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Ant social network structure is highly conserved across species.
Tomas Kay1,2, Alba Motes-Rodrigo2, Arthur Royston2
1Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University , New York, NY, USA.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|July 30, 2024
Summary
Social insect colonies exhibit conserved network structures across species, revealing a fundamental division of labor between nest-bound and foraging workers. This organization is ancient and widely evolved.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Behavioral ecology
- Social systems
Background:
- Social insects demonstrate remarkable ecological success, driving scientific interest in their collective organization.
- Automated tracking and social network analysis have advanced understanding of colony organization.
- Interspecific variation in social network structure remains largely unexplored due to single-species studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a comparative network analysis of social organization across five diverse ant species.
- To investigate interspecific variation in social network structure and its evolutionary conservation.
Main Methods:
- Comparative network analysis of social interactions.
- Automated behavioral tracking across five ant species from different subfamilies.
- Analysis of social network modularity and community structure.
Main Results:
- Social network structure is highly conserved across five ant subfamilies, separated by over 100 million years.
- All species exhibit modular networks with two distinct social communities and similar individual distribution.
- Task performance consistently mapped onto these two communities across species.
- Queens occupied distinct network positions despite organizational similarities.
Conclusions:
- The conserved two-community structure highlights a fundamental division of labor in social insects: brood care (in-nest) versus foraging (out-of-nest).
- This division of labor is ancient, deeply conserved, and likely a readily evolvable trait.
- Parallels exist with biparental care systems in other animal groups, suggesting a universal principle of behavioral division.
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