Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home.
Animal groups can show consistent behaviors or personalities just like solitary animals. We studied the collective behavior of Temnothorax nylanderi ant colonies, including consistency in behavior and correlations between different behavioral traits. We focused on four collective behaviors (aggressi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2012-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3310061?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818028908193251328 |
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| author | Inon Scharf Andreas P Modlmeier Stephan Fries Claire Tirard Susanne Foitzik |
| author_facet | Inon Scharf Andreas P Modlmeier Stephan Fries Claire Tirard Susanne Foitzik |
| author_sort | Inon Scharf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Animal groups can show consistent behaviors or personalities just like solitary animals. We studied the collective behavior of Temnothorax nylanderi ant colonies, including consistency in behavior and correlations between different behavioral traits. We focused on four collective behaviors (aggression against intruders, nest relocation, removal of infected corpses and nest reconstruction) and also tested for links to the immune defense level of a colony and a fitness component (per-capita productivity). Behaviors leading to an increased exposure of ants to micro-parasites were expected to be positively associated with immune defense measures and indeed colonies that often relocated to other nest sites showed increased immune defense levels. Besides, colonies that responded with low aggression to intruders or failed to remove infected corpses, showed a higher likelihood to move to a new nest site. This resembles the trade-off between aggression and relocation often observed in solitary animals. Finally, one of the behaviors, nest reconstruction, was positively linked to per-capita productivity, whereas other colony-level behaviors, such as aggression against intruders, showed no association, albeit all behaviors were expected to be important for fitness under field conditions. In summary, our study shows that ant societies exhibit complex personalities that can be associated to the physiology and fitness of the colony. Some of these behaviors are linked in suites of correlated behaviors, similar to personalities of solitary animals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:11:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d5e6f896ec444208a811e81bbfa75cfe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T05:11:16Z |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-d5e6f896ec444208a811e81bbfa75cfe2022-12-22T02:01:06ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-0173e3331410.1371/journal.pone.0033314Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home.Inon ScharfAndreas P ModlmeierStephan FriesClaire TirardSusanne FoitzikAnimal groups can show consistent behaviors or personalities just like solitary animals. We studied the collective behavior of Temnothorax nylanderi ant colonies, including consistency in behavior and correlations between different behavioral traits. We focused on four collective behaviors (aggression against intruders, nest relocation, removal of infected corpses and nest reconstruction) and also tested for links to the immune defense level of a colony and a fitness component (per-capita productivity). Behaviors leading to an increased exposure of ants to micro-parasites were expected to be positively associated with immune defense measures and indeed colonies that often relocated to other nest sites showed increased immune defense levels. Besides, colonies that responded with low aggression to intruders or failed to remove infected corpses, showed a higher likelihood to move to a new nest site. This resembles the trade-off between aggression and relocation often observed in solitary animals. Finally, one of the behaviors, nest reconstruction, was positively linked to per-capita productivity, whereas other colony-level behaviors, such as aggression against intruders, showed no association, albeit all behaviors were expected to be important for fitness under field conditions. In summary, our study shows that ant societies exhibit complex personalities that can be associated to the physiology and fitness of the colony. Some of these behaviors are linked in suites of correlated behaviors, similar to personalities of solitary animals.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3310061?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Inon Scharf Andreas P Modlmeier Stephan Fries Claire Tirard Susanne Foitzik Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. PLoS ONE |
| title | Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. |
| title_full | Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. |
| title_fullStr | Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. |
| title_short | Characterizing the collective personality of ant societies: aggressive colonies do not abandon their home. |
| title_sort | characterizing the collective personality of ant societies aggressive colonies do not abandon their home |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3310061?pdf=render |
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