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Nest Defense and Conspecific Enemy Recognition in the Desert Ant Cataglyphis fortis

Knaden, Markus ; Wehner, Rüdiger

In: Journal of Insect Behavior, 2003, vol. 16, no. 5, p. 717-730

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    Titre
    • Nest Defense and Conspecific Enemy Recognition in the Desert Ant Cataglyphis fortis
    Auteur
    • Knaden, Markus. University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
    • Wehner, Rüdiger. University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:314635
    Summary
    This study focuses on different factors affecting the level of aggression in the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis. We found that the readiness to fight against conspecific ants was high in ants captured close to the nest entrance (0- and 1-m distances). At a 5-m distance from the nest entrance the level of aggression was significantly lower. As the mean foraging range in desert ants by far exceeds this distance, the present account clearly shows that in C. fortis aggressive behavior is displayed in the context of nest, rather than food-territory defense. In addition, ants were more aggressive against members of a colony with which they had recently exchanged aggressive encounters than against members of a yet unknown colony. This finding is discussed in terms of a learned, enemy-specific label-template recognition process