ArticleThe Journal of experimental biology2012
Worker division of labor and endocrine physiology are associated in the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus.
Article in The Journal of experimental biology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Age, caste, and social context shape ovarian morphology and transcriptomic profiles in red harvester ants.npj aging · 2025Article
- Juvenile hormone as a key regulator for asymmetric caste differentiation in ants.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Effect of Juvenile Hormone on Worker Behavioral Transition in the Red Imported Fire Ant,Insects · 2023Article
- Task-specific odorant receptor expression in worker antennae indicates that sensory filters regulate division of labor in ants.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Hormonal gatekeeping via the blood-brain barrier governs caste-specific behavior in ants.Cell · 2023Article
- Article
- Individual experience influences reconstruction of division of labour under colony disturbance in a queenless ant species.Frontiers in zoology · 2022Article
- Eusociality is linked to caste-specific differences in metabolism, immune system, and somatic maintenance-related processes in an ant species.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2021Article
- Article
- Tramtrack acts during late pupal development to direct ant caste identity.PLoS genetics · 2021Article
- Behavioral flexibility in Wasmannia auropunctata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2021Article
- Plasticity and modulation of olfactory circuits in insects.Cell and tissue research · 2021Review
- Genetic Underpinnings of Host Manipulation byG3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Article
- Epigenetic Regulator CoREST Controls Social Behavior in Ants.Molecular cell · 2020Article
- Article
- Vertical organization of the division of labor within nests of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius.PloS one · 2017Article
- Article
- Age, worksite location, neuromodulators, and task performance in the antBehavioral ecology and sociobiology · 2016Article
- The foundress's dilemma: group selection for cooperation among queens of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Extended evolution: A conceptual framework for integrating regulatory networks and niche construction.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
In Pogonomyrmex californicus harvester ants, an age-associated division of labor occurs in the worker caste, in which young workers perform in-nest tasks and older workers forage for food. Here, we tested whether this behavioral division is age based or age flexible, and whether it coincides with differential expression of systemic hormones with known roles in behavioral regulation. Whole-body content of juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids was determined in workers from (1) age-typical colonies, in which a typical age structure is maintained and workers transition across behaviors naturally, and (2) single-cohort colonies, which are entirely composed of same-aged workers, facilitating the establishment of age-independent division of labor. Foragers from both colony types had higher JH and lower ecdysteroid content than workers performing in-nest tasks, suggesting that age is not the sole determinant of worker behavior. This association between hormone content and behavior of P. californicus workers is similar to that previously observed in founding queens of this species. Because these hormones are key regulators of development and reproductive behavior, our data are consistent with the reproductive ground plan hypothesis (RGPH), which posits that the reproductive regulatory mechanisms of solitary ancestors were co-opted to regulate worker behavior.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.