Group phenotypic composition drives task performances in ants.

Differences in individual behaviour within a group can give rise to functional dissimilarities between groups, particularly in social animals. However, how individual behavioural phenotypes translate into the group phenotype remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether individual behavioural type affects group performance in a eusocial species, the ant .

Wood-pastures promote environmental and ecological heterogeneity on a small spatial scale.

Wood-pastures harbor critical natural and social values and are among the most ancient land use forms of Europe. The crucial conservation value of these silvopastoral systems is generally contributed to their characteristic landscape elements, the solitary trees, which provide microhabitats for a variety of organisms. However, by accommodating four habitat types (grasslands, solitary trees, forests, and forest edges) on a relatively small spatial scale, wood-pastures might host functionally and compositionally distinct arthropod communities, thus enhancing the landscape-level biodiversity.

Development of bilateral asymmetry of the upper limb in children from a medieval population in Central Europe, Hungary.

This study examined the emergence and characteristics of bilateral asymmetry of the upper limb during development in a medieval agricultural population from Hungary, and investigated the agricultural activity-types in a bioarchaeological and biomechanical context. The skeletal remains of 169 nonadult individuals were selected from the cemetery of Bátmonostor-Pusztafalu, providing 134 cases for humeral diameter and length, 70 cases for radial length and 62 cases for ulnar length measurements. Biological age was estimated by using tooth eruption.

Interspecific attraction between ground-nesting songbirds and ants: the role of nest-site selection.

Background: Interspecific interactions within ecological networks can influence animal fitness and behaviour, including nest-site selection of birds and ants. Previous studies revealed that nesting birds and ants may benefit from cohabitation, with interspecific attraction through their nest-site choice, but mutual interactions have not yet been tested. We explored a previously undescribed ecological link between ground-nesting birds and ants raising their own broods (larvae and pupae) within the birds' nests in a temperate primeval forest of lowland Europe.

Wood ants as biological control of the forest pest beetles Ips spp.

Climate change is one of the major threats to biodiversity, but its impact varies among the species. Bark beetles (Ips spp.), as well as other wood-boring pests of European forests, show escalating numbers in response to the changes driven by climate change and seriously affect the survival of the forests through the massive killing of trees.

Habitat features and colony characteristics influencing ant personality and its fitness consequences.

Several factors can influence individual and group behavioral variation that can have important fitness consequences. In this study, we tested how two habitat types (seminatural meadows and meadows invaded by plants) and factors like colony and worker size and nest density influence behavioral (activity, meanderness, exploration, aggression, and nest displacement) variation on different levels of the social organization of ants and how these might affect the colony productivity. We assumed that the factors within the two habitat types exert different selective pressures on individual and colony behavioral variation that affects colony productivity.

The Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Hungary: Survey of Ant Species with an Annotated Synonymic Inventory.

Ants (Hymenoptera: Forimicidae) are exceedingly common in nature. They constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial animal biomass and are also considered common ecosystem engineers. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation policy.

Protective behavior or 'true' tool use? Scrutinizing the tool use behavior of ants.

In the genus workers use tools to transport liquid food to the colony. During this behavior, ants place or drop various kinds of debris into liquids or soft food, and then, they carry the food-soaked tools back to the nest. According to some authors, this behavior is not "true" tool use because it represents two separate processes: a defense response to cover the dangerous liquid and a transport of food.

A small number of workers with specific personality traits perform tool use in ants.

Ants use debris as tools to collect and transport liquid food to the nest. Previous studies showed that this behaviour is flexible whereby ants learn to use artificial material that is novel to them and select tools with optimal soaking properties. However, the process of tool use has not been studied at the individual level.

Thermal ecosystem engineering by songbirds promotes a symbiotic relationship with ants.

Nesting birds can act as thermal ecosystem engineers by providing warm habitats that may attract arthropods to colonise the nest structure. This cohabitation of birds and nest-dwelling invertebrates may foster symbiotic relationships between them, but evidence is lacking. We investigated whether ants are attracted to bird nests by the heat generated by the hosts, and/or the nests' structural insulation properties, to raise their broods (larvae and/or pupae) in advantageous thermal conditions.

Behaviours indicating cannibalistic necrophagy in ants are modulated by the perception of pathogen infection level.

Cannibalistic necrophagy is rarely observed in social hymenopterans, although a lack of food could easily favour such behaviour. One of the main supposed reasons for the rarity of necrophagy is that eating of nestmate corpses carries the risk of rapid spread of pathogens or parasites. Here we present an experimental laboratory study on behaviour indicating consumption of nestmate corpses in the ant Formica polyctena.

Consequences of Climate Change-Induced Habitat Conversions on Red Wood Ants in a Central European Mountain: A Case Study.

The consequences of anthropogenic climate change are one of the major concerns of conservation biology. A cascade of negative effects is expected to affect various ecosystems, one of which is Central European coniferous forests and their unique biota. These coniferous forests are the primary habitat of many forest specialist species such as red wood ants.

Large- and Small-Scale Environmental Factors Drive Distributions of Ant Mound Size Across a Latitudinal Gradient.

Red wood ants are keystone species of forest ecosystems in Europe. Environmental factors and habitat characteristics affect the size of their nest mounds, an important trait being in concordance with a colony's well-being and impact on its surroundings. In this study, we investigated the effect of large-scale (latitude and altitude) and small-scale environmental factors (e.

Karst dolines provide diverse microhabitats for different functional groups in multiple phyla.

Fine-scale topographic complexity creates important microclimates that can facilitate species to grow outside their main distributional range and increase biodiversity locally. Enclosed depressions in karst landscapes ('dolines') are topographically complex environments which produce microclimates that are drier and warmer (equator-facing slopes) and cooler and moister (pole-facing slopes and depression bottoms) than the surrounding climate. We show that the distribution patterns of functional groups for organisms in two different phyla, Arthropoda (ants) and Tracheophyta (vascular plants), mirror this variation of microclimate.

Large- and small-scale environmental factors drive distributions of cool-adapted plants in karstic microrefugia.

Background And Aims: Dolines are small- to large-sized bowl-shaped depressions of karst surfaces. They may constitute important microrefugia, as thermal inversion often maintains cooler conditions within them. This study aimed to identify the effects of large- (macroclimate) and small-scale (slope aspect and vegetation type) environmental factors on cool-adapted plants in karst dolines of East-Central Europe.