Division of labor and brain evolution in insect societies: Neurobiology of extreme specialization in the turtle ant Cephalotes varians

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 27;14(3):e0213618. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213618. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Strongly polyphenic social insects provide excellent models to examine the neurobiological basis of division of labor. Turtle ants, Cephalotes varians, have distinct minor worker, soldier, and reproductive (gyne/queen) morphologies associated with their behavioral profiles: small-bodied task-generalist minors lack the phragmotic shield-shaped heads of soldiers, which are specialized to block and guard the nest entrance. Gynes found new colonies and during early stages of colony growth overlap behaviorally with soldiers. Here we describe patterns of brain structure and synaptic organization associated with division of labor in C. varians minor workers, soldiers, and gynes. We quantified brain volumes, determined scaling relationships among brain regions, and quantified the density and size of microglomeruli, synaptic complexes in the mushroom body calyxes important to higher-order processing abilities that may underpin behavioral performance. We found that brain volume was significantly larger in gynes; minor workers and soldiers had similar brain sizes. Consistent with their larger behavioral repertoire, minors had disproportionately larger mushroom bodies than soldiers and gynes. Soldiers and gynes had larger optic lobes, which may be important for flight and navigation in gynes, but serve different functions in soldiers. Microglomeruli were larger and less dense in minor workers; soldiers and gynes did not differ. Correspondence in brain structure despite differences in soldiers and gyne behavior may reflect developmental integration, suggesting that neurobiological metrics not only advance our understanding of brain evolution in social insects, but may also help resolve questions of the origin of novel castes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animal Communication*
  • Animals
  • Ants / physiology*
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Body Size
  • Brain / anatomy & histology
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Female
  • Hierarchy, Social
  • Male
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Mushroom Bodies / anatomy & histology
  • Mushroom Bodies / physiology*
  • Optic Lobe, Nonmammalian / anatomy & histology
  • Organ Size
  • Phenotype
  • Phylogeny
  • Reproduction
  • Social Behavior

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grant IOS 1354291 from the National Science Foundation to JFAT, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship to SA (funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No BrainiAnts-Project 660976), and participation of AZ in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program at Boston University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.