Rescuing a nestmate from a predatory antlion enables ants of Tetramorium sp. E to avoid antlions, Myrmeleontidae spp., in subsequent encounters

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dc.contributorGillis, Gary
dc.contributorHamilton, Darren
dc.contributor.advisorHollis, Karen
dc.contributor.authorHarrsch, Felicia A.
dc.date.accessioned2014-06-16T00:04:11Z
dc.date.available2014-06-16T00:04:11Z
dc.date.gradyear2014en_US
dc.date.issued2014-06-15
dc.description.abstractTetramorium sp. E, commonly known as pavement ants, have shown the ability to rescue conspecifics as well as the capacity to learn. Given that pavement ants have these capabilities, the goal of the present study was to investigate whether an ant, after engaging in rescue behavior of a distressed nestmate captured by a predatory antlion, Myrmeleontidae, would learn to avoid the predator’s conical pit trap. Four different experimental conditions, including the presence or absence of an actual antlion in the pit during the test phase, and the opportunity to confront the same or a different pit, allowed us to test various explanations of how ants might avoid antlions. Both rescue behaviors and latency to fall into the antlion pit were analyzed. The results showed that, compared to ants that did not rescue nestmates, ants that engaged in rescue behavior subsequently tended to avoid antlion pits. This avoidance indicates that ants were able to learn about antlion pits to avoid them, which is important because in nature antlion pits occur very close together, so an ant that rescues a nestmate has to carefully navigate to get out of clusters of antlion pits, called pit fields. Furthermore, the dynamic between these two species, and their abilities to learn, lend insight into how they have coevolved and adapted over evolutionary time.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNeuroscience and Behavioren_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/3524
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedrestricteden_US
dc.subjectTetramorium sp. Een_US
dc.subjectpavement anten_US
dc.subjectantlionen_US
dc.subjectMyrmeleontidaeen_US
dc.subjectRescue behavioren_US
dc.titleRescuing a nestmate from a predatory antlion enables ants of Tetramorium sp. E to avoid antlions, Myrmeleontidae spp., in subsequent encountersen_US
dc.typeThesis
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke College

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