Colony introduction assays to study nestmate discrimination of the ant Pristomyrmex punctatus

Social animals utilise various communication methods to organise their societies. In social insects, nestmate discrimination plays a crucial role in regulating colony membership. Counter to this system, socially parasitic species employ diverse behavioural and chemical strategies to bypass their host’s detection. In this study, we tested whether such parasitic adaptations could be detected in the incipient stage of social parasitism that is observed as intraspecific phenomena in some social insects. The Japanese parthenogenetic ant Pristomyrmex punctatus harbours a genetically distinct cheater lineage which infiltrates and exploits host colonies. We found that intrusion of this intraspecific social parasite was defended by nestmate discrimination of host colonies without any behavioural strategies specialised in social parasitism. Most of the cheaters were eliminated through aggression by host workers that are typically observed against non-nestmates, resulting in a low intrusion succes..., Experiment:
Colonies of Pristomyrmex punctatus were collected in Kihoku, Mie Prefecture, Japan. The colonies were maintained in the laboratory. The “colony introduction” assay (Roulston et al. 2003) was performed where a intruder individual (marked on the abdomen) was introduced into an experimental host colony. Intruders were (1) cheaters, (2) foragers, (3) nurses, and (4) nestmate nurses as negative conrtol. After introduction the experimental arena was video-recorded for at least 300 seconds. One hour and 24 hours after introduction, we checked inside the arena to observe the survival and location (inside or outside of the nest) of the intruder.
Analysis:
We analysed the video-recorded behaviours of the intruder and the host individuals during the colony introductions. Each video was assigned a random ID to blind the intruder types as much as possible. We scored the behaviours (0 to 4 and immobilised) by eye until 25 encounters with host individuals were made by an intruder. Statisti..., , # Colony introduction assays to study nestmate discrimination of the ant *Pristomyrmex punctatus*

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.59zw3r2h2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.59zw3r2h2)

Behavioral scores and associated measures observed in encounters between intruders (cheaters, foragers, nurses, and nestmates) and host individuals of *P. punctatus*.

## Description of the data and file structure

File structure:

```
Data1.csv ## Results of behavioral scoring, line per experimental colony
Data2.csv ## Results of behavioral scoring, line per observation (25 obs. per colony; clarifying behavioral correspondences)
Code.R ## An R code to generate the statistical results
Movies.zip ## Original movie files that recorded the behavioral assays
|- ex\d{3}.mp4 (each stored in mp4 format)
```

Column description of the Data1.csv is provided below:

```
Date: YYYYMMDD of the onset of experiment.
ID: Randomly assigned number for blind tests.
Intruder: ID of intruder-source colony (given in Table...

社会性动物借助多样的通讯方式构建自身的社会结构。在社会性昆虫中，同类识别（nestmate discrimination）在规范蚁群成员身份方面发挥着关键作用。与此体系相悖的是，社会寄生类群会演化出多样的行为与化学策略，以规避宿主的识别检测。本研究旨在探究：在部分社会性昆虫中以种内现象出现的社会寄生初期阶段，是否能观测到这类寄生适应性特征。日本孤雌生殖的平结切叶蚁（Pristomyrmex punctatus）体内存在一类遗传特征独特的作弊者谱系，它们可入侵并利用宿主蚁群。研究发现，宿主蚁群可通过同类识别机制抵御这类种内社会寄生者的入侵，且宿主并未演化出针对社会寄生的专属行为策略。绝大多数作弊者会被宿主工蚁通过针对非同类个体的典型攻击行为清除，最终导致入侵成功率极低……

## 实验
研究团队在日本三重县鬼北町采集了平结切叶蚁的蚁群，并在实验室条件下进行饲养。本研究采用「蚁群引入」实验范式（Roulston等，2003）：将腹部标记过的入侵个体引入实验宿主蚁群中。入侵个体分为四类：(1) 作弊者，(2) 觅食工蚁，(3) 保育工蚁，以及作为阴性对照的(4) 同类保育工蚁。引入入侵个体后，对实验装置进行至少300秒的视频录制。在引入后1小时与24小时两个时间点，分别检查实验装置，记录入侵个体的存活状态与位置（蚁巢内或蚁巢外）。

## 分析
研究团队对蚁群引入过程中入侵个体与宿主个体的视频录制行为进行分析。为尽可能实现盲法实验，为每个视频分配随机ID。通过人工观察对行为进行评分（0至4分，外加「静止不动」类别），直至入侵个体与宿主个体完成25次接触。统计分析……

# 用于研究平结切叶蚁（Pristomyrmex punctatus）同类识别能力的蚁群引入实验
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.59zw3r2h2

平结切叶蚁宿主个体与入侵个体（包括作弊者、觅食工蚁、保育工蚁及同类个体）接触过程中记录的行为评分及相关观测指标。

## 数据与文件结构说明
### 文件结构

Data1.csv ## 行为评分结果，每行对应一个实验蚁群
Data2.csv ## 行为评分结果，每行对应一次观测（每个蚁群共25次观测；用于明确行为对应关系）
Code.R ## 用于生成统计分析结果的R语言代码
Movies.zip ## 记录行为学实验的原始视频文件
|- exd{3}.mp4 （所有文件均以MP4格式存储）

Data1.csv的列说明如下：
Date：实验起始日期，格式为YYYYMMDD。
ID：用于盲法实验的随机分配编号。
Intruder：入侵个体来源蚁群的ID（详见表格……）