PSY 252F Introduction to Animal Behaviour

Fall 1998
Prof. Tom Alloway


Course Outline

Term Project Assignment

Previous Term Test Answers

Spring 1994 First Term Test

Spring 1994 Second Term Test

Spring 1995 First Term Test

Spring 1995 Second Term Test

Spring 1996 First Term Test

Spring 1996 Second Term Test

Spring 1997 First Term Test

Spring 1997 Second Term Test

Fall 1997 First Term Test

Fall 1997 Second Term Test

Some Lecture Notes in Text Form

Introduction to Evolution

Altruism

Cooperation

SimLife Exercises Secret Commands

SimLife Animal Genes Data Sheet

The Psychology of SimLife Animals (Orgots)

Ant Photos and Commentary

Slave-Makers and Slaves

Slave-making ants are social parasites of certain other ant species, which are called "host" or "slave" species. A slave-maker colonies gets started when a newly mated slave-maker queen enters a host-species nest and either kills or drives away the adult inhabitants. These invasions occur at a time of year when worker pupae are present in the host-species nests; and the young host workers that mature from the captured pupae form a social attachment to the parasite queen, becoming her first so-called "slaves." These host workers then rear a batch of slave-maker workers that subsequently raid other host-species nests to capture additional host-species worker pupae that are reared to produce additional slaves.

Acorn Ant Nests

Harpagoxenus canadensis

Host Species

Leptothorax duloticus

Protomognathus americanus

Workerless Parasites (Inquilines)

Inquiline parasites are ant species that have lost the worker caste during the process of their evolution to become parasites. Newly mated parasite queens invade host-species colonies and secure adoption, but some or all the host queens survive. Subsequently, the parasitised colony continues to produce additional host workers (the offspring of the surviving host queens), but the colony subsequently rears only (or mostly) parasite queens and males.

Leptothorax minutissimus

Leptothorax paroxenus