Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

The paper models how larval signaling and worker response coevolve to trigger caste determination and worker polymorphism in social insects through self-reinforcement mechanisms.

The paper examines how group size, food availability, and food type affect social interaction networks in ants, finding increased compartmentalization with larger groups and limited storable food.

This study shows that ant colony demographics influence nest construction, with younger ants digging more and creating slanted tunnels, while older ants dig straight down after catastrophic events.

This study shows that age, not body size, primarily influences flight distance in bumble bees, with flight distance increasing six-fold between 7-14 days before declining at 21 days.

This study compares learning performance between nectar and pollen foraging honey bees, finding that pollen foragers perform worse with sucrose alone but match nectar foragers when pollen is included as a reward.

This study tests the effectiveness of sentinel prey in identifying predators by showing that Oecophylla smaragdina ants rely more on olfactory cues than visual cues for predation.

This study compares dance-distance calibration curves in tropical and montane Apis cerana lineages, finding genetically fixed differences and environmental influences on their communication.

This study shows nocturnal bull ants use polarized moonlight for navigation during the night, similar to how they use solar polarized light during the day.

This study shows that silverfish co-habiting with ants have diets and microbiomes converging with their ant hosts, indicating host specialization influences feeding ecology.

This study shows that succession in ant symbiont communities increases stability by making the community more even.

This study shows that moderate caffeine exposure improves learning in Argentine ants during foraging tasks, but not homing behavior, with dose-dependent effects.

This study investigates the effects of juvenile hormone treatment on caste development in Cardiocondyla obscurior ants, finding no impact on female caste ratios or body sizes but increased male size.

The paper analyzes biomechanical properties of non-flight bee vibrations across 65 species, finding body size strongly correlates with vibration amplitude but not frequency.

This study examines how bumblebees adjust their behavior in response to simulated rain, finding that they reduce foraging and increase resting during rain, with social cues influencing their behavioral decisions.

This study examines protist community dynamics during termite adult eclosion and dispersal, finding that changes in community composition enhance transmission efficiency.

This study compares termite and cockroach genomes to find relaxed selection in termites, linked to reduced population size and caste-related adaptations.

This study investigates the genomic consequences of sociality in spiders, finding that transitions to sociality lead to reduced effective population size and genomic diversity, potentially causing extinction.

The paper investigates domain rearrangements in termite proteomes to understand their role in the evolution of eusociality, finding novel arrangements linked to longevity and caste-specific functions.

The paper examines cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of four Himalayan bumble bee species, finding species-specific and elevation-related variation in hydrocarbon composition.

This study shows that worker presence increases ant colony survival and growth, supporting group foundation as advantageous despite fewer propagules.

This study shows that fungal infection in ants changes their dietary choices to support immune responses, even though the diet is harmful in the long term.

The paper investigates immune protein expression in female bumble bees, finding no trade-off between ovary activation and immunity in workers, unlike queens.

This study uses long-term trapping to examine flight phenology and reproductive behavior in two solitary sweat bees, revealing univoltine and bivoltine life histories and demographic plasticity.

The paper shows gut microbes influence foraging behavior in honey bees by altering microbiome composition and causing changes in foraging intensity through specific microbial inoculations.

This study identifies a core microbiome in solitary bees during diapause, showing microbial proliferation and potential roles in pathogen protection and overwintering survival.

This study tests how odorants affect honey bees' perception of sweetness, finding that some volatiles enhance low sucrose responses in younger bees but not in older ones.

The paper examines how habitat fragmentation affects dispersal in an ant species, finding that apterous queens are more common in fragmented urban parks than in forests.

This study shows trail-following ants use segments of their path integration vector to retrace non-straight pheromone trails without relying on external cues.

This study shows that Argentine ants avoid food scented with conspecific corpses but not when corpses have ingested toxicant, suggesting potential strategies for bait management.

This study shows that administering juvenile hormone to ant larvae via social regurgitation increases their body size and nutritional needs, leading to larger adult workers.