Castañeda Irene, Bonnaud Elsa, Courchamp Franck, Luque Gloria
Université de Bordeaux 1, Community Ecology Group, UMR INRA 1202 BIOGECO, 33405 Talence, France.
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution, 91405 Orsay, France.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Feb 24;11(3):591. doi: 10.3390/ani11030591.
As a critical stage in the life cycle of ant colonies, nest establishment depends on external and internal factors. This study investigates the effect of the number of queens on queen and worker behavior during nest establishment in invasive Argentine ants () and native Mediterranean . We set up experimental colonies with the same number of workers but with one or six queens. At different time points, we recorded the positions of queens and workers inside and outside the nest. Our results highlight the influence of the number of queens on the position of queens and workers with between-species differences. Queens of both species entered the nests more quickly when there were six queens. During nest establishment, more workers were inside nests with six queens for both species, with this effect being greater for . . Once nests were established, fewer workers of both species were engaged in nest maintenance and feeding in nests with six queens; . had fewer workers engaged in patrolling. These results suggest that the number of queens is a key factor driving queen and worker behavior during and after nest establishment with different species responses.
作为蚁群生命周期中的一个关键阶段，蚁巢的建立取决于外部和内部因素。本研究调查了蚁后数量对入侵性阿根廷蚁（Linepithema humile）和本地地中海蚁（Myrmica scabrinodis）在蚁巢建立过程中蚁后和工蚁行为的影响。我们建立了工蚁数量相同但蚁后数量为一只或六只的实验性蚁群。在不同时间点，我们记录了蚁后和工蚁在巢内和巢外的位置。我们的结果突出了蚁后数量对蚁后和工蚁位置的影响，且存在种间差异。当有六只蚁后时，两种蚂蚁的蚁后都更快地进入巢穴。在蚁巢建立过程中，两种蚂蚁在有六只蚁后的巢穴中有更多工蚁在巢内，这种影响对地中海蚁更大。一旦蚁巢建立起来，两种蚂蚁在有六只蚁后的巢穴中参与巢维护和觅食的工蚁较少；阿根廷蚁参与巡逻的工蚁较少。这些结果表明，蚁后数量是驱动蚁巢建立期间及之后蚁后和工蚁行为的关键因素，且不同物种有不同反应。
