Communal Nutrition in Ants

Communal Nutrition in Ants

Studies on nonsocial insects have elucidated the regulatory strategies employed to meet nutritional demands [1-3]. However, how social insects maintain the supply of an appropriate balance of nutrients at both a collective and an individual level remains unknown. Sociality complicates nutritional regulatory strategies [4-6]. First, the food entering a colony is collected by a small number of wo...

Mutualistic ants contribute to tank-bromeliad nutrition.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Epiphytism imposes physiological constraints resulting from the lack of access to the nutrient sources available to ground-rooted plants. A conspicuous adaptation in response to that lack is the phytotelm (plant-held waters) of tank-bromeliad species that are often nutrient-rich. Associations with terrestrial invertebrates also result in higher plant nutrient acquisition. As...

Communal narcissism.

An agency-communion model of narcissism distinguishes between agentic narcissists (individuals satisfying self-motives of grandiosity, esteem, entitlement, and power in agentic domains) and communal narcissists (individuals satisfying the same self-motives in communal domains). Five studies supported the model. In Study 1, participants listed their grandiose self-thoughts. Two distinct types em...

Communal Toilets in Urban Poverty

Synanthropic Ants as Vectors of Pathogens in Hospitals of Iran

Background: Synanthropic ants can transmit pathogens especially in hospital environments,  but this fact had not been confirmed in Palaearctic region. This is the first study on confirming this ability of ants in this region. Methods: Three hospitals of Bandar Abbas, Iran have been selected for monthly sampling of ants in their various wards. The main processe...