Phenomenon of Slave-Making Behavior in AntsBiology 342 Fall 2014
Emma Schweitzer & Rob Haas |
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PhylogenyPhylogeny is the evolutionary history examining the particular slave-making behavioral trait in ants, with focus on the interrelatedness of all life. More on Dulosis The two major types of Dulosis are:
Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree mapping out the relatedness of slave-making ants Both types of dulosis are thought to be outgrowths of territorial aggression, and one group of ants, Teleutomyrmex ants, seem to depend on dulotic tactics more than other ants, like the P. americanus. There is a spectrum of parasitism in all the ant species we have discussed here, and many even show great a variation in scouting as well as the raiding behavior previously discussed. Teleutomyrmex queens have been observed to be much more enforcing and hostile towards enslaved ants from their host colonies. One of the Teleutomyrmex’s particularly interesting and more “macho” behaviors is seen when the queen ants attach themselves to a host queen and eat and enjoy the benefits of living like a queen while riding around attached to her back, Figure 2 below. Figure 2. Teleutomyrmex queen ants riding their larger host queen ants. Ant societies certainly are more complex than we can believe, with more research being done everyday. While ants have over evolutionary time developed such slave-driving parasitic relationships, it should also be noted that they have also developed mutualistic farming relationships as well. Ants are believed to have been farming for longer than humans, as some ants (Lasius Flavius and Myrmica genus ants) evolved to herd aphids in a mutualistic rather than parasitic fashion, relieving aphids of their excess abundance of sugars while providing protection (Find out more about these ants here!). We mention this behavior because although we focus on slave-making behaviors here, we want to also provide evidence for the scope of other relationship-type behaviors ants have evolved which are quite the opposite of slave-making.
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