Cooperation during prey digestion between workers and larvae in the ant, Pheidole spadonia

Digestion and distribution of nutrients are central to the growth and reproduction of social insect colonies, just as they are to individual organisms. In the case of eusocial insect species, different components of food handling and processing can be distributed among castes. This paper reports on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insectes sociaux 2005-11, Vol.52 (4), p.339-343
Main Authors: CASSILL, D. L, BUTLER, J, VINSON, S. B, WHEELER, D. E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
Carcasses
Castes
Colonies
Digestion
Eusociality
Food handling
Food processing
Fragments
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Insects
Labor
Larvae
Nutrients
Pheidole spadonia
Prey
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Queens
Workers (insect caste)
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Summary:Digestion and distribution of nutrients are central to the growth and reproduction of social insect colonies, just as they are to individual organisms. In the case of eusocial insect species, different components of food handling and processing can be distributed among castes. This paper reports on an ant species, Pheidole spadonia, in which the adult workers butcher prey and 4th instar larvae dissolve prey for distribution among other colony members including workers, larvae and queens. To characterize the process, six groups, each composed of twenty-five workers and thirty larvae, were provisioned with a fruit fly carcass, and then video-taped continuously for 24 hours. On average, five adult workers and twenty-two 4th instar larvae invested 12.8 labor hours into butchering and predigesting one fly carcass. Workers contributed a mean total of 3.3 labor hours to butcher the carcass into small fragments. Fourth instar larvae contributed a mean total of 9.5 labor hours to pre-orally dissolve the solid fragments. Surprisingly, larvae did not ingest during the dissolving process. Instead, workers ingested the dissolved prey tissue into their crops and then regurgitated it to colony members, larvae and workers, that solicited for feedings. The cooperative interactions reported here between workers and larvae extend the mechanistic and evolutionary explanations for eusociality.
ISSN:0020-1812
1420-9098
DOI:10.1007/s00040-005-0817-x