Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation
Social insects often display extreme variation in body size and morphology within the same colony. In many species, adult morphology is socially regulated by workers during larval development. While larval nutrition may play a role in this regulation, it is often difficult to identify precisely what...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231471 |
| _version_ | 1827386563698360320 |
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| author | Matteo A. Negroni Adria C. LeBoeuf |
| author_facet | Matteo A. Negroni Adria C. LeBoeuf |
| author_sort | Matteo A. Negroni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social insects often display extreme variation in body size and morphology within the same colony. In many species, adult morphology is socially regulated by workers during larval development. While larval nutrition may play a role in this regulation, it is often difficult to identify precisely what larvae receive from rearing workers, especially when larvae are fed through social regurgitation. Across insects, juvenile hormone is a major regulator of development. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, this hormone is present in the socially regurgitated fluid of workers. We investigated the role the social transfer of juvenile hormone in the social regulation of development. To do this, we administered an artificial regurgitate to larvae through a newly developed handfeeding method that was or was not supplemented with juvenile hormone. Orally administered juvenile hormone increased the nutritional needs of larvae, allowing them to reach a larger size at pupation. Instead of causing them to grow faster, the juvenile hormone treatment extended larval developmental time, allowing them to accumulate resources over a longer period. Handfeeding ant larvae with juvenile hormone resulted in larger adult workers after metamorphosis, suggesting a role for socially transferred juvenile hormone in the colony-level regulation of worker size over colony maturation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:47:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d4996c1ee59b47b191ba1cc426d0be37 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:47:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d4996c1ee59b47b191ba1cc426d0be372024-01-09T09:59:12ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-12-01101210.1098/rsos.231471Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupationMatteo A. Negroni0Adria C. LeBoeuf1Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700, Fribourg, SwitzerlandDepartment of Biology, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700, Fribourg, SwitzerlandSocial insects often display extreme variation in body size and morphology within the same colony. In many species, adult morphology is socially regulated by workers during larval development. While larval nutrition may play a role in this regulation, it is often difficult to identify precisely what larvae receive from rearing workers, especially when larvae are fed through social regurgitation. Across insects, juvenile hormone is a major regulator of development. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, this hormone is present in the socially regurgitated fluid of workers. We investigated the role the social transfer of juvenile hormone in the social regulation of development. To do this, we administered an artificial regurgitate to larvae through a newly developed handfeeding method that was or was not supplemented with juvenile hormone. Orally administered juvenile hormone increased the nutritional needs of larvae, allowing them to reach a larger size at pupation. Instead of causing them to grow faster, the juvenile hormone treatment extended larval developmental time, allowing them to accumulate resources over a longer period. Handfeeding ant larvae with juvenile hormone resulted in larger adult workers after metamorphosis, suggesting a role for socially transferred juvenile hormone in the colony-level regulation of worker size over colony maturation.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231471social regulation of developmentsocial insectshandfeeding larvasocial transfertrophallaxisjuvenile hormone |
| spellingShingle | Matteo A. Negroni Adria C. LeBoeuf Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation Royal Society Open Science social regulation of development social insects handfeeding larva social transfer trophallaxis juvenile hormone |
| title | Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| title_full | Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| title_fullStr | Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| title_short | Social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| title_sort | social administration of juvenile hormone to larvae increases body size and nutritional needs for pupation |
| topic | social regulation of development social insects handfeeding larva social transfer trophallaxis juvenile hormone |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231471 |
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