Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Non-nest mate discrimination and clonal colony structure in the parthenogenetic ant Cerapachys biroi

Understanding the interplay between cooperation and conflict in social groups is a major goal of biology. One important factor is genetic relatedness, and animal societies are usually composed of related but genetically different individuals, setting the stage for conflicts over reproductive allocation. Recently, however, it has been found that several ant species reproduce predominantly asexually. Although this can potentially give rise to clonal societies, in the few well-studied cases, colonies are often chimeric assemblies of different genotypes, due to worker drifting or colony fusion. In the ant Cerapachys biroi, queens are absent and all individuals reproduce via thelytokous parthenogenesis, making this species an ideal study system of asexual reproduction and its consequences for social dynamics. Here, we show that colonies in our study population on Okinawa, Japan, recognize and effectively discriminate against foreign workers, especially those from unrelated asexual lineages. In accord with this finding, colonies never contained more than a single asexual lineage and average pairwise genetic relatedness within colonies was extremely high (r = 0.99). This implies that the scope for social conflict in C. biroi is limited, with unusually high potential for cooperation and altruism.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Extended phenotypes and foraging restrictions: ant nest entrances and resource ingress in leaf-cutting ants

Several factors may restrict the acquisition of food to below the levels predicted by the optimization theory. However, how the design of structures that animals build for foraging restrict the entry of food are less known. Using scaling relationships we determined whether the design of the entrances of leaf-cutting ant nests restricts resource input into the colony. We measured nests and foraging parameters in 25 nests of Atta cephalotes in a tropical rain forest. Ant flux was reduced to up to 60% at nest entrances. The width of all entrances per nest increased at similar rates as nest size, but the width of nest entrances increased with the width of its associated trail at rates below those expected by isometry. The fact that entrance widths grow slower than trail widths suggests that the enlargement of entrance holes does not reach the dimensions needed to avoid delays when foraging rates are high and loads are big. The enlargement of nest entrances appears to be restricted by the digging effort required to enlarge nest tunnels, and by increments in the risk of inundation, predator/parasitoid attacks, and microclimate imbalances inside the nest. The design of the extended phenotypes can also restrict the ingress of food into the organisms, offering additional evidence to better understand eventual controversies between empirical data and the foraging theory.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Data from: Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?

Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifics. In many social insects, the colony can extend to multiple socially connected but spatially separate nests (polydomy). Social connections, such as trails between nests, promote cooperation and resource exchange, and we predict that workers from socially connected nests will have higher internest relatedness than those from socially unconnected, and noncooperating, nests. We measure social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in the polydomous wood ant Formica lugubris to test whether (1) socially connected but spatially separate nests cooperate, and (2) high internest relatedness is the underlying driver of this cooperation. Our results show that socially connected nests exhibit movement of workers and resources, which suggests they do cooperate, whereas unconnected nests do not. However, we find no difference in internest genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs, both show high kinship. Our results suggest that neighboring pairs of connected nests show a social and cooperative distinction, but no genetic distinction. We hypothesize that the loss of a social connection may initiate ecological divergence within colonies. Genetic divergence between neighboring nests may build up only later, as a consequence rather than a cause of colony separation.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Ants show a leftward turning bias when exploring unknown nest sites

Behavioural lateralization in invertebrates is an important field of study because it may provide insights into the early origins of lateralization seen in a diversity of organisms. Here, we present evidence for a leftward turning bias in Temnothorax albipennis ants exploring nest cavities and in branching mazes, where the bias is initially obscured by thigmotaxis (wall-following) behaviour. Forward travel with a consistent turning bias in either direction is an effective nest exploration method, and a simple decision-making heuristic to employ when faced with multiple directional choices. Replication of the same bias at the colony level would also reduce individual predation risk through aggregation effects, and may lead to a faster attainment of a quorum threshold for nest migration. We suggest the turning bias may be the result of an evolutionary interplay between vision, exploration and migration factors, promoted by the ants' eusociality.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Experiments with artificial nests provide evidence for ant community stratification and nest site limitation in a tropical forest

Ants are dominant in tropical forests and many species nest in hollow cavities. The manner in which species are vertically stratified in these complex habitats is not known, with lack of nest sites being proposed to limit ant populations. Here we assess ant community stratification and nest site limitation in a lowland rainforest in New Guinea using experimental addition of artificial bamboo nests of two cavity sizes (small: ~12 mm. large: ~32 mm diameter) placed at ground level, in the understorey, and in the canopy. We also conducted a pilot experiment to test the utility of nest translocation. Nests were checked for occupancy after 10 weeks and half of the occupied nests were then translocated between forest plots, while keeping same vertical position. Occupancy of small nests was much higher in the understorey and canopy than at ground level (~75% versus ~25%). Translocation was successful, as a majority of nests was inhabited by the same species before and after translocation and there was no impact of translocation to a different plot compared to the control, except for a reduction in colony size at ground level. Our experiment demonstrates a vertical stratification in community composition of ants nesting in hollow dead cavities and shows that these ants are more nest-site limited in the higher strata than at ground level. Use of small artificial cavities has great potential for future experimental studies, especially for those focused on arboreal ants, as occupancy is high and translocation does not negatively affect their colony size.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2020View details →

Foraging through multiple nest holes: an impediment to collective decision-making in ants

Raw Data: study investigating the impact of nest structure (number of nest entrances)  on the ability of ant colonies to  collectively exploit food resources and to select the most rewarding food source.

opencc-zeroDec 2015View details →

Leaf processing behavior in Atta leafcutter ants: 90% of leaf cutting takes place inside the nest, and ants select pieces that require less cutting

Leafcutter ants cut trimmings from plants, carry them to their underground nests, and cut them into smaller pieces before inoculating them with a fungus that serves as a primary food source for the colony. Cutting is energetically costly, so the amount of cutting is important in understanding foraging energetics. Estimates of the cutting density, meters of cutting per square meter of leaf, were made from samples of transported leaf cuttings and of fungal substrate from field colonies of Atta cephalotes and Atta colombica. To investigate cutting inside the nest, we made leaf-processing observations of our laboratory colony, A. cephalotes. We did not observe the commonly reported reduction of the leaf fragments into a pulp, which would greatly increase the energy cost of processing. Video clips of processing behaviors, including behaviors that have not previously been described, are linked. An estimated 2.9 (+0.3) kilometers of cutting with mandibles was required to reduce a square meter of leaf to fungal substrate. Only about 12% (+ 1%) of this cutting took place outside of the nest. The cutting density and energy cost is lower for leaf material with higher ratios of perimeter to area, so we tested for, and found that the laboratory ants had a preference for leaves that were pre-cut into smaller pieces.  Estimates suggest that the energy required to transport and cut up the leaf material is comparable to the metabolic energy available from the fungus grown on the leaves, and so conservation of energy is likely a particularly strong selective pressure for leafcutter ants.

Fig. 3 in Ants nesting in red mangroves of The Gambia (West Africa)

Fig. 3 Crematogaster gambiensis André, 1889, worker [KGCOL02459]. A, frontal view. B, lateral view. © J. Lalanne

Fig. 1 in Ants nesting in red mangroves of The Gambia (West Africa)

Fig. 1. Study area near the mouth of the Gambia River (rectangle above); six study sites (A-F below). Map data from Google Maps.

Fig. 2 Cataulacus traegaordhi Santschi, 1914 in Ants nesting in red mangroves of The Gambia (West Africa)

Fig. 2 Cataulacus traegaordhi Santschi, 1914, worker. [KGCOL02497]. A, frontal view. B, lateral view. © J. Lalanne

F in Carton nest building and trophobiont manipulation in the south-east Asian ant Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr 1870) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

F. 4. Side view of the biggest carton nest of the D. sulcaticeps colony (Genting Highlands). The dark parts of the nest wall are wet. Photo: W. Rohe

F in Carton nest building and trophobiont manipulation in the south-east Asian ant Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr 1870) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

F. 3. Start of nest building at the main vein (with white trophobionts) on the underside of a leaf of Uncaria spec. Photo: W. Rohe

F in Carton nest building and trophobiont manipulation in the south-east Asian ant Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr 1870) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

F. 2a. Pulling down a carton nest of Dolichoderus sulcaticeps, which took eight days. The colony used the nest material for other nests. Photo: W. Rohe

F in Carton nest building and trophobiont manipulation in the south-east Asian ant Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr 1870) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

F. 1. A part of the investigated colony of Dolichoderus sulcaticeps (Mayr 1870) on a Uncaria creeper (photo taken in the field). Photo: W. Rohe

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2022View details →

Nest shape influences colony organization in ants: spatial distribution and connectedness of colony members differs from that predicted by random movement and is affected by nest space

Overview Data used for the manuscript: Nest shape influences colony organization in ants: spatial distribution and connectedness of colony members differs from that predicted by random movement and is affected by available space Purpose of the study Investigating how nest shape influences how Temnothorax rugatulus colonies spatially organize in their nests. This includes physical location of colony members and their distances from the entrance, mobile colony member distance to the brood center, worker distance to the physical center of the nest, and comparing worker distributions with those predicted by a random walk model. Structure of the data EMPIRICAL DATA WORKERS: FullDataCoordWorkers.csv, FullDataCoordWorkersRD2.csv Raw experimental data with worker x and y position in nests <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Day: The experimental day that the observation was collected on</li> <li>ScaledX: X-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji (Schindelin et al., 2012)</li> <li>ScaledY: Y-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji</li> <li>ColorID: The unique color marking assigned to an individual worker's head, thorax, abdomen1, abdomen2 (i.e., Yellow, White, Green, Green = Y,W,G,G)</li> <li>Density: The density treatment (High / Low)</li> </ul> BROOD / QUEENS: FullDataCoordBrood.csv, FullDataCoordBroodRD2.csv; FullDataCoordQueen.csv, FullDataCoordQueenRD2.csv Raw experimental data with brood (OR) queen x and y position in nests <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Day: The experimental day that the observation was collected on</li> <li>ScaledX: X-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji (Schindelin et al., 2012)</li> <li>ScaledY: Y-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji</li> <li>Density: The density treatment (High / Low)</li> </ul> ALATES: FullDataCoordAlate.csv Raw experimental data with alate (winged reproductive individuals) x and y position in nests <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Day: The experimental day that the observation was collected on</li> <li>ScaledX: X-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji (Schindelin et al., 2012)</li> <li>ScaledY: Y-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji</li> <li>SexID: The unique sex assignment and number given to an individual alate: Sex, SexNumber, TotalNumber (i.e., the first male alate observation that came after three queen alates making it the fourth total observation = M,1,4)</li> </ul> NETLOGO SIMULATIONS: ArchitectureMoveModelFull.csv Raw netlogo simulation data with agent x and y positions in nests <ul> <li>RunNumber: The simulation number - 1 to 4000 - there are 1000 simulations for each combination of nest shape and size</li> <li>NestSize: The size of the nest area that agents were allowed to move throughout (Small / Large)</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>TimeStep: The duration of each simulation (should be 50000)</li> <li>xcor: a list of every agent x coordinate position at the end of the simulation</li> <li>ycor: a list of every agent y coordinate position at the end of the simulation</li> </ul> REFERENCE DATA  NEST BINS: Empirical BinsNullFull.csv Null data sheet with eight bins for tube and circle nests in every colony <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> </ul> BinCoordFull.csv Reference binning coordinates to group empirical coordinates into nest sections <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>CoordID: The unique coordinate identifier within each colony and nest combination</li> <li>ScaledX: X-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji (Schindelin et al., 2012)</li> <li>ScaledY: Y-axis coordinate, scaled from original (px) to (cm) in the software Fiji</li> </ul> NEST BINS: Netlogo Simulations BinsNullNetlogo.csv Null data sheet with eight bins for tube and circle nests in each simulation treatment <ul> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>NestSize: The size treatment for simulations (Small / Large)</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> </ul> BinCoordNetlogo.csv Reference binning coordinates to group Netlogo simulation coordinates into nest sections <ul> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>NestSize: The size treatment for simulations (Small / Large)</li> <li>ScaledX: X-axis coordinate</li> <li>ScaledY: Y-axis coordinate</li> <li>CoordID: The unique coordinate identifier within each colony and nest combination</li> </ul> CORNERS: Empirical CornerFull.csv Whether a nest section has a corner or not <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> <li>Corner: Presence of a corner (Y / N)</li> </ul> CORNERS: Empirical CornerFullSim.csv <ul> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> <li>Corner: Presence of a corner (Y / N)</li> </ul> REFERENCE DATA  DISTANCES IN THE NEST: Empirical DistBinsFull.csv Reference coordinates for the entrance of nest sections (Bin) front-to-back and shortest distance to the entrance from each nest section entrance <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Distance: Reference shortest distance from a nest section to the entrance</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> <li>BinX: X-axis reference coodinate for a nest section entrance</li> <li>BinY: Y-axis reference coodinate for a nest section entrance</li> <li>Xmax: Max X-axis coordinate possible within the nest</li> <li>Ymax: Max Y-axis coordinate possible within the nest</li> <li>MaxDist: Max possible shortest distance from the nest entrance</li> <li>TubeRatio: Ratio of shortest distance to the nest entrance in circle nest / tube nest</li> </ul> DISTANCES IN THE NEST: Netlogo Simulations DistBinsFullNetlogo.csv Reference coordinates for the entrance of nest sections (Bin) front-to-back and shortest distance to the entrance from each nest section entrance <ul> <li>NestSize: The size treatment for simulations (Small / Large)</li> <li>Nest: The nest shape treatment (Tube / Circle)</li> <li>Distance: Reference shortest distance from a nest section to the entrance</li> <li>Bin: Nest section identifier (1-8)</li> <li>BinX: X-axis reference coodinate for a nest section entrance</li> <li>BinY: Y-axis reference coodinate for a nest section entrance</li> <li>Xmax: Max X-axis coordinate possible within the nest</li> <li>Ymax: Max Y-axis coordinate possible within the nest</li> <li>MaxDist: Max possible shortest distance from the nest entrance</li> <li>TubeRatio: Ratio of shortest distance to the nest entrance in circle nest / tube nest</li> </ul> REFERENCE DATA  WORKER SITE FIDELITY (SPATIAL FIDELITY & OCCURRENCE ZONE SIZES), ALSO RELATING SIZES TO DISTANCES IN THE NEST ColorRefFull.csv Reference of all possible unique color identifiers paint marked workers <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Head: Head color mark</li> <li>Thorax: Thorax color mark</li> <li>Abd1: Left side abdomen mark</li> <li>Abd2: Right side abdomen mark</li> </ul> NestAreaFull.csv Reference for colony size (number of workers in the colony) and nest area <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Number.ants: Number of workers in the colony after painting</li> <li>Diameter: The diameter of the circle nest</li> <li>Area: The area of the nest</li> </ul> ScalingCircleSFZ.csv Reference to scale the radius of circle nests to make coordinates representing fidelity zone bins <ul> <li>Colony: Unique experimental colony identifiers</li> <li>Scaling: The scaling factor that is applied to the radius of each circle nest</li> </ul>

Fig. 5 Lepisiota canescens Emery, 1897 in Ants nesting in red mangroves of The Gambia (West Africa)

Fig. 5 Lepisiota canescens Emery, 1897, worker [KGCOL02501]. A, frontal view. B, lateral view. © J. Lalanne

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2019View details →

data and code for "Nest entrances, spatial fidelity, and foraging patterns in the red ant Myrmica rubra: a field and theoretical study"

Data set and codes used for the results, figures and simulation of the paper "Nest entrances, spatial fidelity, and foraging patterns in the red ant Myrmica rubra: a field and theoretical study".