Tandem Running
Tandem running is considered by many authors as the simplest recruitment behavior (Lenoir and Jaisson 1982, Agbogba 1984, Passera and Aron 2006). Jaffe (1984) distinguishes two main types of tandem running. The first one occurs when the scout attracts a nesmate using antennal contact and leads it in tandem to the food resource. The second type is the tandem running with odor signals, also called tandem calling, in which a scout uses chemical cues for either orienting itself back to the food source or to help attract nesmates. In both case, the two ants keep a physical contact with each other (Beckers et al. 1989).
Wilson (1959) has an account of this behavior in Cardiocondyla venustula and Schultheiss, Raderschall & Narendra (2015) discuss its significance in the Australian Camponotus consobrinus.
Contents
Photo Gallery
- Tandem running in Temnothorax clypeatus. Photo by Michal Kukla.
- Tandem running in Camponotus consobrinus. Photo by Steve Shattuck.
- Ponera coarctata workers tandem running. Photo by Michal Kukla.
Videos of workers exhibiting tandem running
Temnothorax, during colony emigration
Species Known to use Tandem Running
The following list is based on Franklin (2014) with additions from various sources.
Subfamily | Species or Genera | Tandem running recruitment context | Reference |
---|---|---|---|
Bothroponera crassa | Ponerinae | Hölldobler & Engel, 1978 | |
Bothroponera tesseronoda | Ponerinae | Food and nest | Jessen and Maschwitz 1986, Maschwitz et al. 1974 |
Camponotus consobrinus | Formicinae | Schultheiss, Raderschall & Narendra, 2015 | |
Camponotus sericeus | Formicinae | Food and nest | Holldobler et al. 1974 |
Camponotus socius | Formicinae | Food and nest | Holldobler 1971 |
Cardiocondyla emeryi | Myrmicinae | Food | Wheeler 1908 cited in Wilson 1959 |
Cardiocondyla venustula | Myrmicinae | Food | Wilson 1959 |
Harpagoxenus canadensis | Myrmicinae | Slave raids | Buschinger et al. 1980 |
Harpagoxenus sublaevis | Myrmicinae | Slave raids and nest | Buschinger and Winter 1977; Adlerz 1986 |
Hypoponera sp. | Ponerinae | Food | Agbogba 1984 |
Hypoponera eduardi | Ponerinae | Beckers et al., 1989 | |
Leptothorax acervorum | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Moglich et al. 1974 |
Leptothorax crassipilis | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Moglich et al. 1974 |
Leptothorax muscorum | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Moglich et al. 1974 |
Mesoponera caffraria | Ponerinae | Food | Agbogba 1984 |
Neoponera apicalis | Ponerinae | Nest | Fresneau 1985 |
Neoponera obscuricornis | Ponerinae | Food | Holldobler and Traniello 1980 |
Neoponera villosa | Ponerinae | Food | Fresneau 1985 |
Odontomachus haematodus | Ponerinae | Hölldobler & Engel, 1978 | |
Pachycondyla harpax | Ponerinae | Hölldobler & Engel, 1978 | |
Ponera coarctata | Ponerinae | ||
Polyrhachis proxima | Formicinae | Food | Liefke et al. 2001 |
Temnothorax albipennis | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Mallon et al. 2001, Franks and Richardson 2006 |
Temnothorax clypeatus | Myrmicinae | ||
Temnothorax curvispinosus | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Pratt 2008 |
Temnothorax muellerianus | Myrmicinae | Slave raids | Buschinger et al. 1980 |
Temnothorax nylanderi | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Moglich et al. 1974; Glaser and Grüter, 2018 |
Temnothorax rugatulus | Myrmicinae | Food and nest | Moglich, 1978; Pratt 2008 |
Temnothorax unifasciatus | Myrmicinae | Food | Lane 1977 |
References
- Agbogba C. 1984. Observations sur le comportement de marche en tandem chez deux especes de fourmis ponerines : Mesoponera caffraria (Smith) et Hypoponera sp. (Hym : Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 31(3) : 264-276.
- Agbogba C. 1992. Settlement in the prey termite nest by the ponerine ant Pachycondyla caffraria (Smith), and Tandem Running Signal Analysis for the Following Ant. Journal of Ethology 10: 133-137.
- Beckers R., S. Goss, J.L. Deneubourg and J.M. Pasteels. 1989. Colony size, communication and ant foraging strategy. Psyche 96: 239-256.
- Franklin, E.L. 2014. The journey of tandem running: the twists, turns and what we have learned. Insectes Sociaux 61:1-8 (doi:10.1007/s00040-013-0325-3).
- Franks, N.R., Richardson, T. 2006. Teaching in tandem-running ants. Nature 439: 153 (doi:10.1038/439153a).
- Fresneau, D. 1985. Individual foraging and path fidelity in a ponerine ant. Insectes Sociaux 32:109-116.
- Glaser, S. M. and C. Gruter. 2018. Ants (Temnothorax nylanderi) adjust tandem running when food source distance exposes them to greater risks. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 72:8. doi:10.1007/s00265-018-2453-2
- Gruter, C., M. Wust, A. P. Cipriano, and F. S. Nascimento. 2018. Tandem Recruitment and Foraging in the Ponerine Ant Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius). Neotropical Entomology. 47:742-749. doi:10.1007/s13744-017-0571-6
- Hölldobler B. and H. Engel. 1978. Tergal and sterna glands in ants. Psyche 85: 285-330.
- Hölldobler, B., Moglich, M. and Maschwitz, U. 1974. Communication by Tandem Running in the Ant Camponotus sericeus. J. comp. Physiol. 90, 105-127.
- Jaffe K. 1984. Negentropy and the evolution of chemical recruitment in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Theoretical Biology 106: 587-604.
- Jessen K. and U. Maschwitz 1985. Individual specific trails in the ant Pachycondyla tesserinoda (Formicidae, Ponerinae). Naturwissenschaften 72: 549-550.
- Jessen K. and U. Maschwitz 1986. Orientation and recruitment behavior in the ponerine ant Pachycondyla tesserinoda (Emery): laying of individual-specific trails during tandem running. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 19: 151-155.
- Lenoir A. and P. Jaisson. 1982. Evolution et rôle des communications antennaires chez les insectes sociaux. In Social Insect in the Tropic Vol.1. Université Paris-Nord. Jaisson, P. (Ed.). Chapter 9, p 157-180.
- Mackay, W. P., and E. E. Mackay 2010. The Systematics and Biology of the New World Ants of the Genus Pachycondyla (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Edwin Mellon Press, Lewiston.
- Möglich, M. 1978. Social organization of nest emigration in Leptothorax (Hym., Form.). Insectes Sociaux. 25:205-225.
- Passera L. and S. Aron. 2006. Les fourmis: comportement, organisation sociale et évolution. CNRC-NRC press. Ottawa. 480pages.
- Sasaki, T., Danczak, L., Thompson, B., Morshed, T., Pratt, S.C. 2020. Route learning during tandem running in the rock ant Temnothorax albipennis. The Journal of Experimental Biology 223, jeb221408 (doi:10.1242/JEB.221408).
- Schultheiss P, Raderschall CA, Narendra A. 2015. Follower ants in a tandem pair are not always naïve. Scientific Reports 5: 10747.
- Wilson, E. O. 1959. Communication by Tandem Running in the Ant Genus Cardiocondyla. Psyche. 66:29-34. DOI:10.1155/1959/29093
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