Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908)
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2006 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Brazilian Journal of Biology |
Texto Completo: | http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000300016 |
Resumo: | In an ant colony, the queen is the single reproducer and can interact with her workers via pheromones and cuticular compounds. However, in most species queen importance is not restricted to reproduction: in the initial development of the colony, her presence might play a more important role. In this work, we studied the effects of queen absence on workers behavior displayed in the foraging arena. Ants mortality and refuse accumulation was also measured daily. The results showed that queen absence did not alter either workers behavior or foraging efficiency. However, we observed increased ant mortality accompanied by a decrease in refuse dumping outside the nest. These results corroborate the hypothesis that environmental factors are more important than intrinsical factors in the allocation of external tasks. Probably, the queen could only influence internal activities of the colony. |
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Brazilian Journal of Biology |
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spelling |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908)foragingleaf-cutting antscolony cohesionethogramIn an ant colony, the queen is the single reproducer and can interact with her workers via pheromones and cuticular compounds. However, in most species queen importance is not restricted to reproduction: in the initial development of the colony, her presence might play a more important role. In this work, we studied the effects of queen absence on workers behavior displayed in the foraging arena. Ants mortality and refuse accumulation was also measured daily. The results showed that queen absence did not alter either workers behavior or foraging efficiency. However, we observed increased ant mortality accompanied by a decrease in refuse dumping outside the nest. These results corroborate the hypothesis that environmental factors are more important than intrinsical factors in the allocation of external tasks. Probably, the queen could only influence internal activities of the colony.Instituto Internacional de Ecologia2006-05-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000300016Brazilian Journal of Biology v.66 n.2a 2006reponame:Brazilian Journal of Biologyinstname:Instituto Internacional de Ecologia (IIE)instacron:IIE10.1590/S1519-69842006000300016info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSousa-Souto,L.Souza,D. J.eng2006-07-17T00:00:00Zoai:scielo:S1519-69842006000300016Revistahttps://www.scielo.br/j/bjb/https://old.scielo.br/oai/scielo-oai.phpbjb@bjb.com.br||bjb@bjb.com.br1678-43751519-6984opendoar:2006-07-17T00:00Brazilian Journal of Biology - Instituto Internacional de Ecologia (IIE)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
title |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
spellingShingle |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) Sousa-Souto,L. foraging leaf-cutting ants colony cohesion ethogram |
title_short |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
title_full |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
title_fullStr |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
title_sort |
Queen influence on workers behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) |
author |
Sousa-Souto,L. |
author_facet |
Sousa-Souto,L. Souza,D. J. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Souza,D. J. |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Sousa-Souto,L. Souza,D. J. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
foraging leaf-cutting ants colony cohesion ethogram |
topic |
foraging leaf-cutting ants colony cohesion ethogram |
description |
In an ant colony, the queen is the single reproducer and can interact with her workers via pheromones and cuticular compounds. However, in most species queen importance is not restricted to reproduction: in the initial development of the colony, her presence might play a more important role. In this work, we studied the effects of queen absence on workers behavior displayed in the foraging arena. Ants mortality and refuse accumulation was also measured daily. The results showed that queen absence did not alter either workers behavior or foraging efficiency. However, we observed increased ant mortality accompanied by a decrease in refuse dumping outside the nest. These results corroborate the hypothesis that environmental factors are more important than intrinsical factors in the allocation of external tasks. Probably, the queen could only influence internal activities of the colony. |
publishDate |
2006 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2006-05-01 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000300016 |
url |
http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000300016 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
10.1590/S1519-69842006000300016 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
text/html |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Instituto Internacional de Ecologia |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Instituto Internacional de Ecologia |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Brazilian Journal of Biology v.66 n.2a 2006 reponame:Brazilian Journal of Biology instname:Instituto Internacional de Ecologia (IIE) instacron:IIE |
instname_str |
Instituto Internacional de Ecologia (IIE) |
instacron_str |
IIE |
institution |
IIE |
reponame_str |
Brazilian Journal of Biology |
collection |
Brazilian Journal of Biology |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Brazilian Journal of Biology - Instituto Internacional de Ecologia (IIE) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
bjb@bjb.com.br||bjb@bjb.com.br |
_version_ |
1752129875951484928 |