Several factors can influence individual and group behavioral variation that can have important fitness consequences. In this study, we tested how two habitat types (seminatural meadows and meadows invaded by Solidago plants) and factors like colony and worker size and nest density influence behavioral (activity, meanderness, exploration, aggression, and nest displacement) variation on different levels of the social organization of Myrmica rubra ants and how these might affect the colony productivity. We assumed that the factors within the two habitat types exert different selective pressures on individual and colony behavioral variation that affects colony productivity. Our results showed individual-/colony-specific expression of both mean and residual behavioral variation of the studied behavioral traits. Although habitat type did not have any direct effect, habitat-dependent factors, like colony size and nest density influenced the individual mean and residual variation of several traits. We also found personality at the individual-level and at the colony level. Exploration positively influenced the total- and worker production in both habitats. Worker aggression influenced all the productivity parameters in seminatural meadows, whereas activity had a positive effect on the worker and total production in invaded meadows. Our results suggest that habitat type, through its environmental characteristics, can affect different behavioral traits both at the individual and colony level and that those with the strongest effect on colony productivity primarily shape the personality of individuals. Our results highlight the need for complex environmental manipulations to fully understand the effects shaping behavior and reproduction in colony-living species.

中文翻译：

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影响蚂蚁人格及其适应性后果的栖息地特征和群落特征

几个因素会影响个人和群体的行为差异，这可能会产生重要的适应性后果。在这项研究中，我们测试了两种栖息地类型（半天然草甸和被Solidago植物入侵的草甸）以及诸如菌落和工人大小以及巢密度等因素如何在不同水平的行为上影响行为（活动，曲折，探索，侵略和巢位移）的变化。Myrmica rubra的社会组织蚂蚁以及它们如何影响菌落的生产力。我们假设两种生境类型中的因素对个体和菌落行为变异施加不同的选择压力，从而影响菌落生产力。我们的研究结果表明，个体/群体特定表达的行为特征的均值和残差行为均发生了变化。尽管生境类型没有任何直接影响，但与生境相关的因素（例如菌落大小和巢密度）会影响几个特征的个体均值和残差变异。我们还发现了个人层面和殖民地层面的个性。勘探积极地影响了两个生境的总产量和工人产量。工人的侵略影响了半自然草地上的所有生产力参数，而活动对入侵草甸的工人和总产量产生积极影响。我们的研究结果表明，栖息地类型，通过其环境特征，可以在个体和群体水平上影响不同的行为特征，而对群体生产力影响最大的个体主要决定着个体的个性。我们的结果强调需要进行复杂的环境操作，以充分了解塑造殖民地生活物种的行为和繁殖的影响。