TY - JOUR AU - O’Donnell, Sean AU - Bulova, Susan AU - Barrett, Meghan AU - von Beeren, Christoph PY - 2018 DA - 2018/07/13 TI - Brain investment under colony-level selection: soldier specialization in Eciton army ants (Formicidae: Dorylinae) JO - BMC Zoology SP - 3 VL - 3 IS - 1 AB - In eusocial animal colonies, individuals from different castes often play divergent behavioral roles and confront distinct cognitive demands. Neuroecology theory predicts variation in cognitive demands will correspond to differences in brain investment because brain tissue is energetically expensive. We hypothesized colony-level selection for efficient energy allocation will favor reduced brain investment for castes with reduced cognitive demands. Neotropical army ants (genus Eciton) have morphologically-based worker castes; the specialized soldiers have reduced behavioral repertoires. We asked whether Eciton worker brain size and brain architecture varied with body size, and predicted the specialized soldier caste would have reduced investment in brain tissue. SN - 2056-3132 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-018-0028-3 DO - 10.1186/s40850-018-0028-3 ID - O’Donnell2018 ER -