Brood hiding test: a new bioassay for behavioral and neuroethological ant research

Authors

  • Anna Szczuka Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw
  • Beata Symonowicz Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw
  • Julita Korczyńska Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw
  • Andrzej Wnuk Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw
  • Ewa Joanna Godzińska Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v61i3.345-347

Keywords:

bioassay, brood, light, group size, Formica polyctena

Abstract

We describe a new bioassay for behavioral and neuroethological ant research, the brood hiding test. A group of adult ants is taken out of the nest, confined together with brood and exposed to strong light. Ants may interact with brood, and, in particular, transport it to the provided shadowed area. The brood hiding test may be accompanied by administration of neuroactive compounds and/or by measurements of their levels in the brain and/or in specific brain structures. During pilot tests with workers of Formica polyctena the values of the score quantifying ant behavior were positively correlated with the group size.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Anna Szczuka, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Ethology in the Department of Neurophysiology

Beata Symonowicz, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

research-technical assistant in the Laboratory of Ethology in the Department of Neurophysiology

Julita Korczyńska, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Ethology in the Department of Neurophysiology

Andrzej Wnuk, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

Ph. D. Student in the Laboratory of Ethology in the Department of Neurophysiology (during the participation in the research reported in the submitted paper).

Present address: Laboratory of Applied Ethology, Department of Applied Entomology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS - SGGW), Warsaw, Poland

Ewa Joanna Godzińska, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS, Warsaw

Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Ethology in the Department of Neurophysiology

References

Buczkowski, G. & Bennett, G. W. (2008) Aggressive interactions between the introduced Argentine ant, Linepithema humile and the native odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile. Biol. Invasions, 10: 1001-1013. doi: 10.1007/s10530-007-9179-9.

Chauvin, R. 1954. Aspects sociaux des grandes fonctions chez l’abeille. La theorie du superorganisme. Insect. Soc., 1: 123- 131.

Heylen, K., Gobin, B., Billen, J., Hu, T. – T., Arckens, L. & Huybrechts, R. S. (2008) Amfor expression in the honeybee brain: A trigger mechanism for nurse–forager transition. J. Insect Physiol., 54: 1400-1403. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2008.07015.

Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. (2009) The superorganism. New York: W. W. Norton.

Lenoir, A. (1977) Sur un nouveau test éthologique permettant d’étudier la division du travail chez la fourmi Lasius niger L. C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris, Série D, 284: 2557-2559.

Lenoir, A. (1979) Le comportement alimentaire et la division du travail chez la fourmi Lasius niger. Bull. Biol. Fr. Belg., 113: 79-314.

Lenoir, A. (1981) Brood retrieving in the ant, Lasius niger L. Sociobiology, 6: 153-178.

Muscedere, M. L., Willey, T. A. & Traniello, J. F. A. (2009) Age and task efficiency in the ant Pheidole dentata: young minor workers are not specialist nurses. Anim. Behav., 77: 911-918. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.018.

Roulston, T. H., Buczkowski, G. & Silverman, J. (2003) Nestmate discrimination in ants: effect of bioassay on aggressive behavior. Insect. Soc., 50: 151-159. doi: 10.007/s00040-003-0624-1.

Seid, M. A. & Traniello, J. F. A. (2006) Age-related repertoire expansion and division of labor in Pheidole dentata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a new perspective on temporal polyethism and behavioral plasticity in ants. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 60: 631-644. doi: 101007/s00265-006-0207-z.

Sorensen, A. A., Busch, T. M. & Vinson, S. B. (1984). Behavioral flexibility of temporal subcastes in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, in response to food. Psyche, 91: 319-331.

Szczuka, A. & Godzińska, E. J. (1997). The effect of past and present group size on responses to prey in the ant Formica polyctena Först. Acta Neurobiol. Exp., 57: 135-150.

Szczuka, A. & Godzińska, E. J. (2000) Group size: an important factor controlling the expression of predatory behaviour in workers of the wood ant Formica polyctena Först. Biol. Bull. Poznań, 37: 139-152.

Szczuka, A. & Godzińska, E. J. (2004a). The role of group size in the control of expression of predatory behavior in workers of the red wood ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 43: 295-325.

Szczuka, A. & Godzińska, E. J. (2004b). The effect of gradual increase of group size on the expression of predatory behavior in workers of the red wood ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 43: 327-349.

Tanner, C. J. (2006). Numerical assessment affects aggression and competitive ability: a team-fighting strategy for the ant Formica xerophila. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B., 273: 2737-2742. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3626.

Tanner, C. J. (2008). Aggressive group behavior in the ant Formica xerophila is coordinated by direct nestmate contact. Anim. Behav., 76: 1335-1347. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.022.

Walsh, J. P. & Tschinkel, W. R. (1974) Brood recognition by contact pheromone in the imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Anim. Behav., 22: 695-704.

Weir, J. S. (1958) Polyethism in workers of the ant Myrmica (Part II). Insect. Soc., 5: 315-339.

Wilson, E. O. (1971) The insect societies. Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard University Press.

Downloads

Published

2014-09-30

How to Cite

Szczuka, A., Symonowicz, B., Korczyńska, J., Wnuk, A., & Godzińska, E. J. (2014). Brood hiding test: a new bioassay for behavioral and neuroethological ant research. Sociobiology, 61(3), 345–347. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v61i3.345-347

Issue

Vol. 61 No. 3 (2014)

Section

Short Note

License

Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

 

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC