Using an Agent-Based Model to Explore the Effectiveness of Strategies Used by Ants to Mitigate the Spread of the Fungus Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis

IF 1 3区 农林科学 Q3 ENTOMOLOGY
Bryan C. Watson, Corraine McNeill
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Scientists have long studied the unexpected resistance of eusocial insect colonies to pathogen and parasitic threats. Despite having many closely related individuals living in proximity, these colonies have shown the ability to persist for long periods of time without epidemic collapse. Previous studies have theorized a variety of reasons for their ability to withstand chronic infections including the conveyor belt model and task specialization. The impact of each of these different strategies and the synergy between them is unknown. Testing the impact of each strategy experimentally may be difficult and time consuming. This paper examines the impact of five (5) strategies used by Camponotus rufipes to endure a chronic infection from Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis, a fungal infection which results in “zombie ants.” These five strategies are to avoid areas with increased numbers of spores, prevent completion of the fungal lifecycle within the nest, use specialized workers, separate groups within the nest, and invest less in forager immune response. A full factorial analysis of the strategies is performed through an agent-based model by selectively turning “off” each of the strategies. The contribution of this work is two-fold. First, a conceptual model for C. rufipes is presented. Synthesizing the current literature, the result is a tool for modeling colony behavior. Secondly, the output of the model indicates the role of each strategy in preventing fungal disease propagation in the colony and the interaction effects between the strategies. Analysis includes a 5-way ANOVA with interaction effects, post-hoc testing, and effect size measurements. Significant findings include that the strategy of minimizing the chance of fungal infection and preventing the fungus from completing its life cycle within the nest are the most important. When these strategies were disabled, 100% of colony collapse occurred. Additionally, the use of the conveyor belt approach (the use of older ants to forage) had a negligible effect on colony survival. Interaction effects between the five strategies are also presented. The results of this work highlight the synergies between the strategies used to prevent O. camponoti-rufipedis propagation, guide future experimentation on this species, and provide additional information for those seeking to use this species as a source of biologically inspired design.

Abstract Image

使用基于代理的模型探索蚂蚁为减缓营口蛙皮藓真菌传播而采取的策略的有效性
长期以来,科学家们一直在研究群居昆虫对病原体和寄生虫威胁的意外抵抗力。尽管有许多关系密切的个体生活在一起,但这些群落仍能长期存在而不发生流行性崩溃。以前的研究提出了它们能够抵御慢性感染的各种原因,包括传送带模式和任务专业化。这些不同策略的影响以及它们之间的协同作用尚不清楚。通过实验测试每种策略的影响可能既困难又耗时。本文研究了红腹角雉(Camponotus rufipes)在忍受 Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis (一种导致 "僵尸蚂蚁 "的真菌感染)慢性感染时所使用的五(5)种策略的影响。这五种策略是:避开孢子数量增加的区域;防止真菌生命周期在巢内完成;使用专门的工蚁;在巢内分群;减少对觅食者免疫反应的投资。通过一个基于代理的模型,选择性地 "关闭 "每种策略,对这些策略进行了全面的因子分析。这项工作有两方面的贡献。首先,提出了一个 C. rufipes 的概念模型。该模型综合了当前的文献资料,是模拟虫群行为的工具。其次,该模型的输出结果表明了每种策略在防止真菌疾病在虫群中传播方面的作用以及策略之间的交互作用。分析包括带有交互效应的 5 方方差分析、事后检验和效应大小测量。重要发现包括:最大限度地减少真菌感染机会和防止真菌在巢内完成其生命周期的策略最为重要。当这些策略失效时,100% 的蜂群都会崩溃。此外,使用传送带方法(利用老龄蚂蚁觅食)对蚁群存活率的影响微乎其微。研究还显示了五种策略之间的交互作用。这项工作的结果强调了用于防止 O. camponoti-rufipedis 繁殖的各种策略之间的协同作用,为今后有关该物种的实验提供了指导,并为那些寻求利用该物种作为生物灵感设计来源的人提供了更多信息。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Journal of Insect Behavior
Journal of Insect Behavior 生物-昆虫学
CiteScore
1.50
自引率
0.00%
发文量
16
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Journal of Insect Behavior offers peer-reviewed research articles and short critical reviews on all aspects of the behavior of insects and other terrestrial arthropods such as spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and isopods. An internationally renowned editorial board discusses technological innovations and new developments in the field, emphasizing topics such as behavioral ecology, motor patterns and recognition, and genetic determinants.
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