Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.2
3.0
Journals
Animals
Special Issues
Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World
share announcement

Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 13187

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Claudie Doums

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes EPHE-PSL, Paris, France
2. Institut de Systématique, Biodiversité, Evolution, Paris, France
Interests: social evolution; reproductive strategies, evolution of life-history traits; behavioural ecology; molecular ecology
Dr. Thibaud Monnin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
2. Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Paris, France
Interests: behavioural ecology; animal behaviour; animal societies; chemical ecology; collective behaviour

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the evolutionary ecology of eusocial insects in the light of global changes. Specifically, it aims to highlight the individual and/or colony responses to these changes, and to analyse the costs and benefits of group living in the face of global changes. Any biotic or abiotic environmental factors may be considered, including temperature and rainfall and changes in their altitudinal or latitudinal gradients, urbanisation, pesticide or heavy metal pollutions, introduction of invasive species, etc. This Special Issue may therefore include a large diversity of studies analysing, for instance:

  • The effects of environmental factors on colonial and/or individual traits. For instance, the effects of increased temperatures on foraging strategies (e.g., behavioural shift in the time of foraging) or worker heat resistance (e.g., through HSP production), and the consequences of such adaptations.
  • The genetic responses of eusocial insects to global changes, at both population and gene levels.
  • The colonial and individual traits affecting colony resilience to changes of ecological factors, or providing invasive properties.

Dr. Claudie Doums
Dr. Thibaud Monnin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • social insects
  • environmental changes
  • life history traits
  • reproductive strategies
  • population genetics
  • social behaviour
  • adaptation
  • phenotypic plasticity

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 4315 KiB  
Article
Trait Plasticity among Invasive Populations of the Ant Technomyrmex brunneus in Japan
by Diyona Putri, Masanori Yokozawa, Toshiro Yamanaka and Adam L. Cronin
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2702; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11092702 - 15 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3181
Abstract
Characters in invasive populations often differ from those in the native range, and the ability to express different characters may enhance invasive potential. Ants are among the most pervasive and damaging invasive species, by virtue of their transportability and broad-ranging ecological interactions. Their [...] Read more.
Characters in invasive populations often differ from those in the native range, and the ability to express different characters may enhance invasive potential. Ants are among the most pervasive and damaging invasive species, by virtue of their transportability and broad-ranging ecological interactions. Their success is often attributed to the ability to exhibit different characteristics in invasive populations, including the formation of large, unicolonial associations (‘supercolonies’). It remains unclear, however, if such characteristics are a product or cause of the ecological dominance of invasive ants, and the advancement of our understanding has likely been restrained by the fact that studies to date have focused on a few globally important species with well-established invasions. In this study, we take advantage of an ongoing invasion of the tramp ant Technomyrmex brunneus in Japan to assess trait plasticity in the invasive range of this species. We find evidence for plasticity in social structure among island populations, with a supercolony evident on one of the three islands studied. Interestingly, we found no evidence of lower genetic diversity in this population, though natural isotope data indicate it was operating at a lower trophic level than other populations. These findings add weight to arguments that invasive species may benefit from the capacity to adaptively mould themselves to new ecological contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 1161 KiB  
Article
A Machine Learning Approach to Study Demographic Alterations in Honeybee Colonies Using SDS–PAGE Fingerprinting
by Riccardo Cabbri, Enea Ferlizza, Elisa Bellei, Giulia Andreani, Roberta Galuppi and Gloria Isani
Animals 2021, 11(6), 1823; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11061823 - 18 Jun 2021
Viewed by 2161
Abstract
Honeybees, as social insects, live in highly organised colonies where tasks reflect the age of individuals. As is widely known, in this context, emergent properties arise from interactions between them. The accelerated maturation of nurses into foragers, stimulated by many negative factors, may [...] Read more.
Honeybees, as social insects, live in highly organised colonies where tasks reflect the age of individuals. As is widely known, in this context, emergent properties arise from interactions between them. The accelerated maturation of nurses into foragers, stimulated by many negative factors, may disrupt this complex equilibrium. This complexity needs a paradigm shift: from the study of a single stressor to the study of the effects exerted by multiple stressors on colony homeostasis. The aim of this research is, therefore, to study colony population disturbances by discriminating overaged nurses from proper aged nurses and precocious foragers from proper aged foragers using SDS-PAGE patterns of haemolymph proteins and a machine-learning algorithm. The KNN (K Nearest Neighbours) model fitted on the forager dataset showed remarkably good performances (accuracy 0.93, sensitivity 0.88, specificity 1.00) in discriminating precocious foragers from proper aged ones. The main strength of this innovative approach lies in the possibility of it being deployed as a preventive tool. Depopulation is an elusive syndrome in bee pathology and early detection with the method described could shed more light on the phenomenon. In addition, it enables countermeasures to revert this vicious circle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1234 KiB  
Article
Hibernation Conditions Contribute to the Differential Resistance to Cadmium between Urban and Forest Ant Colonies
by Lauren Jacquier, Mathieu Molet, Céline Bocquet and Claudie Doums
Animals 2021, 11(4), 1050; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11041050 - 08 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2113
Abstract
Trace metals such as cadmium are found in high concentrations in urban environments. Animal and plant populations living in heavily contaminated environments could adapt to trace metals exposure. A recent study shows that urban populations of the acorn ant Temnothorax nylanderi are more [...] Read more.
Trace metals such as cadmium are found in high concentrations in urban environments. Animal and plant populations living in heavily contaminated environments could adapt to trace metals exposure. A recent study shows that urban populations of the acorn ant Temnothorax nylanderi are more resistant to cadmium than their forest counterparts. However, this study was performed using field colonies that had just come out of hibernation. Because urban and forest hibernation environments differ, the differential resistance to trace metals may originate either from differential hibernation conditions or from a different resistance baseline to cadmium. In this study, we tested these two hypotheses using laboratory common garden hibernation conditions. We let urban and forest colonies of the ant T. nylanderi hibernate under the same laboratory conditions for four months. After this hibernation period, we also collected field-hibernating colonies and we compared cadmium resistance between urban and forest colonies depending on the hibernation condition. We found a differential response to cadmium under common garden, with urban colonies displaying less larval mortality and lower size reduction of the produced individuals. This suggests a different resistance baseline of urban colonies to cadmium. However, unexpectedly, we did not detect the differential response between urban and forest colonies in the field, suggesting a more complex scenario involving both genetic and environmental influences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 1600 KiB  
Article
Influence of the Number of Queens on Nest Establishment: Native and Invasive Ant Species
by Irene Castañeda, Elsa Bonnaud, Franck Courchamp and Gloria Luque
Animals 2021, 11(3), 591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani11030591 - 24 Feb 2021
Viewed by 1486
Abstract
As a critical stage in the life cycle of ant colonies, nest establishment depends on external and internal factors. This study investigates the effect of the number of queens on queen and worker behavior during nest establishment in invasive Argentine ants (Linepitema [...] Read more.
As a critical stage in the life cycle of ant colonies, nest establishment depends on external and internal factors. This study investigates the effect of the number of queens on queen and worker behavior during nest establishment in invasive Argentine ants (Linepitema humile) and native Mediterranean Tapinoma nigerrimum. We set up experimental colonies with the same number of workers but with one or six queens. At different time points, we recorded the positions of queens and workers inside and outside the nest. Our results highlight the influence of the number of queens on the position of queens and workers with between-species differences. Queens of both species entered the nests more quickly when there were six queens. During nest establishment, more workers were inside nests with six queens for both species, with this effect being greater for T. nigerrimum. Once nests were established, fewer workers of both species were engaged in nest maintenance and feeding in nests with six queens; T. nigerrimum had fewer workers engaged in patrolling. These results suggest that the number of queens is a key factor driving queen and worker behavior during and after nest establishment with different species responses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2539 KiB  
Article
The Native Ant Lasius niger Can Limit the Access to Resources of the Invasive Argentine Ant
by Marion Cordonnier, Olivier Blight, Elena Angulo and Franck Courchamp
Animals 2020, 10(12), 2451; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ani10122451 - 21 Dec 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2997
Abstract
Within ant communities, the biotic resistance of native species against invasive ones is expected to be rare, because invasive species are often highly dominant competitors. The invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile (Mayr)) often demonstrated numerical dominance against its opponents, increased aggressiveness, and [...] Read more.
Within ant communities, the biotic resistance of native species against invasive ones is expected to be rare, because invasive species are often highly dominant competitors. The invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile (Mayr)) often demonstrated numerical dominance against its opponents, increased aggressiveness, and ability to quickly recruit to food. The present study aimed to assess the behavioral mechanisms involved in the interspecific competition between L. humile, facing either an invasive species (Lasius neglectus Van Loon, Boomsma and Andrásfalvy) or a native dominant species (Lasius niger (Linnaeus)). The resource exploitation by the Argentine ant was investigated during one-hour competitive interactions using 10 dead Drosophila flies as prey. When facing La. niger, L. humile exploratory behavior was strongly inhibited, it brought very few prey resources, and killed few opponents. Conversely, La. neglectus had a low impact on L. humile. Contrarily to expectations, the invasive La. neglectus lacked the ability to hinder L. humile resource exploitation, whereas the native La. niger did. These results suggest that La. niger could impact invasive populations of L. humile by interference competition, perhaps better so than some invasive species. While L. humile has become invasive in Southern Europe, the invasion process could be slowed down in the northern latitudes by such native dominant species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Eusocial Insects in a Changing World)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop