Proportion of substance classes in Camponotus species

Proportion of hydrocarbon substance classes and hydrocarbon chain length of cuticular profiles of Camponotus species. The data set is created using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Column headings: A - Camponotus species names; B - chain length of the hydrocarbons; C - identified substance class; D - proportion of the substance class and chain length

Chemical and Behavioural data of the study

'Raw Data': results of behavioral assays with Y-mazes. The Excel sheet contains data for individual ants and summed data for all 15 ants of one assay. Separate sheets are provided for cue assays and 'empty' control assays. 'Chemical Data': Substances detected in footprints and cuticular hydrocarbons, with relative quantities in each sample. Absolute quantities in µg are presented in a separate sheet. The third sheet contains the cuticular hydrocarbons of all five ant species

Cuticular hydrocarbon data of Temnothorax longispinosus and T. ambiguus

The file contains a table with information on experimental treatments, behavioural castes, and all CHC traits analysed. The second table contains information on the detailed CHC composition of each sample

Cuticular hydrocarbon and genetic data

The individual data show diversity indices, percentages of each cuticular hydrocarbon, and HL data of individual Hypoponera opacior workers as used in this study. The colony-level data show average HL per colony (colony HL), relatedness between nestmates, and Bray-Curtis distances for the different hydrocarbon classes

Electronic supplement from The influence of slavemaking lifestyle, caste and sex on chemical profiles in <i>Temnothorax</i> ants: insights into the evolution of cuticular hydrocarbons

Electronic supplement including additional figures and table

Menzel et al Raw data

Cuticular hydrocarbon data of the species investigated. In the first data sheet, each row is one CHC peak. The table contains information about the chain length, substance class, per cent abundance and methyl groups (if applicable). The second sheet contains information about the species collected, their phylogenetic affiliation, the latitude, annual precipitation and annual temperature of the collection site

Supplemental Tables S1 and S2: Additional information on the species investigated from How do cuticular hydrocarbons evolve? Physiological constraints, as well as climatic and biotic selection pressures act on a complex functional trait in insects

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) cover the cuticles of virtually all insects, serving as waterproofing agent and as communication signal. The causes for the high CHC variation between species, and the factors influencing CHC profiles, are scarcely understood. Here, we compare CHC profiles of ant species from seven biogeographic regions, searching for physiological constraints and for climatic and biotic selection pressures. Molecule length constrained CHC composition: long-chain profiles contained fewer linear alkanes, but more hydrocarbons with disruptive features in the molecule. This is likely due to selection on the physiology to build a semi-fluid cuticular layer, which is necessary for waterproofing and communication. CHC composition also depended on the precipitation in the ants' habitats. Species from wet climates had more alkenes and fewer dimethyl alkanes than those from drier habitats, which can be explained by different waterproofing capacities of these compounds. By contrast, temperature did not affect CHC composition. Mutualistically associated (parabiotic) species possessed profiles highly distinct from non-associated species. Our study is the first to show systematic impacts of physiological, climatic and biotic factors on quantitative CHC composition across a global, multi-species dataset. We demonstrate how they jointly shape CHC profiles, and advance our understanding of the evolution of this complex functional trait in insects

Additional file 2: of Patterns and dynamics of neutral lipid fatty acids in ants – implications for ecological studies

Full dataset. (XLSX 42 kb

Worker Personality and Its Association with Spatially Structured Division of Labor

<div><p>Division of labor is a defining characteristic of social insects and fundamental to their ecological success. Many of the numerous tasks essential for the survival of the colony must be performed at a specific location. Consequently, spatial organization is an integral aspect of division of labor. The mechanisms organizing the spatial distribution of workers, separating inside and outside workers without central control, is an essential, but so far neglected aspect of division of labor. In this study, we investigate the behavioral mechanisms governing the spatial distribution of individual workers and its physiological underpinning in the ant <i>Myrmica rubra.</i> By investigating worker personalities we uncover position-associated behavioral syndromes. This context-independent and temporally stable set of correlated behaviors (positive association between movements and attraction towards light) could promote the basic separation between inside (brood tenders) and outside workers (foragers). These position-associated behavior syndromes are coupled with a high probability to perform tasks, located at the defined position, and a characteristic cuticular hydrocarbon profile. We discuss the potentially physiological causes for the observed behavioral syndromes and highlight how the study of animal personalities can provide new insights for the study of division of labor and self-organized processes in general.</p></div

MDS ordination of the worker personality dimensions (2D stress = 0.11), based on euclidian distances.

<p>Each symbol represents an individual worker. Lines indicate the contribution of each behavioral trait to the separation among the three groups investigated (B = brood, O = outside and E = entrance). All three groups are significantly different from each other (all p<0.007). The three main contributors to group separation are phototactic (Experiment 3a), activity (3c) and brood-care tendency (3f). The interest in protein foraging (3e), exploration (3b), non-nestmates (3d) and aggression (3g) contributed to a lesser extent.</p