Summary.Ant colony mortality has not been sufficiently studied, even though it is crucial for understanding social insect population biology and can serve as an important model for general aging and mortality processes. Particularly, studies on proximate mechanisms on mortality and stress resistance of ant colonies are lacking. This study explores the long-term colony starvation resistance of the small myrmecine ant Temnothorax rugatulus. We report extraordinary starvation resistance in the 21 colonies investigated, as most survived the eight months of total starvation. Furthermore, we studied demographic and behavioral changes over the experimental period. Brood decline began first (after two months) and mortality was highest, worker decline was intermediate, and queen mortality started latest and remained lowest. We found brood (its relative change during the first four months and the level of brood relative to colony size) to be the only significant predictor of colony starvation resistance, but not the degree of polygyny. As expected, rates of trophallaxis increased during the starvation period while colony activity bouts occurred more frequently but were much shorter, leading to an overall decrease in activity levels. This study is the first to comprehensively study mechanisms of starvation resistance in ant colonies, linking demography and behavior.

中文翻译：

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Temnothorax rugatulus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) 群体中非凡的抗饥饿性：人口统计学和适应性行为

总结。蚁群死亡率尚未得到充分研究，尽管它对于理解社会昆虫种群生物学至关重要，并且可以作为一般衰老和死亡过程的重要模型。尤其是缺乏对蚁群死亡率和抗逆性的直接机制的研究。本研究探讨了小型 myrmecine 蚂蚁 Temnothorax rugatulus 的长期群体饥饿抗性。我们报告了所调查的 21 个殖民地的非凡抗饥饿性，因为大多数人在完全饥饿的八个月中幸存下来。此外，我们研究了实验期间的人口统计学和行为变化。育雏下降最先开始（两个月后），死亡率最高，工蜂下降居中，蜂王死亡率最晚开始并保持最低。我们发现育雏（前四个月的相对变化以及育雏水平相对于菌落大小）是菌落饥饿抗性的唯一重要预测指标，但不是一夫多妻制的程度。正如预期的那样，饥饿期间的滋养率增加，而菌落活动发生的频率更高，但时间要短得多，导致活动水平整体下降。该研究首次全面研究了蚁群抗饥饿机制，将人口统计学和行为联系起来。在饥饿期间，嗜食菌的发生率增加，而菌落活动发生的频率更高，但时间要短得多，导致活动水平整体下降。该研究首次全面研究了蚁群抗饥饿机制，将人口统计学和行为联系起来。在饥饿期间，嗜食菌的发生率增加，而菌落活动发生的频率更高，但时间要短得多，导致活动水平整体下降。该研究首次全面研究了蚁群抗饥饿机制，将人口统计学和行为联系起来。