Personality traits are associated with colony productivity in the gypsy ant Aphaenogaster senilis

Abstract

Consistent individual differences in personality traits should be favoured when those traits contribute to consistent individual fitness differences. However, how variations in behaviours are related to productivity remains scarcely explored in social species, particularly in insects. Here, we investigated whether exploratory, boldness, and brood rescue behaviours expressed at the colony-level are associated with group productivity that is, colony growth, queen and worker production, and larvae survival in the gypsy ant Aphaenogaster senilis. We found that group-level exploratory activity, boldness, and brood rescue efficiency were highly correlated. Furthermore, both exploratory activity and brood rescue efficiency were significantly consistent across 11 weeks. Finally, differences in brood rescue efficiency correlated positively with colony growth, queen and worker production, and larvae survival. These results show that colony-level personality may be linked with differences in colony life-history strategy, which may promote the emergence and maintenance of personality traits in group-living species. When groups of individuals show variation in a series of behaviours that are related to exploratory activity and parental care, is it related to differences in groups’ productivity? This is a key question to understand the process underlying the evolution and maintenance of consistent behavioural differences in a population. Here, we investigated whether exploratory, boldness, and brood rescue behaviours expressed at the colony-level are associated with group productivity that is, colony growth, queen and worker production, and larvae survival in the gypsy ant Aphaenogaster senilis. Overall, this experiment reveals that behaviours in group-living species are linked with group productivity.