Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.

Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of...

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Autores principales:	Nick Bos, Lena Grinsted, Luke Holman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/bfefed7095284b3c837a701c8d606926
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:bfefed7095284b3c837a701c8d6069262021-11-18T06:54:53ZWax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0019435https://doaj.org/article/bfefed7095284b3c837a701c8d6069262011-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21559364/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of a waxy layer of colony-specific hydrocarbons on the body surface. Genetic and environmental differences between colony members may confound recognition and social cohesion, so many species perform behaviors that homogenize the odor label, such as mouth-to-mouth feeding and allogrooming. Here, we test for another mechanism of cue exchange: indirect transfer of cuticular hydrocarbons via the nest material. Using a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral experiments with Camponotus aethiops ants, we show that nest soil indirectly transfers hydrocarbons between ants and affects recognition behavior. We also found evidence that olfactory cues on the nest soil influence nestmate recognition, but this effect was not observed in all colonies. These results demonstrate that cuticular hydrocarbons deposited on the nest soil are important in creating uniformity in the odor label and may also contribute to the template.Nick BosLena GrinstedLuke HolmanPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 4, p e19435 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Nick Bos Lena Grinsted Luke Holman Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
description	Social animals use recognition cues to discriminate between group members and non-members. These recognition cues may be conceptualized as a label, which is compared to a neural representation of acceptable cue combinations termed the template. In ants and other social insects, the label consists of a waxy layer of colony-specific hydrocarbons on the body surface. Genetic and environmental differences between colony members may confound recognition and social cohesion, so many species perform behaviors that homogenize the odor label, such as mouth-to-mouth feeding and allogrooming. Here, we test for another mechanism of cue exchange: indirect transfer of cuticular hydrocarbons via the nest material. Using a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral experiments with Camponotus aethiops ants, we show that nest soil indirectly transfers hydrocarbons between ants and affects recognition behavior. We also found evidence that olfactory cues on the nest soil influence nestmate recognition, but this effect was not observed in all colonies. These results demonstrate that cuticular hydrocarbons deposited on the nest soil are important in creating uniformity in the odor label and may also contribute to the template.
format	article
author	Nick Bos Lena Grinsted Luke Holman
author_facet	Nick Bos Lena Grinsted Luke Holman
author_sort	Nick Bos
title	Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
title_short	Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
title_full	Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
title_fullStr	Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
title_full_unstemmed	Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
title_sort	wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/bfefed7095284b3c837a701c8d606926
work_keys_str_mv	AT nickbos waxonwaxoffnestsoilfacilitatesindirecttransferofrecognitioncuesbetweenantnestmates AT lenagrinsted waxonwaxoffnestsoilfacilitatesindirecttransferofrecognitioncuesbetweenantnestmates AT lukeholman waxonwaxoffnestsoilfacilitatesindirecttransferofrecognitioncuesbetweenantnestmates
_version_	1718424254275387392

Wax on, wax off: nest soil facilitates indirect transfer of recognition cues between ant nestmates.

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