BIOL 127 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Harvester Ant, Cuticle, Interactome
Document Summary
Lecture #19 evolution of collective behavior in desert ants. Do the colony queens control (central control) colony activities: no central control; nobody in charge. Sterile female workers: queen: one or more reproductive. They just lay eggs: the foraging activities are regulated by local interactions among ants, some ants interact more than others. Ants become hubs bc they go to the hot spot where there is a lot of interaction. Ants participate in the network of where there are; interaction network! What are the long-chained fatty acids that carry the colony"s odor called: cuticular hydrocarbons, also indicates what task the other ant has been doing; environment changes the cuticular hydrogens based on what job they are doing. What are the two primary ecological challenges affecting harvester ant colonies: conserving water - they live in the desert where water is rare, competition with conspecific neighbors - harvester ants do not use pheromone trails.
