Characterization of an ant colony (Paraponera clavata) during rest and relocation phases: an experimentally induced protocol

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding societies of individuals is a challenging task. In several ant species individuals seem to have the same physical characteristics and, in principle, could assume any role the social environment requires. However, most ants’ societies present a caste organization in their colonies with particular roles. For the biologist understanding the complex dynamics ruling a colony is hard due to the difficulty of collecting and classifying long term ant activities in the field. The relocation phenomena which generally correspond to perturbation phases suffered by ant colonies are critical moments in the colony history and require rapid and effective response from workers in order to ensure the survival of the colony and its setup in a new safe nest. How the colonial group deals with this process? Is there a particular organization of the workers during the relocation periods? Here, we applied an experimentally induced protocol in the laboratory combined with behavioral observations and hierarchical classifications in order to identify social roles in a ponerine species, Paraponera clavata, and the repartition of labor during two resting periods and two relocation phases. The method provided significant information concerning the social dynamics of ant colonies and contribute to understand how species copes with a novel and stressing situation conducing to the occupation of a novel available nest.