Resource acquisition by societies part 2

Question 1

Categories of collective foraging strategies in social organisms

Answer 1

1. Individual recruitment.
2. Mass recruitment.
3. Collective foraging.

Question 2

what does individual recruitment describe?

Answer 2

it describes mechanisms where one individual directly leads another individual to the food source

Question 3

individual recruitment - what is communication used for?

Answer 3

constant contact

Question 4

individual recruitment - what does recruitment rely on

Answer 4

relies on maintained connection between recruiter and recruit, and both actively maintain connection

Question 5

define teaching

Answer 5

Behavioral modification by an experienced individual in the presence of a naive observer, at some initial cost, in order to set an example so that the naive observer learns more quickly.

Question 6

individual recruitment - example

Answer 6

Tandem running in the acorn ants

Question 7

individual recruitment - tandem running in the acorn ants

Answer 7

• The recruit follows the leader closely, frequently touching recruiter
• If this touching is interrupted, the leading ant will remain in place and wait until the recruit catches up.

Question 8

tandem running in acorn ants - how does it fulfill the criteria for teaching

Answer 8

because the recruiter modifies its behavior for naive recruits, and pattern of interaction is adjusted among individuals — each recruit is different

Question 9

What are the main limitations of individual recruitment?

Answer 9

Individual recruitment is 1 to 1, does not persist for reuse, and requires slowed performance during recruitment.

Question 10

what is mass recruitment characterized by?

Answer 10

by broadcast information that goes from one-to-many

Question 11

mass recruitment - explain the signal

Answer 11

Repeatable and or persistent signal to food source that is both followed by recruits in the absence of the recruiter, and potentially reinforced by recruits.

Question 12

mass recruitment - what controls the long-term rate of recruitment?

Answer 12

reinforced information by recruits

Question 13

mass recruitment - how can the signal decay

Answer 13

Signal strength will decay as food resources become depleted and recruits return with diminished or no loads and do not reinforce the signal

Question 14

Benefits of mass recruitment

Answer 14

• Collective problem solving
• Increased efficiency in conveying information
• Rapid recruitment to large food sources
• Rapid defense of large food sources

Question 15

benefits of mass recruitment - what does collective problem solving do?

Answer 15

reduces individual error

Question 16

benefits of mass recruitment - what does increased efficiency in conveying information do?

Answer 16

it broadcasts information and allows rapid dissemination, not limited to individual contact.

Question 17

benefits of mass recruitment - what does rapid recruitment to large food sources do?

Answer 17

Elevates competitive capacity due to group-level presence at resources.

Question 18

benefits of mass recruitment - what does rapid defense of large food sources do?

Answer 18

Extends access to rich food resources

Question 19

define collective foraging

Answer 19

a strategy where food is both discovered and harvested by a communicating social group.

Question 20

collective foraging - examples

Answer 20

• army ants
• many mammals that practice group hunting

Question 21

collective foraging - mammals and group hunting

Answer 21

• lions, chimpanzees, hyenas
• they are all “pack hunters”, where prey is stalked and then captured by an integrated, communicating group of individuals

Question 22

Most likely form of communication used in collective foraging?

Answer 22

mass communication

Question 23

collective foraging and mass communication - examples

Answer 23

• group hunting of termites
• group hunting of leaf-litter arthropods

Question 24

Collective foraging is ________________________ that has __________________________________ in insect societies, and in the form of _____________________________.

Answer 24

• a derived social foraging strategy
• evolved many times independently
• group hunting in mammal societies.

Question 25

what are considered the extremes of collective foraging

Answer 25

Collective load retrieval and specialized foraging castes

Question 26

collective load retrieval and specialized foraging castes - example

Answer 26

army ants

Question 27

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants

Answer 27

Specialized transport castes (“porters”, or “submajors”).

Question 28

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants - explain the team formation

Answer 28

• Team formation for items too large to be transported by one individual.
• Porter caste leads, smaller individuals carry in the rear of the object.

Question 29

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants - explain the team composition

Answer 29

• it is a dynamic team composition
• driven by frictional interaction with the substrate and a decrease in optimal retrieval speed

Question 30

Collective foraging and load retrieval without teams

Answer 30

• Per capita efficiency (speed and loading) is lower in groups.
• Large items represent resources that would be unattainable without groups

Question 31

Collective foraging and load retrieval without teams - as groups get larger, what happens to efficiency

Answer 31

• they get less efficient per capita, but retrieval speed of item increases
• they sacrifice individual efficiency for group success in accessing novel resources.

Question 32

Ecological influences on the evolution of food acquisition — all may be interlinked in association with what major transition in foraging strategy?

Answer 32

1. Habitat preferences.
2. Resource distribution.
3. Group size.
4. Capacity for social foraging.

Question 33

Evolution of seed milling

Answer 33

Phylogenetic analyses with ecological data reveals seed miller transition evolved early and often, and coupled with multiple origins of extra caste.

Question 34

Evolution of fungus agriculture

Answer 34

Culminates in most complex form in
leaf-cutting ants

Question 35

evolution of fungus agriculture: leaf-cutting ants - what does it involve

Answer 35

• Highly specific fungal strains.
• Complex group foraging strategies for harvesting leaf material.
• Complex caste system for harvesting, transporting, and processing leaf material

Question 36

evolution of fungus agriculture - simplest form

Answer 36

growing free-living fungus on insect frass (aka poop) and dead bits of insects

Question 37

evolution of fungus agriculture - most complex form

Answer 37

growing obligate fungal mutualist on freshly harvested and extensively processed plant material.

Question 38

Habitat conditions and transitions in agriculture

Answer 38

Shift to highly specific fungal lineages and “higher agriculture” is associated with evolutionary history in dry tropical habitats