Date: March 18, 2016
Source: University of Florida
Ants are also aggressive toward each
other, fighting to the death over their tree territories. The consequences for
losing colonies are stark: loss of territory or colony death. After a fight,
victorious colonies have to defend their newly gained territory with a
workforce heavily depleted by fighting. In a new study, researchers found that
victorious colonies might offset this challenge by recruiting members of the
losing colonies to help.
On an African plateau surrounded by
flat-topped trees as far as the eye could see, wind whistled through the acacia
thorns like someone blowing across a bottle. Kathleen Rudolph was more
concerned with the ants raining down on her from the trees. The hat, long
sleeves and garden gloves the University
of Florida
The acacia ants she studies,
Crematogaster mimosae, use their fearsome bite to defend their host trees
against large animals such as elephants and giraffes that eat the trees'
leaves. Even elephants' thick skin can't protect them from the ants, which bite
them inside their trunks.
"They really seem to have a knack
for finding your soft tissue," Rudolph said. "It's a nasty business."
Ants are also aggressive toward each
other, fighting to the death over their tree territories. While the
consequences for losing colonies are stark -- loss of territory or colony death
-- Rudolph and UF postdoctoral research associate Jay McEntee wanted to
understand the costs to the winners.
After a fight, victorious colonies have
to defend their newly gained territory with a workforce heavily depleted by
fighting. In a new study funded in part by a National Geographic Society/Waitt
Fund Grant and published in Behavioral Ecology, Rudolph and McEntee found
that victorious colonies might offset this challenge by recruiting members of
the losing colonies to help.
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