Nest mate

Venkataraman, A.B., Swarnalatha, V.B., Nair, P. and Gadagkar, R. (1992) The mechanism of nest-mate discrimination in the tropical social wasp Ropalidia marginata and its implications for the evolution of sociality. Anim. Behav. 43, 95-102. 

One perceives from the world only what one has been prepared to perceive. In humans and in most mammals, different senses are used to make sense of life. In contrast, in insects, chemical senses involving odorants and contact chemosensory molecules play a vital role. The olfactory system is the primary sense insects use in analyzing the environment, in crucial tasks such as finding food, nesting, mating and in conspecifics. Contact chemosensation is used especially to analyze specific substrates to assist in the identification of suitable oviposition sites, the recognition of host plants, the selection of tastants and the search for further nutrient chemicals. Dedicated to survival, both olfactory and contact chemosensory systems in insects have developed to extremely high levels of sensitivity and selectivity. 

Martin, S. J., Vitikainen, E., Helantera, H. and Drijfout, F.P. (2008). Chemical basis of nest-mate discrimination in the ant Formica exsecta. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 275, 1271-1278. 

Martin, S.J., Helantera, H. and Drijfhout, F.P (2008a). Colony-specific hydrocarbons identify nest mates in two species of Formica ant. J. Chem. Ecol., 34,1072-1080. 

Couvillon, M.J., Caple, J.R, Endsor, S.L., Karcher, M Russell, T.E., Storey, D.E. and Ratnieks, F.L.W. (2007). Nest-mate recognition template of guard honeybees (Apis mellifera) is modified by wax comb transfer. Biol. Lett., 3, 228-230. 

Sledge, M.F., Dani, F.R., Cervo, R., Dapporto, L. and Turillazzi, S. (2001). Recognition of social parasites as nest-mates adoption of colony-specific host cuticular odours by the paper wasp parasite Polistes sulcifer. Proc. R. Soc. B, 268, 2253-2260. 

Helantera, H., and Sundstrom, L. (2007). Worker policing and nest mate recognition in the ant Formica fusca. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 61, 1143-1149. 

Cini, A., Gioli, L. and Cervo, R. (2009). A quantitative threshold for nest-mate recognition in a paper social wasp. Biol. Lett. 5, 459 161. 

Recognition of social parasites as nest-mates Adoption of colony-specific host cuticular odours by the paper wasp parasite Polistes sulcifer. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 

The multifaceted function of cuticular hydrocarbons necessitates further theoretical as well as empirical clarification. For example, their use as both fertility signals and nest-mate recognition pheromones may seem contradictory, since the first function requires within-nest idiosyncrasy, i.e., for discriminating fertile from sterile individuals, while the second function requires within-colony odor uniformity. The response threshold hypothesis (Le Conte and Hefetz, 2008) attempts to resolve this apparent conflict in function, as well as to provide a suitable framework for future experiments to test specific parts of the hypothesis. 

Although much research has been done on the ability of animals to discriminate between the odors of unrelated individuals and also to recognize siblings (i.e., to show differential responses toward odors of familiar nest-mates versus the odors of unfamiliar individuals), little work has been done on the ability to discriminate between and recognize individual nest mates or other, closely-related individuals (Halpin, 1986). We used habituation-discrimination methods (Johnston, 1993 Johnston, et al., 1993 Todrank, Heth Johnston, 1998) to study the discrimination of odors of scent donors that were related (full siblings) or unrelated to one another and also that were either familiar (by rearing together) or unfamiliar to the subjects. 

These results are also relevant to the debate over whether self-referent phenotype matching occurs in mammals (Holmes Sherman, 1982 Holmes, 1986). Hamsters could not have used the odors from all their nest-mates to develop a family template because they... 

Alkanes also play an important role in nest mate recognition of wasps (Polistes metricus). However, these same signals may announce the wasp s presence to possible predators (Espelie and Hermann, 1990 Espelie et al., 1990). 

Like D. uelense ants, Solenopsis fugax ants and Nomada bees have developed a way of predation which permits them to invade and steal brood from their prey. The European thief ants S. fugax, steal brood from nearby nests of other ant colonies by building a system of subterranean tunnels which lead to the nest of their prey. Scout ants lay down trail pheromone from the Dufour s gland to attract nest mates... 

The slave-maker workers conduct raids on colonies of another related species by means of a trail pheromone which guides the worker columns to the target area, where they kill or repel defending workers, after which they penetrate into the nest and carry pupae and large larvae to their own colony. When the captured pupae develop into adult workers, they accept the slave-makers as nest mates and assist them in the tasks of the colony (580, 581). 

The term recruitment , like the term alarm has become diffuse as the diversity and complexity of social insect behavior has emerged. In this review we will take recruitment to mean the inducement of workers to move from one area to another, either to retrieve food or to move to new territory or a new nest site. The chemical signals involved are usually, but not always, deposited on the substratum, and may therefore also constitute an orientation signal. The two possible functions of trail pheromones , recruitment of nest mates and orientation to food or nest, need to be carefully separated to estimate the importance of these chemical signals in the ecology of each species. 

Jaffe and Howse, 1979). The first scouts to find leaf material recruit other workers exclusively, and do not join in leaf-cutting for up to an hour. Scouts recruit nest-mates both by the traU pheromone and by tactile displays. As in Solenopsis, the degree of recruitment is modulated by the strength of the trail, but in the case of Atta this is not dependent on the number of recruiting ants, so that individuals apparently regulate the amount of trail pheromone they deposit, based upon the information they have about the quality and quantity of food available. 

Many animals will self-administer cocaine. Studies on honey bees Apis mellifera L.) show that cocaine intake increases both the frequency and vigor of their waggle dance to indicate the direction of food sources to their nest mates. They also suffer from withdrawal symptoms . Sound familiar ... 

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