The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department for the seminar "Raids and Relocations: The Exploits of Slavemaking Ants," presented by Jennifer Apple, associate professor of biology at SUNY Geneseo, on Friday, March 11, at 2:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Slavemaking ants raid colonies of other ant species to obtain worker pupae, which will become the labor force in the slavemaker nests. The 8-hectare Roemer Arboretum at SUNY Geneseo is home to two species of slavemaking ants, Formica subintegra and F. pergandei, which both parasitize the locally abundant mound-nesting ant species F. glacialis. These slavemaking ants engage in frequent raids and exert a substantial impact on the host ant population; a high proportion of active host nests are raided for brood each season. Evidence of limits to the availability of hosts to exploit includes frequent relocation of slavemaking ant colonies. Spatial patterns of movements suggest that their purpose is to gain access to more host colonies to raid. Another indication of the limits to obtaining host brood to meet colony demand is the phenomenon of slavemaking colonies launching raids on other slavemaker nests. Further evidence of constraints on slavemakers is their highly polygynous colony structure as inferred from molecular data, possibly indicating limited dispersal of queens. This presentation will address the dynamics of interactions between slavemaking ants and the victims of their parasitism.