DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7g02r
title: Data from: Toxicity and utilization of chemical weapons: does toxicity and venom utilization contribute to the formation of species communities?

description: Toxicity and the utilization of venom are essential features in the
 ecology of many animal species and have been hypothesized to be important
 factors contributing to the assembly of communities through competitive
 interactions. Ants of the genus Monomorium utilize a variety of venom
 compositions, which have been reported to give them a competitive
 advantage. Here, we investigate two pairs of Monomorium species, which
 differ in the structural compositions of their venom and their
 co-occurrence patterns with the invasive Argentine ant. We looked at the
 effects of Monomorium venom toxicity, venom utilization, and aggressive
 physical interactions on Monomorium and Argentine ant survival rates
 during arena trials. The venom toxicity of the two species co-occurring
 with the invasive Argentine ants was found to be significantly higher than
 the toxicity of the two species which do not. There was no correlation
 between venom toxicity and Monomorium survival; however, three of the four
 Monomorium species displayed significant variability in their venom usage
 which was associated with the number of Argentine ant workers encountered
 during trials. Average Monomorium mortality varied significantly between
 species, and in Monomorium smithii and Monomorium antipodum, aggressive
 interactions with Argentine ants had a significant negative effect on
 their mortality. Our study demonstrates that different factors and
 strategies can contribute to the ability of a species to withstand the
 pressure of a dominant invader at high abundance, and venom chemistry
 appears to be only one of several strategies utilized.
description: Arena fight and venom
 usageThe table "Arena
 fight and venom usage.csv" corresponds to the manuscript sections of
 the same name. It contains the mortality of Argentine ant and workers of
 four Monomorium ant species after 1, 4 and 24 hours, as well as
 behavioural responses and observed venom usage of ant workers in the arena
 trials. It furthermore contains data derived from this raw data (for
 example relative occurence of behaviours). The experimental design is
 explained in the publication in the methods section with the same name as
 the datafile, further description of this and the other datafiles
 associated with this publication can be found in the
 ReadMe.txtArena fight and venom
 usage Argentine ant SurvivalThe table "Arena
 fight and venom usage Argentine ant Survival.csv" corresponds to the
 manuscript section "Arena fight and venom usage". It contains
 data represented in the Argentine ant Mortality column in table
 "Arena fight and venom usage.csv" formatted for a survival
 analysis. The experimental design is explained in the publication in the
 methods section with the same name as the datafile, further description of
 this and the other datafiles associated with this publication can be found
 in the ReadMe.txtArena fight and venom
 usage Monomorium SurvivalThe table "Arena
 fight and venom usage Monomorium Survival.csv" corresponds to the
 manuscript section "Arena fight and venom usage". It contains
 data represented in the Monomorium Mortality column in table "Arena
 fight and venom usage.csv" formatted for a survival analysis. The
 experimental design is explained in the publication in the methods section
 with the same name as the datafile, further description of this and the
 other datafiles associated with this publication can be found in the
 ReadMe.txtVenom
 survivabilityThe table "Venom
 survivability.csv" corresponds to the manuscript sections of the same
 name. It contains the responses of Argentine ants after 1 and 4 hours when
 treated with different concentrations of venom of four different
 Monomorium ant species and can be used to calculate the LD 50 of these
 venoms on Argentine ants. The experimental design is explained in the
 publication in the methods section with the same name as the datafile,
 further description of this and the other datafiles associated with this
 publication can be found in the ReadMe.txt