INVESTIGADORES
FARJI-BRENER Alejandro Gustavo
artículos
Título:
Collective response of leaf-cutting ants to the effects of wind on foraging activity
Autor/es:
ALMA, MARINA; FARJI-BRENER, ALEJANDRO GUSTAVO; ELIZALDE, LUCIANA
Revista:
AMERICAN NATURALIST
Editorial:
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
Referencias:
Lugar: Chicago; Año: 2016 vol. 188 p. 576 - 581
ISSN:
0003-0147
Resumen:
One advantage of sociality is to mitigate environmentalrestrictions through collective behavior. Here we document a colonylevelresponse of leaf-cutting ants to wind, an environmental factorthat impedes foraging. Given that larger ants adhere more stronglyto the substrate, increasing forager size in windy conditions should reducethe negative effect of wind. We tested this idea for Acromyrmexlobicornis in windy regions of Patagonia. We examined (1) whetherthe fraction of larger ants versus smaller ants increased in windy conditionsand (2) whether the effect of wind on the ants? movement waslower for larger ants. The size-frequency distribution of foragers wasskewed more toward larger ants in nature under more windy conditions.Under windy conditions in the field, themobility of smaller antswas more reduced than that of larger ants. The change toward largerforagers in windy conditions reduced the negative effect of wind by32%, illustrating how a social organism can collectively mitigate theadverse effects of the environment.