title: Reactions by army ant workers to nestmates having had contact with sympatric ant species.
abstract: It was recently shown that Pheidole megacephala colonies (an invasive species originating from Africa) counterattack when raided by the army ant, Eciton burchellii. The subsequent contact permits Pheidole cuticular compounds (that constitute the "colony odour") to be transferred onto the raiding Eciton, which are then not recognised by their colony-mates and killed. Using a simple method for transferring cuticular compounds, we tested if this phenomenon occurs for Neotropical ants. Eciton workers rubbed with ants from four sympatric species were released among their colony-mates. Individuals rubbed with Solenopsis saevissima or Camponotus blandus workers were attacked, but not those rubbed with Atta sexdens, Pheidole fallax or with colony-mates (control lot). So, the chemicals of certain sympatric ant species, but not others, trigger intra-colonial aggressiveness in Eciton. We conclude that prey-ant chemicals might have played a role in the evolution of army ant predatory behaviour, likely influencing prey specialization in certain cases.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Écologie des forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), BP 316, 97379 Kourou cedex, France; Université de Toulouse, UPS, INP, Laboratoire Écologie fonctionnelle et Environnement (Ecolab), 118, route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France. Electronic address: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dejean
authors.affiliation: CNRS - UMR 6023, Laboratoire Microorganismes, Génome et Environnement, Université Blaise-Pascal, Complexe scientifique des Cézeaux, 63177 Aubière cedex, France; Clermont Université, Université Blaise-Pascal, LMGE, BP 10448, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corbara
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D009812:Odorants; D010675:Pheromones; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D061350:Sympatry
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones
keywords: Antipredation; Army ants; Colony-mate recognition; Comportement antiprédateur; Eciton; Fourmis légionnaires; Reconnaissance coloniale; Transferring cuticular compounds; Transfert de composés cuticulaires