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Developmental biomechanics and age polyethism in leaf-cutter ants
,
Lara Meyer,
Natalie Imirzian,
Flavio Roces,
Richard Johnston ,
David Labonte
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume: 290, Issue: 2000
Swansea University Author:
Richard Johnston
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Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rspb.2023.0355
Abstract
Many social insects display age polyethism: young workers stay inside the nest, and only older workers forage. This behavioural transition is accompanied by genetic and physiological changes, but the mechanistic origin of it remains unclear. To investigate if the mechanical demands on the musculoske...
| Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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| ISSN: | 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2023
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63729 |
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| Abstract: |
Many social insects display age polyethism: young workers stay inside the nest, and only older workers forage. This behavioural transition is accompanied by genetic and physiological changes, but the mechanistic origin of it remains unclear. To investigate if the mechanical demands on the musculoskeletal system effectively prevent young workers from foraging, we studied the biomechanical development of the bite apparatus in Atta vollenweideri leaf-cutter ants. Fully matured foragers generated peak in vivo bite forces of around 100 mN, more than one order of magnitude in excess of those measured for freshly eclosed callows of the same size. This change in bite force was accompanied by a sixfold increase in the volume of the mandible closer muscle, and by a substantial increase of the flexural rigidity of the head capsule, driven by a significant increase in both average thickness and indentation modulus of the head capsule cuticle. Consequently, callows lack the muscle force capacity required for leaf-cutting, and their head capsule is so compliant that large muscle forces would be likely to cause damaging deformations. On the basis of these results, we speculate that continued biomechanical development post eclosion may be a key factor underlying age |
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| Keywords: |
division of labour, behavioural development, social insects, bite forces |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
This study is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 851705) awarded to D.L. |
| Issue: |
2000 |