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Fight tactics in wood ants: individuals in smaller groups fight harder but die faster.

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Title: Fight tactics in wood ants: individuals in smaller groups fight harder but die faster.
Authors: Batchelor, Tim P.1 tim_batch@hotmail.com, Briffa, Mark1
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 11/ 7/2011, Vol. 278 Issue 1722, p3243-3250. 8p.
Subjects: Wood ant, Animal social behavior, Aggression (Psychology), Animal fighting, Numerical analysis, Agonistic behavior in animals
Abstract: When social animals engage in inter-group contests, the outcome is determined by group sizes and individual masses, which together determine group resource-holding potential ('group RHP'). Individuals that perceive themselves as being in a group with high RHP may receive a motivational increase and increase their aggression levels. Alternatively, individuals in lower RHP groups may increase their aggression levels in an attempt to overcome the RHP deficit. We investigate how 'group RHP' influences agonistic tactics in red wood ants Formica rufa. Larger groups had higher total agonistic indices, but per capita agonistic indices were highest in the smallest groups, indicating that individuals in smaller groups fought harder. Agonistic indices were influenced by relative mean mass, focal group size, opponent group size and opponent group agonistic index. Focal group attrition rates decreased as focal group relative agonistic indices increased and there was a strong negative influence of relative mean mass. The highest focal attrition rates were received when opponent groups were numerically large and composed of large individuals. Thus, fight tactics in F. rufa seem to vary with both aspects of group RHP, group size and the individual attributes of group members, indicating that information on these are available to fighting ants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is the property of Royal Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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  Data: Fight tactics in wood ants: individuals in smaller groups fight harder but die faster.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Batchelor%2C+Tim+P%2E%22">Batchelor, Tim P.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> tim_batch@hotmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Briffa%2C+Mark%22">Briffa, Mark</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+Royal+Society+B%3A+Biological+Sciences%22">Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences</searchLink>. 11/ 7/2011, Vol. 278 Issue 1722, p3243-3250. 8p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wood+ant%22">Wood ant</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Animal+social+behavior%22">Animal social behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Aggression+%28Psychology%29%22">Aggression (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Animal+fighting%22">Animal fighting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Numerical+analysis%22">Numerical analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Agonistic+behavior+in+animals%22">Agonistic behavior in animals</searchLink>
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  Data: When social animals engage in inter-group contests, the outcome is determined by group sizes and individual masses, which together determine group resource-holding potential ('group RHP'). Individuals that perceive themselves as being in a group with high RHP may receive a motivational increase and increase their aggression levels. Alternatively, individuals in lower RHP groups may increase their aggression levels in an attempt to overcome the RHP deficit. We investigate how 'group RHP' influences agonistic tactics in red wood ants Formica rufa. Larger groups had higher total agonistic indices, but per capita agonistic indices were highest in the smallest groups, indicating that individuals in smaller groups fought harder. Agonistic indices were influenced by relative mean mass, focal group size, opponent group size and opponent group agonistic index. Focal group attrition rates decreased as focal group relative agonistic indices increased and there was a strong negative influence of relative mean mass. The highest focal attrition rates were received when opponent groups were numerically large and composed of large individuals. Thus, fight tactics in F. rufa seem to vary with both aspects of group RHP, group size and the individual attributes of group members, indicating that information on these are available to fighting ants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is the property of Royal Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0062
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Wood ant
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Animal social behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Aggression (Psychology)
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      – SubjectFull: Animal fighting
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      – SubjectFull: Numerical analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Agonistic behavior in animals
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              Text: 11/ 7/2011
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