Evidence for avian mafia

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Foraging strategies in the ants Myrmicaria brunnea and Diacamma ceylonense- some preliminary observations

Myrmicaria brunnea forager communicates by means of chemical and/or acoustic signals so that other foragers present nearby can move towards it and find the bait sooner than they would on their own. However, this sort of communication seem to have not been present in Diacamma sp. foragers

Evidence for Bird Mafia! Threat Pays

Birds are remarkable for their extraordinary efforts at nest building and brood care. Given that so many species of birds spend so much time and effort at these activities, there is plenty of room for some species to take it easy, lay their eggs in the nests of other species and hitch-hike on their hosts. The cuckoo that lays its eggs in the nests of a variety of host species is well known. Indeed, over 80 species, i.e., over 1% of bird species are known to be such obligate inter-specific brood parasites. These include two sub-families of cuckoos, two types of finches, the honey guides, the cowbirds and the black-headed duck. Because parasite species often use more than one host species, more than 1% of bird species act as hosts to brood parasites. Inter-specific brood parasitism has evolved independently at least seven times in birds and can have a significant effect on the populations of the host species and even lead to their extinction. Although hosts sometimes detect and eject alien eggs, their success in ridding their nests of parasite eggs is often very limited and that is why brood parasitism has survived as a way of life. One reason for such limited success of the hosts is the exquisite mimicry often exhibited by the parasites whose eggs are virtually indistinguishable from those of the host. What is perplexing however is that many parasite species lay eggs that look nothing like their host’s eggs and yet get away with it. Obviously hosts have not perfected the art of removing all or most of the alien eggs. But why should this be so

Evidence for Avian mafia!

An unwritten rule in evolutionary biology is that anything that can evolve will evolve. Birds are remarkable for their extraordinary effort at nest building and brood care. Given that so many species of birds spend so much time and effort at these activities, there is plenty of room for some species to take it easy, lay their eggs in the nests of other species and hitch-hike on their hosts. The cuckoo that lays its eggs in the nests of a variety of host species is well known. Indeed, over 80 species, i.e. over 1% of bird species are known to be such obligate inter-specific brood parasites. These include two-sub-families of cuckoos, two types of finches, the honey-guides, the cowbirds and the black-headed $duck^1$. Because parasite species often use more than one host species, many more than 1% of bird species act as hosts to brood parasites. Interspecific brood parasitism has evolved independently at least seven times in birds and can have a significant effect on the populations of the host species and even lead to their extinction. Although hosts sometimes detect and eject alien eggs, their success in ridding their nests of parasite eggs is often very limited and that is why brood parasitism has survived as a way of life. One reason for such limited success of the hosts is the often exquisite mimicry on the part of the parasites whose eggs are virtually indistinguishable from those of the host1. What is perplexing, however, is that many parasite species lay eggs that look nothing like their host's eggs and yet get away with it. Obviously hosts have not perfected the art of removing all or most of the alien eggs. But why should this be so

Ant fauna of the Indian Institute of Science campus- survey and some preliminary observations

On the basis of a survey of ants on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science, a checklist of species and brief descriptions of commonly seen nests is provided. Some observations, especially on diets and daily foraging patterns in a few selected species are also presented. The main objective of this study was to explore the potential of the campus ant fauna for future work in behaviour and ecology

Contributions To the Biology of the Queenless Ponerine Ant Diacamma Ceylonense Emery (Formicidae)

Volume: 100Start Page: 533End Page: 54