Circadian rhythms in female ants, and loss after mating flight

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Abstract

  • 1.

    1. In constant temperature and alternating light and dark, females of Veromessor andrei and V. pergandei showed an activity peak corresponding with the time of mating flight in the field.

  • 2.

    2. Clock features seen in one or both species included: a definite phase relationship to the external day, which was shifted by a changed lighting cycle; a rise toward the peak before dawn; persistence in constant dim light.

  • 3.

    3. In alternating light and dark, winged females of V. pergandei were markedly rhythmic in “racetrack” activity, in “trying-to-get-out” activity and in appearance above the surface of a dirt nest. Wingless (post-flight) females studied simultaneously did not appear rhythmic in any of these ways; their activity level was much lower; and they were photonegative instead of photopositive like the winged females.

  • 4.

    4. Thus a profound change occurs at the time of mating flight.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    In field conditions we have observed that virgin males and queens of C. paria leave their nest for mating flight at a specific time of the day, 30–45 min before C. compressus, which fly out exactly at dusk, and mate around dusk when the ambient light intensity falls a little below 10 lux (Shahnaz Rahman Lone and Vijay Kumar Sharma, personal observation). Although we know that circadian rhythms play a key role in the regulation of ant behaviors (McCluskey, 1967; North, 1987; Sharma et al., 2004a–c), our understanding of the consequence of mating on their circadian clocks is very preliminary. Since activity rhythm (McCluskey, 1967) and phototaxis behavior in ants (Julian and Gronenberg, 2002) have been shown to be closely associated with mating flights, it would be interesting to study these behaviors in the reproductives prior to and after mating.

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