Dynamics and Ontogenetic Role of Worker-Larval Feeding in the Fire Ant

IBN-9317853 Tschinkel 对社会行为进化的重要基本见解源于对蜜蜂和蚂蚁等昆虫社会组织的研究，其中群体成员密切相关。 在这些情况下，一个基本问题涉及个人行为与社会单位（蜂巢或群体）的成功之间的关系。 这项研究将解决群体组织的一个重要组成部分，即高度社会性火蚁幼体（幼虫）的喂养动态。 发育中的幼虫所接受的营养可能会影响个体的社会角色和体型、它们在群体中可以进行的劳动以及群体作为繁殖单位的成功。 Tschinkel 博士将研究决定蚂蚁如何喂养幼虫的定量模式和“规则”。 该研究将提供液体和固体食物摄食行为的详细描述、成虫对幼虫饥饿水平的敏感性信息以及不同喂养方案对幼虫生长时的作用和性发育影响的数据。 该研究将首次全面描述个体食物分配的规则，将个体行为与整个群体的特征联系起来，并将为群体成长过程中发生的发育变化提供可能的机制。 这些结果将为我们理解社会性昆虫群体的动态，进而理解社会性的进化做出根本性的贡献。 此外，火蚁是一种外来物种，会造成重大经济损失，这项研究有可能进一步努力控制它。

IBN-9317853 Tschinkel Important basic insights into the evolution of social behavior have resulted from studies of the social organization of insects such as bees and ants in which colony members are closely related. A fundamental question in these cases concerns the relationship between the behavior of individuals and the success of the social unit, the hive or colony. This research will address an important component of colony organization, the dynamics of the feeding of the young (larvae) in highly social fire ants. The nutrition received by developing larvae probably affects the social role and size of individuals, the labor they can perform within the colony and the success of the colony as a reproductive unit. Dr. Tschinkel will study the quantitative patterns and "rules" that determine how ants feed larvae. The research will provide detailed description of feeding behavior with both liquid and solid foods, information on the sensitivity of adults to the hunger levels of the larvae and data on the effects of different feeding regimens on the role and sexual development of the larvae when grown. The research will provide the first full description of the rules of food distribution by individuals, will link individual behavior to characteristics of the colony as a whole, and will provide a possible mechanism for the developmental changes that occur as the colony grows. These results will make fundamental contributions to our understanding of the dynamics of social insect colonies and, therefore, to our understanding of the evolution of sociality. In addition, the fire ant is an introduced species that causes significant economic damage, and this research has the potential to further efforts to control it.