Antenna Cleaning Is Essential for Precise Behavioral Response to Alarm Pheromone and Nestmate–Non-Nestmate Discrimination in Japanese Carpenter Ants (Camponotus japonicus)

Insects

Tatsuya Uebi¹  Mamiko Ozaki¹  Hitomi Mizutani²  Shunya Habe³  Yasuharu Takaku⁴  Takahiko Hariyama⁴  Toshifumi Kimura⁵  Kazuhiro Tagai⁵ 

[1] KYOUSEI Science Center for Life and Nature, Nara Women’s University, Nara 630-8263, Japan;Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan;Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto 616-8354, Japan;Preeminent Medical Photonics Education and Research Center, Institute for NanoSuit Research & NanoSuit Inc., Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu 431-3192, Japan;School of Human Science and Environment, University of Hyogo, Himeji, Hyogo 670-0092, Japan;

关键词: ant;    glooming;    antennae;    cleaning apparatus;    alarm response;    nestmate recognition;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects12090773

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Self-grooming of the antennae is frequently observed in ants. This antennal maintenance behavior is presumed to be essential for effective chemical communication but, to our knowledge, this has not yet been well studied. When we removed the antenna-cleaning apparatuses of the Japanese carpenter ant (C. japonicus) to limit the self-grooming of the antennae, the worker ants demonstrated the self-grooming gesture as usual, but the antennal surface could not be sufficiently cleaned. By using scanning electron microscopy with NanoSuit, we observed the ants’ antennae for up to 48 h and found that the antennal surfaces gradually became covered with self-secreted surface material. Concurrently, the self-grooming-limited workers gradually lost their behavioral responsiveness to undecane—the alarm pheromone. Indeed, their locomotive response to the alarm pheromone diminished for up to 24 h after the antenna cleaner removal operation. In addition, the self-grooming-limited workers exhibited less frequent aggressive behavior toward non-nestmate workers, and 36 h after the operation, approximately half of the encountered non-nestmate workers were accepted as nestmates. These results suggest that the antennal sensing system is affected by excess surface material; hence, their proper function is prevented until they are cleaned.

【 授权许可】

Unknown