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Food recruitment inTetramorium impurum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Recrutement alimentaire chezTetramorium impurum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

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Summary

During food recruitment, three phases were recognized in the behaviour of the recruiter.

  1. a)

    While returning to the nest, the recruiter lays a trail with the secretion of the poison gland. This individual odour trail is rather ineffective but quickly gains effectiveness when reinforced. The recruiter appears to be able to modulate the deposit of its trail pheromone according to the quality of the food source. The probability of an ant following a trail of a given length is a linear function of the log of the concentration of the trail pheromone. Relative differences in the strength of competitive trails are thus most perceptible when the absolute concentrations of the trails in pheromone are low, i.e. at the beginning of the recruitment.

  2. b)

    Within the nest, the recruiter alerts its nestmates by a specific behaviour which consists of an accelerated antennal beating. Possibly, an alerting pheromone is emitted during this invitational behaviour, issued either from the mandibular or the poison gland.

  3. c)

    The recruiter leaves the nest followed by a small group (2 to 12 ants) of recruited nestmates. The recruited ants follow a “leading pheromone” which is secreted by the leader. Both the crushed head and the poison gland secretion proved to be attractive at close range during olfactometry experiments. However, experiments performed with dummies suggested that the latter is the source of this leading pheromone. Some recruited ants follow the trail independently of the recruiter. Group leading, however, is a more efficient way than trail laying alone to guide recruits, as judged by the proportions of ants which succesfully reached the food source by one or the other method.

Resume

Au cours du recrutement alimentaire, on peut reconnaître trois phases dans le comportement de la recruteuse.

  1. a)

    En retournant au nid, la recruteuse trace une piste avec la sécrétion de la glande à poison. Cette piste individuelle est assez inefficace mais gagne rapidement en efficacité lorsqu'elle est renforcée. La recruteuse semble capable de moduler le dépôt de la phéromone de piste en fonction de la qualité de la source de nourriture. La probabilité pour une fourmi de suivre une piste de longueur déterminée est une fonction linéaire du log de sa concentration en phéromone de piste. Des différences relatives dans la concentration de pistes compétitives sont donc le plus perceptibles lorsque les concentrations absolues des pistes en compétition sont basses, c'est-à-dire au début du recrutement.

  2. b)

    A l'intérieur du nid, la recruteuse alerte ses congénères par un comportement spécifique qui consiste en une rapide flagellation antennaire. Ce comportement est probablement complété par l'émission d'une phéromone d'invitation provenant soit de la glande mandibulaire soit de la glande à poison.

  3. c)

    La recruteuse sort alors du nid suivie par un petit groupe (2 à 12 ouvrières) de fourmis. La cohésion du groupe est due à l'émission par la recruteuse d'une phéromone attractive. Les expériences d'olfactométrie montrent qu'une tête écrasée ou une glande à poison sont attractives à courte distance. Les expériences de leurre, cependant, suggèrent que cette dernière est la source de la phéromone émise par la recruteuse dans le groupe.

Quelques-unes des fourmis invitées suivent la piste indépendamment de la recruteuse, mais suivre une recruteuse en groupe est un moyen beaucoup plus efficace d'atteindre la nourriture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie animale et cellulaire, Faculté des Sciences, Université libre de Bruxelles, 50, avenue F. D. Roosevelt, 1050, Bruxelles, (Belgium)

    J. C. Verhaeghe

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  1. J. C. Verhaeghe
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Chargé de recherches au Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique.

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Verhaeghe, J.C. Food recruitment inTetramorium impurum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ins. Soc 29, 67–85 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02224528

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02224528

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