Li Zimai, Wang Qi, Knebel Daniel, Veit Daniel, Ulrich Yuko
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena 07745, Germany.
Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2025 Mar 20;380(1922):20230270. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0270.
Division of labour (DOL) plays a key role across all scales of biological organization, but how its expression varies across contexts is still poorly understood. Here, we measure DOL in a crucial task, colony defence, in a social insect that affords precise experimental control over individual and colony traits, the clonal raider ant (). We find that DOL in defence behaviour emerges within colonies of near-identical workers, likely reflecting variation in individual response thresholds, and that it increases with colony size. Additionally, colonies with pupae show higher defence levels than those without brood. However, we do not find evidence for a behavioural syndrome linking defence with exploration and activity, as previously reported in other systems. By showing how colony composition and size affect group response to potential threats, our findings highlight the role of the social context in shaping DOL.This article is part of the theme issue 'Division of labour as key driver of social evolution'.
劳动分工（DOL）在生物组织的各个尺度上都起着关键作用，但其表达如何随环境变化仍知之甚少。在这里，我们在一项关键任务——群体防御中测量了劳动分工，研究对象是一种社会昆虫，即无性掠食蚁，它能够对个体和群体特征进行精确的实验控制。我们发现，防御行为中的劳动分工出现在近乎相同的工蚁群体中，这可能反映了个体反应阈值的差异，并且劳动分工随群体规模的增加而增强。此外，有蛹的群体比没有幼虫的群体表现出更高的防御水平。然而，我们没有发现证据表明存在一种将防御与探索和活动联系起来的行为综合征，而此前在其他系统中曾有过相关报道。通过展示群体组成和规模如何影响群体对潜在威胁的反应，我们的研究结果凸显了社会环境在塑造劳动分工方面的作用。本文是主题为“劳动分工是社会进化的关键驱动力”的特刊的一部分。
