Resource Imbalances and the Evolutionary Ecology of Ants (Formicidae)

戴维森9707932研究将评估蚂蚁消化解剖中的“关键创新”与蚂蚁饮食中的碳水化合物(CHO)和蛋白质(N)比例之间的关系。食物的实验操作与其他研究一起，将确定Cho：N比例对蚂蚁觅食“节奏”和路径(与食物发现率相关)、领土以及进攻性和防御性化学武器的影响。稳定的同位素比率、干重氮量百分比和CHO和N资源的“放弃浓度”将被作为蚂蚁依赖植物资源的潜在指标进行调查，并应相互关联。各种蚂蚁分类群对分泌物和猎物的进化依赖程度将在实验室喂养试验中进一步评估。分类群之间的所有比较将在合法的系统发育背景下进行。PI还将检查其他生物(植物、昆虫等)可能已经进化到通过食物奖励的Chon比率来操纵蚂蚁。结果应该表明，不同食物的蚂蚁分类群可以通过潜在食物来源中的CHO：N比例来操纵。PI还应该有助于评估某些害虫蚂蚁打破了导致快速资源发现的特征与那些与资源支配相关的特征之间的进化权衡的功能。

Davidson 9707932 Studies will assess the relationship between "key innovations" in the digestive anatomy of ants and the carbohydrate (CHO) : protein (N) ratios in ant diets. Experimental manipulations of diet, together with other investigations, will determine the effects of CHO: N ratios on ant foraging "tempos" and paths (correlated with food discovery rates), territoriality, and offensive and defensive chemical weaponry. Stable isotope ratios, % dry weight nitrogen measures, and "giving-up concentrations" for CHO and N resources, will be investigated as potential indicators of ant dependency on plant resources and should be intercorrelated. The extent of evolved dependency of various ant taxa on exudates vs. prey will be further assessed in laboratory feeding trials. All comparisons among taxa will be made in legitimate phylogenetic contexts. The PIs will also examine the ways in which other organisms (plants, insects, etc.) may have evolved to manipulate ants via the CHON ratios of food rewards. Results should suggest ways in which ant taxa with different diets can be manipulated by CHO:N ratios in potential food sources. The PIs should also be useful in assessing the functional by which some pest ants have broken the evolutionary trade-off between characteristics leading to rapid resource discovery vs. those correlated with resource domination.