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Dryad

Data from: Running in the rain: Impact of water droplets on tandem running recruitment in a tropical ant

Annagiri, Sumana1; Bhattacharyya, Kushankur1; Acharjee, Anwesha1

Published Apr 29, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wh70rxx08

Data files

Abstract

Rain hampers essential activities like foraging, guarding and frequently cause damage to the dwelling especially for organisms like ants that live in subterranean nests. Diacamma indicum, a tropical ant, is known to relocate to higher ground by means of tandem running and to build nest mounds when they face rain during monsoon. But what happens if they have to relocate when water droplets are falling on them? We addressed this question by subjecting treatment tandem pairs to water droplets on their body (a proxy to low level rainfall) along their journey to the new nest and compared it with controls. Treatment tandem runs showed significantly higher number of interruptions during the trip and failures to complete the tandem run to new nest. The location at which the treatment was given (near the old nest, midway or near the new nest) did not influence the outcomes. Despite these low levels of water falling on them, tandem leaders continued to recruit to the new nest and completed their relocation without any significant change in the dynamics. This experiment shows the credibility of tandem run as a robust method of transportation even under adverse conditions like rain and highlights the need to explore how subterranean organisms like ants have adapted to monsoon and manage their lives through the months of heavy rainfall.