摘要:

ABSTRACT.The effects of division of labour on response behaviour to food in the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invictaBuren, were examined to determine if caste members differ in amount of food taken, in rate of food transfer, or in internal distribution of food; and to see if food availability, time, or temporal subcaste pairing affect feeding behaviour. To measure differences in behaviour we fed radioiodinated albumin mixed with egg yolk to colonies containing larvae, queens, and (a) foragers and nurses, or (b) foragers and reserves, or (c) nurses and reserves. Samples were taken over a 72‐h period and radioactivity in the head, thorax and abdomen of each worker was determined. There were significant differences between nurses, foragers and reserves in quantity of food consumed, rate of transfer, and internal distribution of radioactivity. These differences were related to their respective roles of foraging, food storage and transfer, and brood tending. The quantity of food taken per subcaste was dependent on the total amount of food in the colony, with transfer rates differing between subcastes as the quantity of food in the colony increased. The rate at which protein was transferred between subcastes was slower in the reserves than that in either foragers or nurses. Therefore, reserves may serve as a temporary store of protein for the colon

ISSN:0307-6962    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-3032.1983.tb00336.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

ABSTRACT.Variations in ecdysteroids were measured by radio‐immunoassay in worker‐biased and queen‐biased larvae of the antPlagiolepis pygmaeaLatr. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) during late larval development, i.e. from the end of winter diapause up to the prepupal period. At the end of diapause, larvae are bipotential and, depending on culture conditions, can become either queens or workers. Ecdysteroid profiles revealed that there are striking differences between the two castes: worker larvae showed high titres during their development, queen larvae had low titres over the same p

ISSN:0307-6962    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-3032.1983.tb00337.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

ABSTRACT.A new type of airflow olfactometer is described, and results given of experiments using it to measure behavioural olfactory responses of hymenopterous parasitoids. Compared with Y‐tube olfactometers it shows several advantages. In its exposure chamber four separate abutting odour fields are presented so that the test insect can readily enter and re‐enter them. More than one odour (or different concentrations of one odour) can be tested at the same time, thereby providing complex preference test situations. The various behavioural measures that can be assessed in the apparatus are examined and discus

ISSN:0307-6962    

DOI:10.1111/j.1365-3032.1983.tb00338.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY