Fitness costs of worker specialization for ant societies

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Evelien Jongepier, Susanne Foitzik

Abstract

Division of labour is of fundamental importance for the success of societies, yet little is known about how individual specialization affects the fitness of the group as a whole. While specialized workers may be more efficient in the tasks they perform than generalists, they may also lack the flexibility to respond to rapid shifts in task needs. Such rigidity could impose fitness costs when societies face dynamic and unpredictable events, such as an attack by socially parasitic slavemakers. Here, we experimentally assess the colony-level fitness consequences of behavioural specialization in Temnothorax longispinosus ants that are attacked by the slavemaker ant T. americanus. We manipulated the social organization of 102 T. longispinosus colonies, based on the behavioural responses of all 3842 workers. We find that strict specialization is disadvantageous for a colony's annual reproduction and growth during slave raids. These fitness costs may favour generalist strategies in dynamic environments, as we also demonstrate that societies exposed to slavemakers in the field show a lower degree of specialization than those originating from slavemaker-free populations. Our findings provide an explanation for the ubiquity of generalists...Continue Reading

Associated Datasets

Dec 10, 2015·Evelien Jongepier, Susanne Foitzik

References

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Citations

Nov 4, 2016·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Thomas A O'Shea-WhellerNigel R Franks
Jan 19, 2020·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Blaine J Cole
Jan 9, 2020·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Christopher K Tokita, Corina E Tarnita
Apr 11, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Rajbir KaurSusanne Foitzik
Jun 6, 2018·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Christoph GrüterSusanne Foitzik
Apr 16, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Ivan Iakovlev, Zhanna Reznikova

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