Chemical communication
M. capitatus are seed-harvesting ants that when they find a food source will go back to the nest to recruit other foragers if the food is too large for them to carry. The ants will lay a trail of chemicals from the food to the nest using their gasters. Once they are inside the nest they will perform a motor display that includes running, body vibrations, contact with nestmates, and food transmission. The nestmates will then get excited and follow the trail laid by the scout to the food source and if they want to recruit more to the patch then they will reinforce the trail by also leaving a trail of chemicals with their gasters.
The chemical that the scouts use to lay orientation trails is released from the Dufour’s gland. The major compounds that are released from the Dufour gland are Tridecane (28%) and Nonadecane (26%). M.capitatus and M.galla are the first species to have more than a trace quantity of nonadecane released from the Dufour gland. The chemicals released from these glands can last up to 30 minutes after reinforcement has ended.M. capitatus will follow a trail that is made of the secretion from the Dufour’s gland the most often and will follow this secretion to the end of the trail. Researchers found that even if the secretion was from a different colony ant they would still follow the trail with no hesitation. The ants would also follow the trail left by the poison gland, but would display aggressive behavior while they followed this trail and didn’t always follow the trail to the end. The ants didn’t respond to a trail laid with secretions from the ant’s abdomen.M. capitatus also secrete faeces containing the same hydrocarbons as the cuticle of worker ants in what is known as anal spots around their nest to identify it. These anal spot secretions helps the ants identify nestmates or aliens. The anal spots contain hydrocarbons similar to the cuticle because these hydrocarbons are detected during close contact to determine if another ant is a colony-member and to help tell other colonies which nest is their own. These spots were found to contain 60 different compounds that were mostly long-chained branched and linear hydrocarbons. The proportion of compound in the anal spots varied between the colonies as another way to distinguish between them. In M.capitatus these anal spots are created using a rectal sac and not secretions from the Dufour gland.
Другие виды Messor
Messor abdelazizi Santschi, 1921
Messor aciculatus (Smith, 1874)
Messor aegyptiacus (Emery, 1878)
Messor alexandri Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor angularis Santschi, 1928
Messor antennatus Emery, 1908
Messor aphaenogasteroides Pisarski, 1967
Messor aralocaspius (Ruzsky, 1902)
Messor arenarius (Fabricius, 1787)
Messor atanassovii Atanassov, 1982
Messor barbarus (Linnaeus, 1767)
Messor beduinus Emery, 1922
Messor berbericus Bernard, 1955
Messor bernardi Cagniant, 1967
Messor binodis (Fabricius, 1775)
Messor bouvieri Bondroit, 1918
Messor boyeri Cagniant, 2006
Messor buettikeri Collingwood, 1985
Messor caducus (Victor, 1839)
Messor capensis (Mayr, 1862)
Messor capitatus (Latreille, 1798)
Messor caviceps (Forel, 1902)
Messor celiae Reyes, 1985
Messor cephalotes (Emery, 1895)
Messor ceresis Santschi, 1934
Messor clypeatus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor collingwoodi Bolton, 1982
Messor crawleyi Santschi, 1928
Messor decipiens Santschi, 1917
Messor dentatus Santschi, 1927
Messor denticornis Forel, 1910
Messor denticulatus Santschi, 1927
Messor desertora He & Song, 2009
Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927
Messor eglalae , 2007
Messor erectus Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998
Messor excursionis Ruzsky, 1905
Messor ferreri Collingwood, 1993
Messor foreli Santschi, 1923
Messor fraternus Ruzsky, 1905
Messor galla (Mayr, 1904)
Messor hebraeus Santschi, 1927
Messor hellenius Agosti & Collingwood, 1987
Messor himalayanus (Forel, 1902)
Messor hismai Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor hispanicus Santschi, 1919
Messor hoggarensis Santschi, 1929
Messor ibericus Santschi, 1931
Messor incisus Stitz, 1923
Messor incorruptus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor inermis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor instabilis (Smith, 1858)
Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927
Messor lobicornis Forel, 1894
Messor luebberti Forel, 1910
Messor luridus Santschi, 1927
Messor lusitanicus Tinaut, 1985
Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927
Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927
Messor medioruber Santschi, 1910
Messor megacephala (Leach, 1825)
Messor meridionalis (André, 1883)
Messor muraywahus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor muscatus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor nahali Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor nigricans Santschi, 1932
Messor niloticus Santschi, 1938
Messor nondentatus He & Song, 2009
Messor oertzeni Forel, 1910
Messor orientalis (Emery, 1898)
Messor piceus Stitz, 1923
Messor picturatus Santschi, 1927
Messor regalis (Emery, 1892)
Messor reticuliventris Karavaiev, 1911
Messor rufitarsis (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufotestaceus (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufus Santschi, 1923
Messor ruginodis Stitz, 1916
Messor rugosus (André, 1881)
Messor sanctus Emery, 1921
Messor sanganus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor semirufus (André, 1883)
Messor semoni (Forel, 1906)
Messor striaticeps (André, 1883)
Messor striatifrons Stitz, 1923
Messor striativentris Emery, 1908
Messor striatulus (Emery, 1891)
Messor structor (Latreille, 1798)
Messor sultanus Santschi, 1917
Messor syriacus Tohmé, 1969
Messor testaceus Donisthorpe, 1950
Messor timidus Espadaler, 1997
Messor tropicorum Wheeler, 1922
Messor variabilis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor vaucheri Emery, 1908
Messor vicinus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor wasmanni Krausse, 1910
References
- Cerdá, X., and J. Retana. (1994). Food exploitation patterns of two sympatric seed‐harvesting ants Messor bouvieri (Bond.) and Messor capitatus (Latr.)(Hym., Formicidae) from Spain. Journal of Applied Entomology, 117(1‐5), 268-277.
- Plowes, N. J. R., et al. (2012). Foraging behavior in the ant genus Messor. Myrmecological News 18, 33-49.
- Arnan, X., et al. (2010). Foraging behaviour of harvesting ants determines seed removal and dispersal. Insectes sociaux, 57(4), 421-430.
- Ali, M. F., et al. (1989). The Dufour gland contents of three species of Euro-African Messor ants and a comparison with those of North American Pogonomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Biochemical systematics and ecology, 17(6), 469-477.
- Plowes, N. J. R., et al. (2012). Foraging behavior in the ant genus Messor. Myrmecological News 18, 33-49.
- Grasso, D. A., et al. (1998). Chemical communication during foraging in the harvesting ant Messor capitatus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes sociaux, 45(1), 85-96.
- Grasso, D. A., et al. (2005). Nest-area marking with faeces: a chemical signature that allows colony-level recognition in seed harvesting ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insectes sociaux, 52(1), 36-44.
- Plowes, N. J. R., et al. (2012). Foraging behavior in the ant genus Messor. Myrmecological News 18, 33-49.
- Plowes, N. J. R., et al. (2012). Foraging behavior in the ant genus Messor. Myrmecological News 18, 33-49.
- Arnan, X., et al. (2010). Foraging behaviour of harvesting ants determines seed removal and dispersal. Insectes sociaux, 57(4), 421-430.
- Baroni‐urbani, C., and M.G. Nielsen. (1990). Energetics and foraging behaviour of the European seed harvesting ant Messor capitatus: II. Do ants optimize their harvesting?. Physiological Entomology, 15(4), 449-461.
- Breed, M. D., et al. (2012). Cleptobiosis in social insects. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 2012.
- Albert, M. J., et al. (2005). Assessing ant seed predation in threatened plants: a case study. Acta Oecologica, 28(3), 213-220.
- Grasso, D. A., et al. (2000). Thelytokous worker reproduction and lack of Wolbachia infection in the harvesting ant Messor capitatus. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 12(3), 309-314.
Foraging activity
M. capitatus, M. structor, M. aciculatus, and M. chamberlini are all Messor species that can change between individual foraging and group foraging when a large supply of food is discovered. This helps the species to forage independently when resources are dispersed over a large area. If a large amount of resources is found in a concentrated area then these species can change their behavior to recruit other nestmates to help bring back the resources to the nest.
The foraging activity of M. capitatus has been studied with respect to how they affect seed dispersal, optimizing their harvest, and patterns of foraging. M.capitatus create long narrow trails that are no more than 10 cm wide and they will drop seeds along these trails.M. capitatus drops 10-15% of the seeds they transport and will redistribute these seeds in bare soil and low sparse vegetation habitats. They rarely disperse the seeds in low, dense and highly vegetated habitats. The effects of seed dispersal by ants is important as it can affect how vegetation will grow and being placed in sparse vegetation means that the seeds have less competition to grow against.
M. capitatus is said to optimize their harvest by looking at seed size and determining if the energetic cost of bringing seed back to the nest individually was worth the net benefit to the colony. M. capitatus is a polymorphic species, which means that they have a larger range of size in the species. To optimize their harvest they have the larger ants carry the heavier food back to the nest and have smaller ants carry the lighter food. The ants also had a preference for seeds of a moderate mass of about 400 mg when the seed was about 5-5.5mm in diameter.M. capitatus have been found to commit cleptobiosis, steal, seeds from other colonies of ants. M.capitatus will use a variety of interference tactics to affect foraging by congeners, those within the same genus.M.capitatus caused significant seed predation to the rare and endangered plant Erodium paularense. This plant produces few viable seeds in fruit and M.capitatus only harvests the fruit of trees that have fully developed seeds. Predation rates by M.capitatus of E. paularense seeds is about 43.3%. Seed collection by ants is due to preference and the availability of the seeds and other food sources.
Other species Messor
Messor abdelazizi Santschi, 1921
Messor aciculatus (Smith, 1874)
Messor aegyptiacus (Emery, 1878)
Messor alexandri Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor angularis Santschi, 1928
Messor antennatus Emery, 1908
Messor aphaenogasteroides Pisarski, 1967
Messor aralocaspius (Ruzsky, 1902)
Messor arenarius (Fabricius, 1787)
Messor atanassovii Atanassov, 1982
Messor barbarus (Linnaeus, 1767)
Messor beduinus Emery, 1922
Messor berbericus Bernard, 1955
Messor bernardi Cagniant, 1967
Messor binodis (Fabricius, 1775)
Messor bouvieri Bondroit, 1918
Messor boyeri Cagniant, 2006
Messor buettikeri Collingwood, 1985
Messor caducus (Victor, 1839)
Messor capensis (Mayr, 1862)
Messor capitatus (Latreille, 1798)
Messor caviceps (Forel, 1902)
Messor celiae Reyes, 1985
Messor cephalotes (Emery, 1895)
Messor ceresis Santschi, 1934
Messor clypeatus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor collingwoodi Bolton, 1982
Messor crawleyi Santschi, 1928
Messor decipiens Santschi, 1917
Messor dentatus Santschi, 1927
Messor denticornis Forel, 1910
Messor denticulatus Santschi, 1927
Messor desertora He & Song, 2009
Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927
Messor eglalae , 2007
Messor erectus Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998
Messor excursionis Ruzsky, 1905
Messor ferreri Collingwood, 1993
Messor foreli Santschi, 1923
Messor fraternus Ruzsky, 1905
Messor galla (Mayr, 1904)
Messor hebraeus Santschi, 1927
Messor hellenius Agosti & Collingwood, 1987
Messor himalayanus (Forel, 1902)
Messor hismai Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor hispanicus Santschi, 1919
Messor hoggarensis Santschi, 1929
Messor ibericus Santschi, 1931
Messor incisus Stitz, 1923
Messor incorruptus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor inermis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor instabilis (Smith, 1858)
Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927
Messor lobicornis Forel, 1894
Messor luebberti Forel, 1910
Messor luridus Santschi, 1927
Messor lusitanicus Tinaut, 1985
Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927
Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927
Messor medioruber Santschi, 1910
Messor megacephala (Leach, 1825)
Messor meridionalis (André, 1883)
Messor muraywahus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor muscatus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor nahali Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor nigricans Santschi, 1932
Messor niloticus Santschi, 1938
Messor nondentatus He & Song, 2009
Messor oertzeni Forel, 1910
Messor orientalis (Emery, 1898)
Messor piceus Stitz, 1923
Messor picturatus Santschi, 1927
Messor regalis (Emery, 1892)
Messor reticuliventris Karavaiev, 1911
Messor rufitarsis (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufotestaceus (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufus Santschi, 1923
Messor ruginodis Stitz, 1916
Messor rugosus (André, 1881)
Messor sanctus Emery, 1921
Messor sanganus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor semirufus (André, 1883)
Messor semoni (Forel, 1906)
Messor striaticeps (André, 1883)
Messor striatifrons Stitz, 1923
Messor striativentris Emery, 1908
Messor striatulus (Emery, 1891)
Messor structor (Latreille, 1798)
Messor sultanus Santschi, 1917
Messor syriacus Tohmé, 1969
Messor testaceus Donisthorpe, 1950
Messor timidus Espadaler, 1997
Messor tropicorum Wheeler, 1922
Messor variabilis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor vaucheri Emery, 1908
Messor vicinus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor wasmanni Krausse, 1910
Other species Messor
Messor abdelazizi Santschi, 1921
Messor aegyptiacus (Emery, 1878)
Messor alexandri Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor angularis Santschi, 1928
Messor antennatus Emery, 1908
Messor aphaenogasteroides Pisarski, 1967
Messor aralocaspius (Ruzsky, 1902)
Messor arenarius (Fabricius, 1787)
Messor atanassovii Atanassov, 1982
Messor barbarus (Linnaeus, 1767)
Messor beduinus Emery, 1922
Messor berbericus Bernard, 1955
Messor bernardi Cagniant, 1967
Messor binodis (Fabricius, 1775)
Messor bouvieri Bondroit, 1918
Messor boyeri Cagniant, 2006
Messor buettikeri Collingwood, 1985
Messor caducus (Victor, 1839)
Messor capensis (Mayr, 1862)
Messor capitatus (Latreille, 1798)
Messor caviceps (Forel, 1902)
Messor celiae Reyes, 1985
Messor cephalotes (Emery, 1895)
Messor ceresis Santschi, 1934
Messor clypeatus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor collingwoodi Bolton, 1982
Messor crawleyi Santschi, 1928
Messor decipiens Santschi, 1917
Messor dentatus Santschi, 1927
Messor denticornis Forel, 1910
Messor denticulatus Santschi, 1927
Messor desertora He & Song, 2009
Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927
Messor eglalae , 2007
Messor erectus Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998
Messor excursionis Ruzsky, 1905
Messor ferreri Collingwood, 1993
Messor foreli Santschi, 1923
Messor fraternus Ruzsky, 1905
Messor galla (Mayr, 1904)
Messor hebraeus Santschi, 1927
Messor hellenius Agosti & Collingwood, 1987
Messor himalayanus (Forel, 1902)
Messor hismai Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor hispanicus Santschi, 1919
Messor hoggarensis Santschi, 1929
Messor ibericus Santschi, 1931
Messor incisus Stitz, 1923
Messor incorruptus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor inermis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor instabilis (Smith, 1858)
Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927
Messor lobicornis Forel, 1894
Messor luebberti Forel, 1910
Messor luridus Santschi, 1927
Messor lusitanicus Tinaut, 1985
Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927
Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927
Messor medioruber Santschi, 1910
Messor megacephala (Leach, 1825)
Messor meridionalis (André, 1883)
Messor minor (André, 1883)
Messor muraywahus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor muscatus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor nahali Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor nigricans Santschi, 1932
Messor niloticus Santschi, 1938
Messor nondentatus He & Song, 2009
Messor oertzeni Forel, 1910
Messor orientalis (Emery, 1898)
Messor piceus Stitz, 1923
Messor picturatus Santschi, 1927
Messor regalis (Emery, 1892)
Messor reticuliventris Karavaiev, 1911
Messor rufitarsis (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufotestaceus (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufus Santschi, 1923
Messor ruginodis Stitz, 1916
Messor rugosus (André, 1881)
Messor sanctus Emery, 1921
Messor sanganus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor semirufus (André, 1883)
Messor semoni (Forel, 1906)
Messor striaticeps (André, 1883)
Messor striatifrons Stitz, 1923
Messor striativentris Emery, 1908
Messor striatulus (Emery, 1891)
Messor structor (Latreille, 1798)
Messor sultanus Santschi, 1917
Messor syriacus Tohmé, 1969
Messor testaceus Donisthorpe, 1950
Messor timidus Espadaler, 1997
Messor tropicorum Wheeler, 1922
Messor variabilis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor vaucheri Emery, 1908
Messor vicinus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor wasmanni Krausse, 1910
Другие виды Messor
Messor abdelazizi Santschi, 1921
Messor aegyptiacus (Emery, 1878)
Messor alexandri Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor angularis Santschi, 1928
Messor antennatus Emery, 1908
Messor aphaenogasteroides Pisarski, 1967
Messor aralocaspius (Ruzsky, 1902)
Messor arenarius (Fabricius, 1787)
Messor atanassovii Atanassov, 1982
Messor barbarus (Linnaeus, 1767)
Messor beduinus Emery, 1922
Messor berbericus Bernard, 1955
Messor bernardi Cagniant, 1967
Messor binodis (Fabricius, 1775)
Messor bouvieri Bondroit, 1918
Messor boyeri Cagniant, 2006
Messor buettikeri Collingwood, 1985
Messor caducus (Victor, 1839)
Messor capensis (Mayr, 1862)
Messor capitatus (Latreille, 1798)
Messor caviceps (Forel, 1902)
Messor celiae Reyes, 1985
Messor cephalotes (Emery, 1895)
Messor ceresis Santschi, 1934
Messor clypeatus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor collingwoodi Bolton, 1982
Messor crawleyi Santschi, 1928
Messor decipiens Santschi, 1917
Messor dentatus Santschi, 1927
Messor denticornis Forel, 1910
Messor denticulatus Santschi, 1927
Messor desertora He & Song, 2009
Messor ebeninus Santschi, 1927
Messor eglalae , 2007
Messor erectus Cagniant & Espadaler, 1998
Messor excursionis Ruzsky, 1905
Messor ferreri Collingwood, 1993
Messor foreli Santschi, 1923
Messor fraternus Ruzsky, 1905
Messor galla (Mayr, 1904)
Messor hebraeus Santschi, 1927
Messor hellenius Agosti & Collingwood, 1987
Messor himalayanus (Forel, 1902)
Messor hismai Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor hispanicus Santschi, 1919
Messor hoggarensis Santschi, 1929
Messor ibericus Santschi, 1931
Messor incisus Stitz, 1923
Messor incorruptus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor inermis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1929
Messor instabilis (Smith, 1858)
Messor intermedius Santschi, 1927
Messor lobicornis Forel, 1894
Messor luebberti Forel, 1910
Messor luridus Santschi, 1927
Messor lusitanicus Tinaut, 1985
Messor maculifrons Santschi, 1927
Messor marocanus Santschi, 1927
Messor medioruber Santschi, 1910
Messor megacephala (Leach, 1825)
Messor meridionalis (André, 1883)
Messor minor (André, 1883)
Messor muraywahus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor muscatus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor nahali Tohmé & Tohmé, 1981
Messor nigricans Santschi, 1932
Messor niloticus Santschi, 1938
Messor nondentatus He & Song, 2009
Messor oertzeni Forel, 1910
Messor orientalis (Emery, 1898)
Messor piceus Stitz, 1923
Messor picturatus Santschi, 1927
Messor regalis (Emery, 1892)
Messor reticuliventris Karavaiev, 1911
Messor rufitarsis (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufotestaceus (Foerster, 1850)
Messor rufus Santschi, 1923
Messor ruginodis Stitz, 1916
Messor rugosus (André, 1881)
Messor sanctus Emery, 1921
Messor sanganus Collingwood & Agosti, 1996
Messor semirufus (André, 1883)
Messor semoni (Forel, 1906)
Messor striaticeps (André, 1883)
Messor striatifrons Stitz, 1923
Messor striativentris Emery, 1908
Messor striatulus (Emery, 1891)
Messor structor (Latreille, 1798)
Messor sultanus Santschi, 1917
Messor syriacus Tohmé, 1969
Messor testaceus Donisthorpe, 1950
Messor timidus Espadaler, 1997
Messor tropicorum Wheeler, 1922
Messor variabilis Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor vaucheri Emery, 1908
Messor vicinus Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
Messor wasmanni Krausse, 1910
