Differentiated Anti-Predation Responses in a Superorganism.

ABSTRACT: Insect societies are complex systems, displaying emergent properties much greater than the sum of their individual parts. As such, the concept of these societies as single 'superorganisms' is widely applied to describe their organisation and biology. Here, we test the applicability of this concept to the response of social insect colonies to predation during a vulnerable period of their life history. We used the model system of house-hunting behaviour in the ant Temnothorax albipennis. We show that removing individuals from directly within the nest causes an evacuation response, while removing ants at the periphery of scouting activity causes the colony to withdraw back into the nest. This suggests that colonies react differentially, but in a coordinated fashion, to these differing types o

SUBMITTER: O'Shea-Wheller TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4641648 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature