Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates
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Bos, Nick; Grinsted, Lena; Holman, Luke
Description
Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of a waxy layer of colony-specific hydrocarbons on the body surface. Genetic and environmental differences between colony members may confound recognition and social cohesion, so many species perform...[Show more]
dc.contributor.author | Bos, Nick | |
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dc.contributor.author | Grinsted, Lena | |
dc.contributor.author | Holman, Luke | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-11-24T03:18:19Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-11-24T03:18:19Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1932-6203 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/16636 | |
dc.description.abstract | Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of a waxy layer of colony-specific hydrocarbons on the body surface. Genetic and environmental differences between colony members may confound recognition and social cohesion, so many species perform behaviors that homogenize the odor label, such as mouth-to-mouth feeding and allogrooming. Here, we test for another mechanism of cue exchange: indirect transfer of cuticular hydrocarbons via the nest material. Using a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral experiments with Camponotus aethiops ants, we show that nest soil indirectly transfers hydrocarbons between ants and affects recognition behavior. We also found evidence that olfactory cues on the nest soil influence nestmate recognition, but this effect was not observed in all colonies. These results demonstrate that cuticular hydrocarbons deposited on the nest soil are important in creating uniformity in the odor label and may also contribute to the template. | |
dc.description.sponsorship | LH was supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (#235403; CHEMDOC). | |
dc.format | 6 pages | |
dc.publisher | Public Library of Science | |
dc.rights | © 2011 Bos et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
dc.source | PLoS ONE | |
dc.subject | animal communication | |
dc.subject | animals | |
dc.subject | ants | |
dc.subject | behavior, animal | |
dc.subject | cues | |
dc.subject | environment | |
dc.subject | hydrocarbons | |
dc.subject | models, statistical | |
dc.subject | nesting behavior | |
dc.subject | recognition (psychology) | |
dc.subject | social behavior | |
dc.subject | soil | |
dc.subject | waxes | |
dc.title | Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates | |
dc.type | Journal article | |
local.description.notes | Imported from ARIES. At the time of publication, Luke Holman was affiliated with the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. | |
local.identifier.citationvolume | 6 | |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2011-03-29 | |
dc.date.issued | 2011-04-29 | |
local.identifier.absfor | 060304 | |
local.identifier.ariespublication | f5625xPUB7244 | |
local.publisher.url | https://www.plos.org/ | |
local.type.status | Published Version | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Bos, Nick, University of Copenhagen, Denmark | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Grinsted, Lena, University of Copenhagen, Denmark | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Holman, Luke, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, CMBE Research School of Biology, Division of Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, The Australian National University | |
local.identifier.essn | 1932-6203 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.issue | 4 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage | e19435 | |
local.identifier.doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0019435 | |
local.identifier.absseo | 970106 | |
dc.date.updated | 2015-12-11T10:03:03Z | |
local.identifier.scopusID | 2-s2.0-79955757197 | |
local.identifier.thomsonID | 000290024700170 | |
Collections | ANU Research Publications |
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