Chemical secretions of two sympatric harvester ants,Pogonomyrmex salinus andMessor lobognathus

1993 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1993-2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth R. do Nascimento ◽  
Brian D. Jackson ◽  
E. David Morgan ◽  
William H. Clark ◽  
Paul E. Blom
Keyword(s):  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Pogonomyrmex Salinus

scholarly journals Colony dynamics and Plant Community Associations of the Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex salinus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Sagebrush-Steppe Habitat

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 983-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian C Robertson ◽  
Wilma G Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Sagebrush Steppe ◽  
First Year ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Native Plant Species ◽  
Community Associations ◽  
Pogonomyrmex Salinus ◽  
Colony Dynamics

Abstract We present the results of a 5-yr field study on colony dynamics and plant community associations of Owyhee harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex salinus (Olsen), in sagebrush-steppe habitat in southwestern Idaho. Over a 5-yr period, the total number of ant colonies across 16 sites increased from 843 to 878 (4.15%) as a result of 315 colony deaths and 350 colony initiations. Up to 7.1% of colony initiations may have been instances of nest relocation. Colonies had a higher rate of failure in their first year than in subsequent years (12.4 vs 4.6–8.4% over the next 3 yr). Of the 11 sites analyzed for colony dispersion, one was significantly clumped and the others did not differ from random. Population density in the final year of study ranged from 0.1 to 62.9 colonies/ha and was best described by an inverse relationship with sagebrush cover and positive relationship with coverage of non-Bromus (non-cheatgrass) understory vegetation. We interpret these results both in terms of 1) food resources—harvester ants avoid cheatgrass seeds in their diet, preferring instead small-seeded grasses and forbs, and 2) habitat structure—harvester ants prefer nesting in open areas where the ground is exposed to sun and they can clear vegetation from the vicinity of their nests. Given the habitat associations we report, the transition from sagebrush-dominated habitat to open grasslands that is occurring rapidly throughout much of the western United States may prove costly to native plant species whose seeds are readily consumed by harvester ants.

How Patrollers Set Foraging Direction in Harvester Ants

2007 ◽  
Vol 170 (6) ◽  
pp. 943
Author(s):  
Michael J. Greene ◽  
Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Harvester Ants

scholarly journals Context-dependent expression of the foraging gene in field colonies of ants: the interacting roles of age, environment and task

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1837) ◽  
pp. 20160841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista K. Ingram ◽  
Deborah M. Gordon ◽  
Daniel A. Friedman ◽  
Michael Greene ◽  
John Kahler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Genetic Regulation ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
And Task

Task allocation among social insect workers is an ideal framework for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying behavioural plasticity because workers of similar genotype adopt different behavioural phenotypes. Elegant laboratory studies have pioneered this effort, but field studies involving the genetic regulation of task allocation are rare. Here, we investigate the expression of the foraging gene in harvester ant workers from five age- and task-related groups in a natural population, and we experimentally test how exposure to light affects foraging expression in brood workers and foragers. Results from our field study show that the regulation of the foraging gene in harvester ants occurs at two time scales: levels of foraging mRNA are associated with ontogenetic changes over weeks in worker age, location and task, and there are significant daily oscillations in foraging expression in foragers. The temporal dissection of foraging expression reveals that gene expression changes in foragers occur across a scale of hours and the level of expression is predicted by activity rhythms: foragers have high levels of foraging mRNA during daylight hours when they are most active outside the nests. In the experimental study, we find complex interactions in foraging expression between task behaviour and light exposure. Oscillations occur in foragers following experimental exposure to 13 L : 11 D (LD) conditions, but not in brood workers under similar conditions. No significant differences were seen in foraging expression over time in either task in 24 h dark (DD) conditions. Interestingly, the expression of foraging in both undisturbed field and experimentally treated foragers is also significantly correlated with the expression of the circadian clock gene, cycle . Our results provide evidence that the regulation of this gene is context-dependent and associated with both ontogenetic and daily behavioural plasticity in field colonies of harvester ants. Our results underscore the importance of assaying temporal patterns in behavioural gene expression and suggest that gene regulation is an integral mechanism associated with behavioural plasticity in harvester ants.

Exploring the vegetation: Seed harvester ants climb and remove seeds from a giant cactus in a semiarid environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Luna ◽  
Diego Anjos ◽  
Juan H. García-Chávez ◽  
Wesley Dáttilo
Keyword(s):  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Semiarid Environment

scholarly journals Ants Sense, and Follow, Trail Pheromones of Ant Community Members

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime M. Chalissery ◽  
Asim Renyard ◽  
Regine Gries ◽  
Danielle Hoefele ◽  
Santosh Kumar Alamsetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trail Pheromone ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Lasius Niger ◽  
Trail Following ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Trail Pheromones ◽  
Ant Community ◽  
Carpenter Ants ◽  
Electroantennographic Detection

Ants deposit trail pheromones that guide nestmates to food sources. We tested the hypotheses that ant community members (Western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc; black garden ants, Lasius niger; European fire ants, Myrmica rubra) (1) sense, and follow, each other’s trail pheromones, and (2) fail to recognize trail pheromones of allopatric ants (pavement ants, Tetramorium caespitum; desert harvester ants, Novomessor albisetosus; Argentine ants, Linepithema humilis). In gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection analyses of a six-species synthetic trail pheromone blend (6-TPB), La. niger, Ca. modoc, and M. rubra sensed the trail pheromones of all community members and unexpectedly that of T. caespitum. Except for La. niger, all species did not recognize the trail pheromones of N. albisetosus and Li. humilis. In bioassays, La. niger workers followed the 6-TPB trail for longer distances than their own trail pheromone, indicating an additive effect of con- and hetero-specific pheromones on trail-following. Moreover, Ca. modoc workers followed the 6-TPB and their own trail pheromones for similar distances, indicating no adverse effects of heterospecific pheromones on trail-following. Our data show that ant community members eavesdrop on each other’s trail pheromones, and that multiple pheromones can be combined in a lure that guides multiple species of pest ants to lethal food baits.

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