Insectes Sociaux 

About: Insectes Sociaux is an academic journal published by Birkhäuser. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Nest & Brood. It has an ISSN identifier of 0020-1812. Over the lifetime, 2971 publications have been published receiving 70606 citations. The journal is also known as: International journal for the study of social arthropods & IS.

La reconstruction du nid et les coordinations interindividuelles chezBellicositermes natalensis etCubitermes sp. la théorie de la stigmergie: Essai d'interprétation du comportement des termites constructeurs

Abstract: I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ~I. ]:~.ECONSTRUCTION PAR LES Cubi termes sp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 I . La r e c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o p r e m e n t dire, p. 43. 2. Le c o m p o r t e m e n t en fonc t ion du groupe , p. 46. 3. Les condui tes individuel les , p. 49. 4. Les ac t iv i t4s au t r e s que la r econs t ruc t i on , p. 51. I I [ . RECONSTRUCTION PAR Bell icosi termes natalensis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 I V . ~V[]~CANISME DE LA CORRELATION DES TACIIES INDIVIDUELLES ET DE LA PRETENDUE REGULATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 I . L a phase d ' incoordinat ion, p. 57. A. La s i tua t ion s t i m u l a n t e , p. 57 ; B. Les act iv i t~s incoordonn~es , p. 59 ; C. La local isa t ion des d~p6ts de t e r re , p. 60. 2. L a phase de coordinat ion, p. 61. A. La densi t6 cr i t ique des bou le t t e s de te r re et l ' o r i en ta t ion du c o m p o r t e m e n t , p. 61 ; B. La s t i g m e r g i e et les s t i m u l a t i o n s s imul tan6es , p. 62 ; C. N a t u r e des s t imu l i a g i s s a n t s u r les c o n s t r u c t e u r s : les odeurs fo rmes , p. 66 ; D. La t endance l ' un i t4 , p. 67 ; E, R61e de la m~moi re d a n s ia cons t ruc t ion , p. 67 ; F. Essa i de s y n t h ~ s e , p. 68. V. COMPORTEMENT DES TERMITES COMPARE A CELUI D'ANIMAUX SOLITAIRES. 73 VI . CARACTERISTIQUES FONDAMENTALES DU COMPORTEMENT DES INSECTES SOCIAUX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 V I I . AUTEURS CIT#.S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 L~.CENDES ~)ES PLANC~ES I A V I I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8'1

The rarity of multiple mating by females in the social Hymenoptera

Abstract: Interest in how often female social insects mate is particularly intense because of its impact on sociality and because of the well-known extreme multiple mating in honeybees. With multiple mating, worker to brood relatedness decreases but worker versus queen interests often converge. The overwhelming majority of species of social ants, bees, and wasps mate only once. Even those species where some females mate multiply typically have effective mate numbers close to one. Ants have effective mate numbers of 1.43, which drops to 1.15 if the advanced fungus growers (2.14) and harvester ants (6.76) are excluded. Honeybees have effective mate numbers of 12.48. Stingless bees and bumblebees have effective mate numbers of only 1.06 and 1.02 respectively. Polistine wasps have effective mate numbers of 1.01. Vespine wasps have effective mate numbers of 1.12 excluding only Vespula which has effective mate numbers of 3.68. Favoring the very low mate numbers we observe for nearly all female social insects is the narrow time window for mating, lack of material gain from males, lack of male ability to harass females (who must move their sting aside to mate in most species), and lack of paternal care. Single mating may be further favored by the apparent lack of any post-copulatory sperm discrimination mechanisms. Leks and male territories, which are common in social insects, make it easier for females to choose the single best mate, further contributing to low mate numbers. Multiple mating is a rare, derived trait in a generally single-mating group. Single mating may have facilitated the origins of sociality in the Hymenoptera because it confers higher relatedness among potential workers and the brood they care for. The rare exceptions to low mate numbers all come from highly social species with single queens, morphological castes, and many workers. Multiple mating might be stable in highly social species because their highly specialized workers have few selfish responses to lowered relatedness. The unusual cases of multiple mating are most likely to be selected for because they increase genetic diversity in the brood, though empirical support for specific genetic diversity hypotheses has proved to be elusive. What is clear is that single mating is predominant in this large, evolutionarily and ecologically successful group.

Collective decision making through food recruitment

Abstract: A series of experiments shows how the andLasius niger uses its trail recruitment system to select between two food sources Simultaneously presented with to 1M sucrose solution it concentrates on one of them When offered a 1M solution together with a 01M solution it selects the richer source, unless the trait to the 01M source had become well-developed before the 1M source was introduced In the same situation, however, the group/mass recruiting antTetramorium caespitum uses its more individual transmission of information to switch to the 1M source A mathematical model describes these processes and its dynamics reflect the experimental results

The nest of the honey bee (apis mellifera l.)

Abstract: The natural honey bee nest was studied in detail to better understand the honey bee's natural living conditions. To describe the nest site we made external observations on 39 nests in hollow trees. We collected and dissected 21 of these tree nests to describe the nest architecture. No one tree genus strongly predominates among bee trees. Nest cavities are vertically elongate and approximately cylindrical. Most are 30 to 60 liters in volume and at the base of trees. Nest entrances tend to be small, 10 to 40 cm2, and at the nest bottom. Rough bark outside the entrance is often smoothed by the bees. Inside the nest, a thin layer of hardened plant resins (propolis) coats the cavity walls. Combs are fastened to the walls along their tops and sides, but bees leave small passageways along the comb edges. The basic nest organization is honey storage above, brood nest below, and pollen storage in between. Associated with this arrangement are differences in comb structure. Compared to combs used for honey storage, combs of the brood nest are generally darker and more uniform in width and in cell form. Drone comb is located on the brood nest's periphery. Comparisons amongApis nests indicate the advanced characters inApis mellifera nests arose in response toApis mellifera's adoption of tree cavities for nest sites.