Konrad Matthias, Pamminger Tobias, Foitzik Susanne
Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Naturwissenschaften. 2012 Aug;99(8):627-36. doi: 10.1007/s00114-012-0943-z. Epub 2012 Jul 18.
Reproductive division of labour is a characteristic trait of social insects. The dominant reproductive individual, often the queen, uses chemical communication and/or behaviour to maintain her social status. Queens of many social insects communicate their fertility status via cuticle-bound substances. As these substances usually possess a low volatility, their range in queen-worker communication is potentially limited. Here, we investigate the range and impact of behavioural and chemical queen signals on workers of the ant Temnothorax longispinosus. We compared the behaviour and ovary development of workers subjected to three different treatments: workers with direct chemical and physical contact to the queen, those solely under the influence of volatile queen substances and those entirely separated from the queen. In addition to short-ranged queen signals preventing ovary development in workers, we discovered a novel secondary pathway influencing worker behaviour. Workers with no physical contact to the queen, but exposed to volatile substances, started to develop their ovaries, but did not change their behaviour compared to workers in direct contact to the queen. In contrast, workers in queen-separated groups showed both increased ovary development and aggressive dominance interactions. We conclude that T. longispinosus queens influence worker ovary development and behaviour via two independent signals, both ensuring social harmony within the colony.
生殖分工是群居昆虫的一个特征。占主导地位的生殖个体，通常是蚁后，利用化学通讯和/或行为来维持其社会地位。许多群居昆虫的蚁后通过表皮结合物质来传达其生育状态。由于这些物质通常挥发性较低，它们在蚁后与工蚁通讯中的作用范围可能有限。在此，我们研究了行为和化学蚁后信号对长刺蚁工蚁的作用范围和影响。我们比较了接受三种不同处理的工蚁的行为和卵巢发育情况：与蚁后有直接化学和身体接触的工蚁、仅受挥发性蚁后物质影响的工蚁以及与蚁后完全隔离的工蚁。除了近距离的蚁后信号可阻止工蚁卵巢发育外，我们还发现了一条影响工蚁行为的新的次要途径。与蚁后有直接接触的工蚁相比，未与蚁后有身体接触但接触挥发性物质的工蚁开始发育卵巢，但行为没有改变。相比之下，与蚁后隔离组的工蚁卵巢发育增加，且出现了攻击性的优势互动。我们得出结论，长刺蚁蚁后通过两种独立信号影响工蚁卵巢发育和行为，这两种信号都确保了蚁群内的社会和谐。
