Trail Communication in the Dacetine AntOrectogna Thus Versicolor (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Although division of labor within two dacetine species has been studied at length (Wilson 1962; Carlin 1982), very little has hitherto been reported on social communication in the Dacetini, a myrmicine tribe of nearly 200 known species (Brown and Wilson 1959; Wilson 1962).Foraging habits have also been studied in several species (for review see Brown and Wilson 1959; Wilson 1962).As now known, the dacetines seem to be individual foragers; recruit- ment to food sources and cooperation during retrieval of prey have not been observed.It is therefore of some interest that we have recently discovered trail laying and trail following in the dacetine species Orectognathus versicolor.Experiments in the laboratory further indicate that trail communication may play an especially important role during nest emigrations. Material and Methods:A queenright colony of O. versicolor was collected from rotting wood near Eungella, North Queensland (Australia) and housed in a glass tube ( cm), with water trapped at its bottom behind a cotton plug.The nest tube was laced into an arena (45 30 cm) in which small pieces of cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea), chopped meal worms (Tenebrio molitor), several species of small flies and honey water were provided as food.The colony developed very well under these conditions, and when the experiments began (4 weeks after collection) it contained one queen, 80 workers (42 minors, 27 medias, 11 majors (see Carlin, 1982)), 14 freshly eclosed males, and brood of all stages.For histological investigations live specimens were fixed in Car- noy (Romeis 1948), embedded in methyl-methacrylate and sectioned 8/.t thick with a Jung Tetrander I microtome (Rathmayer 1962).