evolutionary history in different ways. Nest architecture is an extended phenotype that results from the interaction between the behavior of animals and their environment. Nests built by ants are extended phenotypes that differ in structure among species and among colonies within a species, but the source of these differences remains an open question. To investigate the impact of colony identity (genetics), evolutionary history (species), and the environment on nest architecture, we compared how two species of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex californicus and Veromessor andrei, construct their nests under different environmental conditions. For each species, we allowed workers from four colonies to excavate nests in environments that differed in temperature and humidity for seven days. We then created casts of each nest to compare nest structures among colonies, between species, and across environmental conditions. We found differences in nest structure among colonies of the same species and between species. Interestingly, however, environmental conditions did not have a strong influence on nest structure in either species. Our results suggest that extended phenotypes are shaped more strongly by internal factors, such as genes and evolutionary history, and are less plastic in response to the abiotic environment, like many physical and physiological phenotypes.Ant nests are extended phenotypes, resulting from the behavior of the ants. Factors both internal and external to the ants can influence the structure of their nest. By comparing nests constructed by ants from different colonies and species under different environments, we found that internal factors contribute more strongly than external factors to the extended phenotype.