Age and Task Modulate Olfactory Sensitivity in the Florida Carpenter Ant Camponotus floridanus.
Age and Task Modulate Olfactory Sensitivity in the Florida Carpenter Ant Camponotus floridanus.
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DOI：
10.3390/insects14090724
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发表时间：
2023-08-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Zwiebel LJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ferguson ST;Bakis I;Edwards ND;Zwiebel LJ
佛罗里达木蚁（Camponotus floridanus）生活在由数千只工蚁组成的蚁群中。最小的工蚁，被称为未成年工蚁，从事日常工作，如护理和觅食，而最大的工蚁，被称为少校，被认为是专门保卫巢穴的士兵。蚁群如何分配劳动力来满足不断变化的需求仍然是该领域的一个悬而未决的问题，但目前的证据表明，蚂蚁的社会行为可能是遗传/表观遗传，生理和系统水平过程相结合的结果。在这里，我们通过研究嗅觉灵敏度在调节蚂蚁行为中的作用来扩展这些研究。未成年工人表现出显着的变化，嗅觉灵敏度和气味编码，因为他们的年龄和切换任务。然而，随着年龄的增长，专业学生的嗅觉敏感度保持相对稳定。从这些研究中，我们还确定了一个单一的化合物，3-甲基吲哚，这引起了显着更高的嗅觉反应和厌恶行为的护士相比，觅食，这表明这种化学物质可能有一个作用，在育雏护理。总的来说，这些研究支持这样的假设，即嗅觉灵敏度的变化在调节蚂蚁的社会行为中起着重要作用。在各种动物物种中观察到了与行为和感官知觉有关的变化。在蚂蚁和其他真社会性昆虫中，工人经常通过嗅觉驱动的行为任务的有序序列来进步。值得注意的是，这些行为是可塑的，工人适应并迅速切换任务，以应对不断变化的环境条件。在佛罗里达木蚁中，较小的未成年蚁通常承担维持殖民地所需的大部分工作，而较大的主要蚁则专门负责巢穴防御，很少参与这些例行任务。在这里，我们调查的影响，年龄和任务组的嗅觉反应的一系列气味混合物在未成年人和主要工人种姓。与他们各自的角色一致的殖民地内，我们观察到显着的年龄相关的变化，未成年人的嗅觉反应，因为他们之间的行为状态的过渡，而专业的反应始终保持低，无论年龄。此外，我们已经确定了一个单一的化合物，3-甲基吲哚，这引起了显着更高的反应和行为厌恶的小护士比同样年龄的觅食，这表明该化合物可能发挥重要作用，育雏护理。总之，我们的研究结果表明，年龄和任务相关的嗅觉生理变化可能在蚁群的社会组织中发挥关键作用。
Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus) live in colonies comprised of thousands of workers. The smallest workers, known as minors, engage in routine tasks such as nursing and foraging while the largest workers, known as majors, are thought to be soldiers specialized for defending the nest. How ant colonies allocate their workforce to address the dynamic and ever-changing needs of the colonies remains an open question in the field, but current evidence suggests that ant social behavior likely results from a combination of genetic/epigenetic, physiological, and systems-level processes. Here, we extend these studies by investigating the role of olfactory sensitivity in regulating ant behavior. Minor workers exhibited significant shifts in olfactory sensitivity and odor coding as they aged and switched tasks. The olfactory sensitivity of majors, however, remained relatively stable as they aged. From these studies, we also identified a single compound, 3-methylindole, which elicited significantly higher olfactory responses and aversive behavior in nurses compared to foragers, suggesting that this chemical may have a role in brood care. Overall, these studies support the hypothesis that changes in olfactory sensitivity play an important role in regulating social behavior in ants. Age-related changes in behavior and sensory perception have been observed in a wide variety of animal species. In ants and other eusocial insects, workers often progress through an ordered sequence of olfactory-driven behavioral tasks. Notably, these behaviors are plastic, and workers adapt and rapidly switch tasks in response to changing environmental conditions. In the Florida carpenter ant, smaller minors typically perform most of the work needed to maintain the colony, while the larger majors are specialized for nest defense and rarely engage in these routine tasks. Here, we investigate the effects of age and task group on olfactory responses to a series of odorant blends in minor and major worker castes. Consistent with their respective roles within the colony, we observed significant age-associated shifts in the olfactory responses of minors as they transitioned between behavioral states, whereas the responses of majors remained consistently low regardless of age. Furthermore, we have identified a unitary compound, 3-methylindole, which elicited significantly higher responses and behavioral aversion in minor nurses than in similarly aged foragers suggesting that this compound may play an important role in brood care. Taken together, our results suggest that age- and task-associated shifts in olfactory physiology may play a critical role in the social organization of ant colonies.
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影响因子：
56.9
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