Neuroanatomical and morphological trait clusters in the ant genus Pheidole: evidence for modularity and integration in brain structure

Brain, Behavior and Evolution
Iulian IlieşJames F A Traniello

Abstract

A central question in brain evolution concerns how selection has structured neuromorphological variation to generate adaptive behavior. In social insects, brain structures differ between reproductive and sterile castes, and worker behavioral specializations related to morphology, age, and ecology are associated with intra- and interspecific variation in investment in functionally different brain compartments. Workers in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole are morphologically and behaviorally differentiated into minor and major subcastes that exhibit distinct species-typical patterns of brain compartment size variation. We examined integration and modularity in brain organization and its developmental patterning in three ecotypical Pheidole species by analyzing intra- and interspecific morphological and neuroanatomical covariation. Our results identified two trait clusters, the first involving olfaction and social information processing and the second composed of brain regions regulating nonolfactory sensorimotor functions. Patterns of size covariation between brain compartments within subcastes were consistent with levels of behavioral differentiation between minor and major workers. Globally, brains of mature workers were more...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 8, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Ysabel Milton GiraldoJames F A Traniello
Jun 2, 2016·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Borja Esteve-Altava
Nov 1, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·J Frances KamhiJames F A Traniello
Sep 27, 2018·Annual Review of Entomology·Deborah M Gordon
Apr 28, 2020·The Journal of Comparative Neurology·Jens HabensteinWolfgang Rössler
Oct 27, 2017·Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience·J Frances KamhiJames F A Traniello
Jan 4, 2017·Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology·Ysabel Milton GiraldoJames F A Traniello
Mar 18, 2019·Biochemistry. Biokhimii︠a︡·G A ShilovskyV P Skulachev
Apr 7, 2018·Neuroscience Letters·Darcy G Gordon, James F A Traniello
Apr 15, 2019·Brain, Behavior and Evolution·J Frances KamhiJames F A Traniello

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