TY - JOUR A1 - Schilcher, Felix A1 - Hilsmann, Lioba A1 - Rauscher, Lisa A1 - Değirmenci, Laura A1 - Krischke, Markus A1 - Krischke, Beate A1 - Ankenbrand, Markus A1 - Rutschmann, Benjamin A1 - Mueller, Martin J. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Scheiner, Ricarda T1 - In vitro rearing changes social task performance and physiology in honeybees JF - Insects N2 - In vitro rearing of honeybee larvae is an established method that enables exact control and monitoring of developmental factors and allows controlled application of pesticides or pathogens. However, only a few studies have investigated how the rearing method itself affects the behavior of the resulting adult honeybees. We raised honeybees in vitro according to a standardized protocol: marking the emerging honeybees individually and inserting them into established colonies. Subsequently, we investigated the behavioral performance of nurse bees and foragers and quantified the physiological factors underlying the social organization. Adult honeybees raised in vitro differed from naturally reared honeybees in their probability of performing social tasks. Further, in vitro-reared bees foraged for a shorter duration in their life and performed fewer foraging trips. Nursing behavior appeared to be unaffected by rearing condition. Weight was also unaffected by rearing condition. Interestingly, juvenile hormone titers, which normally increase strongly around the time when a honeybee becomes a forager, were significantly lower in three- and four-week-old in vitro bees. The effects of the rearing environment on individual sucrose responsiveness and lipid levels were rather minor. These data suggest that larval rearing conditions can affect the task performance and physiology of adult bees despite equal weight, pointing to an important role of the colony environment for these factors. Our observations of behavior and metabolic pathways offer important novel insight into how the rearing environment affects adult honeybees. KW - honeybee KW - artificial rearing KW - behavior KW - in vitro KW - juvenile hormone KW - triglycerides KW - PER KW - foraging KW - nursing Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-252305 SN - 2075-4450 VL - 13 IS - 1 ER - TY - THES A1 - Lapuente, Juan M. T1 - The Chimpanzees of the Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast. Status, distribution, ecology and behavior T1 - Die Schimpansen im Comoé Nationalpark, Elfenbeinküste. Status, Verbreitung, Ökologie und Verhalten N2 - Although wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have been studied intensely for more than 50 years, there are still many aspects of their ecology and behavior that are not well understood. Every time that a new population of chimpanzees has been studied, new behaviors and unknown aspects of their ecology have been discovered. All this accumulated knowledge is helping us to piece together a model of how could last human and chimpanzee common ancestors have lived and behaved between seven and five million years ago. Comoé chimpanzees had never been studied in depth, until we started our research in October 2014, only a few censuses had been realized. The last surveys prior our work, stated that the population was so decimated that was probably functionally extinct. When we started this research, we had to begin with a new intensive survey, using new methods, to ascertain the real status and distribution of the chimpanzees living in Comoé National Park (CNP). During the last five years, we have realized a deep study aiming to know more about their ecology and behavior. We combined transects and reconnaissance marches (recces) with the use of camera traps, for the first time in CNP, obtaining a wealth of data that is not fully comprised in this dissertation. With this research, we determined that there is a sustainable continuous population of Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in CNP and the adjacent area of Mont Tingui, to the West, with a minimum of 127 weaned chimpanzees living in our main 900 km2 study area, SW of CNP. We found that this population is formed by a minimum of eight different chimpanzee communities, of which we studied seven, four of them more in detail. These chimpanzees spent much more time in the forest than in the savanna habitats. We also found that Comoé chimpanzees consumed at least 58 different food items in their dit, which they obtained both from forest and savanna habitats. Another finding was that insectivory had an important role in their diet, with at least four species of ants, three of termites and some beetle larvae. These chimpanzees also hunted at least three species of monkeys and maybe rodents and duikers and occasionally consumed the big land snails of genus Achatina. We found that, during the fruit scarcity period in the late rainy season, they intensely consumed the cambium of Ceiba pentandra, as fallback food, much more than the bark or cambium of any other tree species. Another interesting finding was that all the chimpanzees in the studied area realized this particular bark-peeling behavior and had been repeatedly peeling the trees of this species for years. This did not increase tree mortality and the damage caused to the trees was healed in two years, not reducing the growth, thus being a sustainable use of the trees. We found that Comoé chimpanzees produced and used a great variety of tools, mainly from wooden materials, but also from stone and herbaceous vegetation. Their tool repertory included stick tools to dip for Dorylus burmeisteri ants, to fish for Camponotus and Crematogaster ants, to dip for honey, mainly from Meliponini stingless bees, but sometimes from honey bees (Apis mellifera). It also included the use of stick tools to fish termites of Macrotermes subhyalinus and Odontotermes majus (TFTs), to dip for water from tree holes and investigatory probes for multiple purposes. Additionally, these chimpanzees used leaf-sponges to drink from tree holes and to collect clayish water from salt-licks. They also used stones to hit the buttresses of trees during displays, the so called accumulative stone throwing behavior and probably used stones as hammers, to crack open hard-shelled Strichnos spinosa and Afraegle paniculata fruits and Achatina snails. The chimpanzees also used objects that are not generally accepted as animal tools, for being attached to the substrate, with different purposes: they drummed buttresses of trees with hands and/or feet to produce sound during male displays and they pounded open hard-shelled fruits, Achatina snails and Cubitermes termite mounds on stone or root anvils. We finally measured the stick tools and found significant differences between them suggesting that they were specialized tools made specifically for every purpose. We studied more in detail the differences between apparently similar tools, the honey dipping tools and the water dipping tools, often with brushes made at their tips to collect the fluids. These last tools were exclusive from Comoé and have not been described at any other site. We found that total length, diameter and brush length were significantly different, suggesting that they were specialized tools. We concluded that Comoé chimpanzees had a particular culture, different from those of other populations of Western chimpanzees across Africa. Efficient protection, further research and permanent presence of research teams are required to avoid that this unique population and its culture disappears by the poaching pressure and maybe by the collateral effects of climate change. N2 - Obwohl wild lebende Schimpansen (Pan troglodytes) seit mehr als 50 Jahren intensiv untersucht werden, gibt es noch zahlreiche Aspekte ihrer Ökologie und ihres Verhaltens, die nicht gut verstanden werden. Jedes Mal, wenn eine neue Population von Schimpansen studiert wurde, wurden neue Verhaltensweisen und unbekannte Aspekte ihrer Ökologie entdeckt. All dieses gesammelte Wissen hilft uns, ein Modell zu erstellen, wie lange die gemeinsamen Vorfahren von Menschen und Schimpansen vor sieben bis fünf Millionen Jahren gelebt und sich verhalten haben könnten. Als wir im Oktober 2014 mit unserer Forschung begannen waren die Comoé-Schimpansen, bis auf einige Populations-Zensus von Schimpansen in der Elfenbeinküste, noch nie eingehend untersucht worden. Die letzte Zählung bevor unsere Arbeit began ergab, dass die Schimansenpopulation so stark dezimiert war, dass sie als funktionell ausgestorben erarchtet werden konnte. Zum Beginn unserer Forschung, führten wir zuerst mit neusten Methoden einen neuen detailierten Zensus durch, um den tatsächlichen Status und die Verteilung der im Comoé-Nationalpark (CNP) lebenden Schimpansen zu ermitteln. In den folgenden fünf Jahren haben wir zudem eine umfassende Studie durchgeführt, um mehr über ihre Ökologie und ihr Verhalten zu erfahren. Wir haben im CNP erstmals systematische Transekte und Datenerhebungen mittels Kamerafallen kombiniert, um eine Fülle von Erkenntnissen zu erhalten, die in dieser Dissertation nicht vollständig enthalten sind. Wir stellten fest, dass es in CNP und dem westlich angrenzenden Gebiet des Mont Tingui nach wie vor eine nachhaltige und kontinuierliche Population westlicher Schimpansen (Pan troglodytes verus) existiert, wobei mindestens 131 adulte (entwöhnte) Schimpansen in unserem 900 km² großen Hauptuntersuchungsgebiet südwestlich des CNP leben. Diese Population besteht aus mindestens acht verschiedenen Schimpansengruppen, von denen wir sieben untersuchten, vier davon genauer. Wir konnten zeigen dass diese Schimpansen deutlich mehr Zeit im Wald als in den angrenzenden Savannenhabitaten verbringen. Wir stellten fest, dass Comoé- Schimpansen mindestens 58 verschiedene Futtermittel aus Wald- als auch aus Savannenhabitaten nutzen. Zudem spielt der Konsum von Insekten, bestelhend aus mindestens vier Ameisen-, drei Termiten- und verschiedenene Käferlarven eine wichtige Rolle in ihrem Ernährungsreportoire. Die Comoé-Schimpansen jagen zudem mindestens drei Affena sowie möglicherweise Nagetiere und Duiker, und fraßen gelegentlich die großen Schnecken der Gattung Achatina. Wir fanden heraus, dass sie den typischen Mangel an reifen Fuechten in der \späten Regenzeit durch den intensiven Konsum der Rinde (Kambium) von Ceiba pentandra kompensieren. Alle Schimpansen im untersuchten Gebiet zeigten dieses besondere Verhalten, bei dem sie die Rinde von Ceiba Bäumen schälen. Wir konnte zeigen, dass die Schimpansen diese Bäume seit Jahren wiederholt geschält hatten, was offenbar den Bäumen keinen nachhaltigen Schaden zugefügte. Innerhalb von zwei Jahren ware die Schäden geheilt and das Wachstum nicht verringert, was schlussfolgern lässt dass die Nutzung der Baumrinde nachhaltig ist. Wir fanden heraus, dass Comoé-Schimpansen eine Vielzahl von Werkzeugen aus Vegetation aber auch Steinen herstellten und verwendeten. Das Werkzeugrepertoire umfasste Stöckchen zur Gewinning von on Ameisen der Art Dorylus burmeisteri, sowie Ameisen der Gattungen Camponotus und Crematogaster, aber auch von Bienenhonig produziert von der stachellosen Gattung Melipoa sowie von Apis mellifera. Die Schimpansen nutzen ausserdem Pflanzenwerkzeuge zum Termitenfischen von Macrotermes subhyalinus und Odontotermes majus, um an das Wasser in Baumvertiefungen zu gelangen, sowie für diverse andere Untersuchungszwecke. Zusätzlich verwenden die Comoé-Schimpansen Blattschwämme, um aus Baumlöchern zu trinken und lehmiges Wasser von den Salzlecken zu sammeln. Im Rahmen ihres Imponierverhaltens schleuden sie Steine an die Brettwurzeln spezieller grosser Bäume, ein neu entdecktes Verhalten das als akkumulatives Steinerfen bezeichnet wird. Es ist wahrscheinlich dass sie Steine auch als Hammerwerkzeuge nutzen, um hartschalige Früchte wie Strichnos spinosa und Afraegle paniculata sowie grosse Landschnecken aufzubrechen. Die Schimpansen verwenden Gegenstände auch in anderen Zusammenhängen, die nicht unbedingt als Werkzeuggebrauch definiert werden können: Sie trommlen im Rahmen vom männlichen Imponierverhalten laut mit Händen und Füßen auf die Brettwurzeln von Bäumen, und zerschmettern harte Früchte, Schneckenhäuser und Cubitermes-Termitenhügel auf Ambossen aus Gestein oder Wurzeln. Wir haben signifikante Unterschiede beim Vermessen der Stabwerkzeuge festgestellt, was darauf hindeutet, dass es sich um Spezialwerkzeuge handelt, die speziell für verschiedene Zwecke hergestellt werden. Wir haben insbesondere die Unterschiede zwischen scheinbar ähnlichen Pinselwerkzeugen für den Konsum von Flüssigkeiten (H zu verhindern, sowie die möglichen Nebeneffekte des Klimawandels zu dokumentieren.onig, Wasser) genauer untersucht. Diese Pinselwerkzeuge der Comoé-Schimpansen sind offenbar einzigartig und bislang nicht in der Literatur beschrieben. Gesamtlänge, Durchmesser und Bürstenlänge weichen je nach Verwendungszweck der Pinsel erheblich voneinander ab, was darauf hindeutet, dass es sich um Spezialwerkzeuge handelt. Wir schlussfolgern, dass die Kultur der Comoé-Schimpansen einzigartig innerhalb der der westlichen Schimpansen ist. Um diese einzigartige Population von Schimpansen effektiv zu schützen benötigt es weitere Forschung sowie die ständige Präsenz von Forschungsteams, um Wilderei KW - Chimpanzee KW - ecology KW - distribution KW - behavior KW - Comoé National Park KW - tool-use KW - primate KW - tool KW - diet KW - habitat KW - Parc National de la Comoé KW - Schimpanse KW - Verhalten Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223180 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheiner, Ricarda A1 - Entler, Brian V. A1 - Barron, Andrew B. A1 - Scholl, Christina A1 - Thamm, Markus T1 - The Effects of Fat Body Tyramine Level on Gustatory Responsiveness of Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Differ between Behavioral Castes JF - Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience N2 - Division of labor is a hallmark of social insects. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera) each sterile female worker performs a series of social tasks. The most drastic changes in behavior occur when a nurse bee, who takes care of the brood and the queen in the hive, transitions to foraging behavior. Foragers provision the colony with pollen, nectar or water. Nurse bees and foragers differ in numerous behaviors, including responsiveness to gustatory stimuli. Differences in gustatory responsiveness, in turn, might be involved in regulating division of labor through differential sensory response thresholds. Biogenic amines are important modulators of behavior. Tyramine and octopamine have been shown to increase gustatory responsiveness in honeybees when injected into the thorax, thereby possibly triggering social organization. So far, most of the experiments investigating the role of amines on gustatory responsiveness have focused on the brain. The potential role of the fat body in regulating sensory responsiveness and division of labor has large been neglected. We here investigated the role of the fat body in modulating gustatory responsiveness through tyramine signaling in different social roles of honeybees. We quantified levels of tyramine, tyramine receptor gene expression and the effect of elevating fat body tyramine titers on gustatory responsiveness in both nurse bees and foragers. Our data suggest that elevating the tyramine titer in the fat body pharmacologically increases gustatory responsiveness in foragers, but not in nurse bees. This differential effect of tyramine on gustatory responsiveness correlates with a higher natural gustatory responsiveness of foragers, with a higher tyramine receptor (Amtar1) mRNA expression in fat bodies of foragers and with lower baseline tyramine titers in fat bodies of foragers compared to those of nurse bees. We suggest that differential tyramine signaling in the fat body has an important role in the plasticity of division of labor through changing gustatory responsiveness. KW - behavior KW - biogenic amines KW - division of labor KW - nurse bee KW - forager KW - PER KW - octopamine KW - insect Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-157874 VL - 11 IS - 55 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Appel, Mirjam A1 - Scholz, Claus-Jürgen A1 - Müller, Tobias A1 - Dittrich, Marcus A1 - König, Christian A1 - Bockstaller, Marie A1 - Oguz, Tuba A1 - Khalili, Afshin A1 - Antwi-Adjei, Emmanuel A1 - Schauer, Tamas A1 - Margulies, Carla A1 - Tanimoto, Hiromu A1 - Yarali, Ayse T1 - Genome-Wide Association Analyses Point to Candidate Genes for Electric Shock Avoidance in Drosophila melanogaster JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Electric shock is a common stimulus for nociception-research and the most widely used reinforcement in aversive associative learning experiments. Yet, nothing is known about the mechanisms it recruits at the periphery. To help fill this gap, we undertook a genome-wide association analysis using 38 inbred Drosophila melanogaster strains, which avoided shock to varying extents. We identified 514 genes whose expression levels and/or sequences covaried with shock avoidance scores. We independently scrutinized 14 of these genes using mutants, validating the effect of 7 of them on shock avoidance. This emphasizes the value of our candidate gene list as a guide for follow-up research. In addition, by integrating our association results with external protein-protein interaction data we obtained a shock avoidance- associated network of 38 genes. Both this network and the original candidate list contained a substantial number of genes that affect mechanosensory bristles, which are hairlike organs distributed across the fly's body. These results may point to a potential role for mechanosensory bristles in shock sensation. Thus, we not only provide a first list of candidate genes for shock avoidance, but also point to an interesting new hypothesis on nociceptive mechanisms. KW - functional analysis KW - disruption project KW - natural variation KW - complex traits KW - networks KW - behavior KW - flies KW - temperature KW - genetics KW - painful Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-152006 VL - 10 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baalbergen, Els A1 - Helwerda, Renate A1 - Schelfhorst, Rense A1 - Castillo Cajas, Ruth F. A1 - van Moorsel, Coline H. M. A1 - Kundrata, Robin A1 - Welter-Schultes, Francisco W. A1 - Giokas, Sinos A1 - Schilthuizen, Menno T1 - Predator-Prey Interactions between Shell-Boring Beetle Larvae and Rock-Dwelling Land Snails JF - PLOS ONE N2 - Drilus beetle larvae (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are specialized predators of land snails. Here, we describe various aspects of the predator-prey interactions between multiple Drilus species attacking multiple Albinaria (Gastropoda: Clausiliidae) species in Greece. We observe that Drilus species may be facultative or obligate Albinaria-specialists. We map geographically varying predation rates in Crete, where on average 24% of empty shells carry fatal Drilus bore holes. We also provide first-hand observations and video-footage of prey entry and exit strategies of the Drilus larvae, and evaluate the potential mutual evolutionary impacts. We find limited evidence for an effect of shell features and snail behavioral traits on inter-and intraspecifically differing predation rates. We also find that Drilus predators adjust their predation behavior based on specific shell traits of the prey. In conclusion, we suggest that, with these baseline data, this interesting predator-prey system will be available for further, detailed more evolutionary ecology studies. KW - clausiliidae KW - evolution KW - pulmonata KW - albinaria KW - behavior KW - species gastropoda Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-115963 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 9 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bonte, Dries A1 - Travis, Justin M. J. A1 - De Clercq, Nele A1 - Zwertvaegher, Ingrid A1 - Lens, Luc T1 - Thermal conditions during juvenile development affect adult dispersal in a spider N2 - Abstract: Understanding the causes and consequences of dispersal is a prerequisite for the effective management of natural populations. Rather than treating dispersal as a fixed trait, it should be considered a plastic process that responds to both genetic and environmental conditions. Here, we consider how the ambient temperature experienced by juvenile Erigone atra, a spider inhabiting crop habitat, influences adult dispersal. This species exhibits 2 distinct forms of dispersal, ballooning (long distance) and rappelling (short distance). Using a half-sib design we raised individuals under 4 different temperature regimes and quantified the spiders' propensity to balloon and to rappel. Additionally, as an indicator of investment in settlement, we determined the size of the webs build by the spiders following dispersal. The optimal temperature regimes for reproduction and overall dispersal investment were 20 °C and 25 °C. Propensity to perform short-distance movements was lowest at 15 °C, whereas for long-distance dispersal it was lowest at 30 °C. Plasticity in dispersal was in the direction predicted on the basis of the risks associated with seasonal changes in habitat availability; long-distance ballooning occurred more frequently under cooler, spring-like conditions and short-distance rappelling under warmer, summer-like conditions. Based on these findings, we conclude that thermal conditions during development provide juvenile spiders with information about the environmental conditions they are likely to encounter as adults and that this information influences the spider's dispersal strategy. Climate change may result in suboptimal adult dispersal behavior, with potentially deleterious population level consequences. KW - Erigone atra KW - emigration KW - dispersal distance KW - immigration KW - behavior KW - plasticity KW - silk KW - body condition KW - seasonality Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-48691 ER - TY - THES A1 - Berghoff, Stefanie M. T1 - Sociobiology of the hypogaeic army ant Dorylus (Dichthadia) laevigatus Fr. Smith T1 - Soziobiologie der unterirdischen Treiberameise Dorylus (Dichthadia) laevigatus Fr. Smith N2 - Originally renowned for their spectacular epigaeic raids, army ants have captured scientific attention for almost two centuries. They now belong to one of the best studied group of ants. However, most of our knowledge about army ants was derived from the study of the minority of specialized, epigaeicly active species. These species evolved probably rather recently from hypogaeic ancestors. The majority of army ant species still leads a hypogaeic life and is almost completely unknown in its entire sociobiology. It thus remained speculative, whether the assumed 'general' characteristics of army ants represent an adaptation to epigaeic activity or apply also to the majority of hypogaeic species. Based on the recent observation that the hypogaeic Asian army ant Dorylus (Dichthadia) laevigatus recruits predictably to palm oil baits, I developed and tested an oil-baiting method for the study of hypogaeic (army)ants. Prior to my study, nothing was known about the sociobiology of the assumed rare D. laevigatus. Throughout my work, I showed D. laevigatus to be very common and abundant in a wide range of habitats in West-Malaysia and on Borneo. Investigating its foraging behavior, I revealed D. laevigatus to differ from epigaeicly active species in several ways. Never demonstrated for any of the epigaeic species, D. laevigatus established stable trunk trail systems. Such a trail system contradicted the perception of army ant foraging, which was believed to be characterized by raids with constantly alternating trail directions. The trunk trail system further enabled a near omnipresence of D. laevigatus within its foraging area, which was also believed to be atypical for an army ant. Raids differed in structure and composition of participating workers from those of epigaeic species. Also, bulky food sources could be exploited over long periods of time. The foraging system of D. laevigatus resembled in several ways that of e.g. leaf-cutter and harvester ants. Likewise contrary to the assumptions, D. laevigatus had a wide food spectrum and showed only little effect on local arthropod communities, even falling itself prey to other ants. Strong aggressive behavior was observed only towards ant species with similar lifestyles, enabling me to provide the first detailed documentation of interspecific fights between two sympatric Dorylus species. Similar to foraging habits or ecological impact, nothing was known about colony size and composition, nesting habits, or worker polymorphism for D. laevigatus or any other hypogaeic Dorylus species prior to my work. By observing and eventually excavating a colony, I showed D. laevigatus to have a much smaller colony size and to lack the large sized workers of epigaeic Dorylus species. Similar to epigaeic Dorylinae, I showed D. laevigatus to have a non-phasic brood production, to emigrate rarely, and to alter its nest form along with habitat conditions. Detailed morphological and geographical descriptions give an impression of the Asian Dorylus species and are expected to aid other researchers in the difficult species identification. The genetic analysis of a male collected at a light trap demonstrated its relation to D. laevigatus. Confirming the male and queen associations, D. laevigatus is now one of five Dorylus species (out of a total of 61), for which all castes are known. In cooperation with D. Kistner, I provide a morphological and taxonomical description of nine Coleopteran beetles associated with D. laevigatus. Behavioral observations indicated the degree of their integration into the colony. The taxonomic position of the beetles further indicated that D. laevigatus emigrated from Africa to Asia, and was accompanied by the majority of associated beetles. The diversity of D. laevigatus guests, which included a number of unidentified mites, was rather low compared to that of epigaeic species. Overall, I demonstrated the developed baiting containers to effectively enable the study of hypogaeic ants. I showed several other hypogaeic ant species to be undersampled by other methods. Furthermore, the method enabled me to documented a second hypogaeic Dorylus species on Borneo. A detailed description of this species' morphology, ecology, and interactions with D. laevigatus is provided. My study indicated D. laevigatus to be an ecologically important species, able to influence soil structure and organisms of tropical regions in many ways. Relating the observed traits of D. laevigatus to epigaeicly active species, I conclude that our assumption of 'general' army ant behavior is erroneous in several aspects and needs to be changed. The oil-baiting method finally provides a tool enabling the location and study of hypogaeic (army)ant species. This opens a broad field for future studies on this cryptic but nonetheless important group of ants. N2 - Bekannt durch ihre spektakulären Massenraubzüge werden Treiberameisen seit fast 200 Jahren wissenschaftlich untersucht und sind nun eine der am besten untersuchten Ameisengruppen. Jedoch basiert unser Wissen über diese Tiere fast ausschließlich auf der Erforschung der kleinen Gruppe der oberirdisch fouragierenden Arten. Diese haben sich jedoch wahrscheinlich erst vor evolutionär relativ kurzer Zeit aus unterirdischen Arten entwickelt. Die weitaus größere Zahl der Arten lebt auch heute noch unterirdisch und ist in ihrer Soziobiologie praktisch unbekannt. Es blieb daher spekulativ, ob die als 'typisch' geltenden Treiberameisencharakteristika nur eine besondere Anpassung an ein oberirdisches Fouragieren darstellen, oder auch auf die unterirdische Mehrheit der Arten zutreffen. Basierend auf die Entdeckung dass die unterirdische asiatische Treiberameisenart Dorylus (Dichthadia) laevigatus voraussagbar an Palmöl-Köder rekrutiert habe ich verschiedene Köderbehälter entworfen und die Eignung der Ködermethode für die Erforschung unterirdischer (Treiber)ameisen untersucht. Vor meiner Arbeit war über die Soziobiologie der als selten geltenden D. laevigatus nichts bekannt. Meine Arbeit zeigte dagegen, dass D. laevigatus sehr häufig und verbreitet ist. Durch die genauere Untersuchung des Fouragierverhaltens konnte ich zeigen, dass sich D. laevigatus von den bekannten, oberirdisch aktiven Arten in mehreren grundlegenden Merkmalen unterscheidet. Das gefundene fest etablierte und lang genutzte Wegesystem von D. laevigatus wurde bisher nie für epigäische Arten gezeigt und widerspricht sogar dem bisherigen Bild des Lebenstyps Treiberameise, für den ständig wechselnde Wegrouten als typisch galten. Dieses Wegesystem verlieh D. laevigatus eine nahe Omnipräsenz in ihrem Fouragiergebiet. Weiterhin wichen Raubzüge in ihrer Struktur und Zusammensetzung der beteiligten Arbeiterinnen von denen oberirdischer Arten ab. Auch konnten große Futtermengen über längere Zeiträume hinweg genutzt werden. Das beobachtete Fouragierverhalten ähnelt daher zum Teil eher dem von Blattscheider- und Ernteameisen als dem oberirdisch jagender Treiberameisen. Ebenfalls entgegen den bisherigen Vermutungen hat D. laevigatus ein breites Nahrungsspektrum und zeigte nur geringen Einfluss auf lokale Bodengemeinschaften. Zum Teil wurde sie selbst zur Beute. Stark aggressives Verhalten konnte ich vor allem gegenüber Arten mit ähnlicher Lebensweise beobachten. Dies erlaubte mir die erste detaillierte Dokumentation interspezifischer Kämpfe zwischen zwei sympatrischen Dorylus Arten. Ähnlich den Fouragiergewohnheiten und des ökologischen Einflusses war bislang auch nichts über Koloniegröße, Nistgewohnheiten und Arbeiterinnen-Polymorphismus von D. laevigatus oder anderen unterirdischen Dorylus Arten bekannt. Nach der Beobachtung und Einsammlung eines Volkes konnte ich zeigen, dass eine D. laevigatus Kolonie bedeutend kleiner ist und ihr die großen Arbeiterinnen fehlen im Vergleich zu oberirdischen Dorylus Arten. Ähnlich den oberirdischen Dorylinae zeigte D. laevigatus eine nicht-phasische Brutproduktion, eher seltene Kolonieumzüge und eine mit dem Habitat variierende Nestform. Detaillierte morphologische und geographische Beschreibungen geben einen Überblick über die asiatischen Dorylus Arten und sollen nachfolgenden Wissenschaftlern bei der schwierigen Artbestimmung unterstützen. Die genetische Analyse eines am Licht gefangenen Männchens weist dies eindeutig D. laevigatus zu. Durch meine Arbeit zählt D. laevigatus nun zu einer von fünf Dorylus Arten (von insgesamt 61), von denen alle Kasten bekannt sind. In Kooperation mit D. Kistner liefere ich eine morphologische und taxonomische Beschreibung von neun mit D. laevigatus assoziierten Käferarten. Verhaltensbeobachtungen geben Aufschluss über den Grad der Assoziation. Die taxonomische Position der Käfer lässt ferner darauf schließen, dass die Ameisen aus Afrika nach Asien emigrierten und der Großteil der assoziierten Käfer dieser Wanderung folgte. Die entwickelten Köderbehälter erwiesen sich als effektiv und gut geeignet für die Untersuchung unterirdischer Ameisen. So konnte ich zeigen, dass unterirdische Ameisenarten in Studien mit anderen Sammelmethoden oft unterrepräsentiert sind. Auch fand ich mit Hilfe der Ködermethode eine zweite, auf Borneo bislang unbekannte Dorylus Art. Morphologie, Ökologie dieser Art sowie Interaktionen mit D. laevigatus werden beschrieben. Meine Studie weist D. laevigatus als eine ökologisch wichtige Art aus, die in vielfacher Weise Bodenstruktur und Bodenorganismen tropischer Regionen beeinflussen kann. Im Vergleich mit den bekannten oberirdisch lebenden Arten komme ich zu dem Schluss, dass unser bisheriges Bild von 'typischen' Treiberameiseneigenschaften in verschiedener Hinsicht nicht zutrifft und geändert werden muss. KW - Borneo KW - Dorylus KW - Nahrungserwerb KW - Boden KW - Ameise KW - Verhalten KW - Bodenökologie KW - Tropen KW - Borneo KW - behavior KW - soil KW - ecology KW - rainforest KW - Borneo Y1 - 2002 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-5005 ER -