Journal
JOURNAL OF INSECT BEHAVIOR
Volume 16, Issue 5, Pages 717-730Publisher
KLUWER ACADEMIC/PLENUM PUBL
DOI: 10.1023/B:JOIR.0000007706.38674.73
Keywords
aggression; Cataglyphis; dear-enemy phenomenon; enemy recognition; territoriality
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This study focuses on different factors affecting the level of aggression in the desert ant Cataglyphis fortis. We found that the readiness to fight against conspecific ants was high in ants captured close to the nest entrance (0- and 1-m distances). At a 5-m distance from the nest entrance the level of aggression was significantly lower. As the mean foraging range in desert ants by far exceeds this distance, the present account clearly shows that in C. fortis aggressive behavior is displayed in the context of nest, rather than food-territory defense. In addition, ants were more aggressive against members of a colony with which they had recently exchanged aggressive encounters than against members of a yet unknown colony. This finding is discussed in terms of a learned, enemy-specific label-template recognition process.
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