The role of cuticular hydrocarbons in the behavioral ecology of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Sociality has evolved several times in different species over thousands of years. There are no social organisms more interesting than social insects. Social insects form colonies composed of hundreds to millions of individuals known as nestmates. Workers in social insect colonies discriminate between nestmates and non-nestmates in a process called nestmate recognition. Nestmate recognition is based on differences in cuticular hydrocarbons, recognition cues found on the cuticle of social insects. In this dissertation, I investigate how the behavioral ecology of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, influences nestmate recognition behavior and the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of workers. In P. barbatus, nestmate recognition behavior is task-dependent and not based on differences in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles. Cuticular hydrocarbons change according to the task of workers, and hydrocarbons are better predictors of a workers task than of its colony of origin. Task-specific hydrocarbon profiles reflect the influence of task environment on worker profiles. Task-specific profiles influence both worker and colony behavior. Because knowing the task of a nestmate is more important than smelling more like you nestmates, our findings fit well with the behavioral ecology of this species. Placing nestmate recognition in the proper ecological context will help gain a better understanding of nestmate recognition behavior for all social insects.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Sturgis, Shelby Julian |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Biology. |
| Primary advisor | Gordon, Deborah, (Film producer) |
| Thesis advisor | Gordon, Deborah, (Film producer) |
| Thesis advisor | Dirzo, Rodolfo |
| Thesis advisor | Greene, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Watt, Ward B |
| Advisor | Dirzo, Rodolfo |
| Advisor | Greene, Michael |
| Advisor | Watt, Ward B |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Shelby Sturgis. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Biology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Shelby Julian Sturgis
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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