Czaczkes Tomer J, Grüter Christoph, Jones Sam M, Ratnieks Francis L W
Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex; Falmer, UK.
Commun Integr Biol. 2012 Jan 1;5(1):78-80. doi: 10.4161/cib.18209.
The common garden ant Lasius niger use both trail pheromones and memory of past visits to navigate to and from food sources. In a recent paper we demonstrated a synergistic effect between route memory and trail pheromones: the presence of trail pheromones results in experienced ants walking straighter and faster. We also found that experienced ants leaving a pheromone trail deposit less pheromone. Here we focus on another finding of the experiment: the presence of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), which are used as home range markers by ants, also affects pheromone deposition behavior. When walking on a trail on which CHCs are present but trail pheromones are not, experienced foragers deposit less pheromone on the outward journey than on the return journey. The regulatory mechanisms ants use during foraging and recruitment behavior is subtle and complex, affected by multiple interacting factors such as route memory, travel direction and the presence trail pheromone and home-range markings.
普通黑蚁（Lasius niger）利用踪迹信息素以及对过往觅食路线的记忆来往返于食物源之间。在最近的一篇论文中，我们证明了路线记忆与踪迹信息素之间存在协同效应：踪迹信息素的存在会使有经验的蚂蚁行走得更直、更快。我们还发现，留下信息素踪迹的有经验的蚂蚁分泌的信息素较少。在此，我们聚焦于该实验的另一项发现：蚂蚁用作巢穴范围标记的表皮碳氢化合物（CHC）的存在，也会影响信息素分泌行为。当有经验的觅食者在存在CHC但没有踪迹信息素的路径上行走时，它们在外出行程中分泌的信息素比返程时少。蚂蚁在觅食和招募行为中使用的调节机制微妙而复杂，受到多种相互作用因素的影响，如路线记忆、行进方向、踪迹信息素的存在以及巢穴范围标记等。
