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Increased soldier production in ant colonies exposed to intraspecific competition

Nature volume 379, pages 630–631 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

THE success of organisms and their increasing complexity throughout the course of evolution are thought to have depended on a small number of important transitions, one of which was the shift from a solitary lifestyle to societies of organisms exhibiting division of labour and having specialized castes1,2. The most familiar examples of the advantages arising from division of labour and caste differentiation come from social insects3. It has been suggested that the proportion of workers of various physical castes has evolved to enhance the fitness of colony members4,6 with the prediction that caste ratios should vary with environmental factors such as predation, competition and food availability. However, because it has been difficult to manipulate experimentally the environmental factors believed to influence optimal caste ratio, demonstration of adaptive caste distribution has remained elusive7–10. Here we show that colonies of the ant Pheidole pallidula increase the relative investment in soldier production after perceiving the presence of foreign con-specific colonies. This is the first experimental demonstration of a social insect altering physical caste ratios in an adaptive manner.

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Author notes

  1. Laurent Keller: To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d'Ethologie et Psychologie animale, URA CNRS 1837 Université Paul-Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31060, Toulouse Cedex, France

    Luc Passera, Eric Roncin & Bernard Kaufmann

  2. Institut de Zoologie et d'Ecologie Animale, University of Lausanne, BB, 1015 Lausanne and Zoologisches Institut, Bern University, Ethologische Station Hasli, 3032, Hinterkappelen, Switzerland

    Laurent Keller

Authors
  1. Luc Passera
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  2. Eric Roncin
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  3. Bernard Kaufmann
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  4. Laurent Keller
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Passera, L., Roncin, E., Kaufmann, B. et al. Increased soldier production in ant colonies exposed to intraspecific competition. Nature 379, 630–631 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/379630a0

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