Behavioral Plasticity in Ant Queens: Environmental Manipulation Induces Aggression among Normally Peaceful Queens in the Socially Polymorphic Ant Leptothorax acervorum

Trettin, Jürgen; Seyferth, Thomas; Heınze, Jürgen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095153

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…In contrast, colonies from the Pyrenees are facultatively polygynous, like those from other areas in Central and Northern Europe [ 7 ]. This supports previous studies according to which high skew may be an adaptation to difficult queen dispersal in patchy habitats, as commonly found at the margin of a species’ range (see [ 10 , 50 ] for further discussion).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Phylogeography of social polymorphism in a boreo-montane ant

2016

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BackgroundThe disjunct distribution of several Palearctic species has been widely shaped by the changes in climatic conditions during the Quaternary. The observed genetic differentiation or reproductive isolation between extant populations may be the outcome of their contemporary geographic separation or reproductive incompatibility due to differences in phenotypic traits which have evolved in isolated refugia. In the boreal ant Leptothorax acervorum, colonies from central and peripheral populations differ in social structure: colonies from Central and Northern Europe may contain several equally reproductive queens (facultative polygyny), while in colonies from peripheral populations in Spain only one the most dominant of several queens lays eggs (functional monogyny). By reconstructing the specie’s evolutionary and demographic history in Southwestern Europe we examine whether variation in social organization is associated with restricted gene flow between the two social forms.ResultsWe show that multi-queen colonies from all so far known inner Iberian populations of L. acervorum are functionally monogynous, whereas multi-queen colonies from all Pyrenean populations are polygynous, like those from other previously studied areas in Europe. Our analyses revealed complex spatial-genetic structure, but no association between spatial-genetic structure and social organization in SW-Europe. The population in the western Pyrenees diverged most strongly from other Iberian populations. Moreover, microsatellite data suggest the occurrence of recent bottlenecks in Pyrenean and inner Iberian populations.ConclusionsOur study shows a lack of reproductive isolation between the two social forms in SW-Europe. This in turn suggests that demographic and spatial patterns in genetic variation as well as the distribution of social phenotypes are better explained by co-variation with climatic, ecological, and historical factors. Moreover, we for the first time show the existence of substantial spatial-genetic structure in L. acervorum, suggesting the existence of multiple refugia in SW-Europe, including two extra-Mediterranean refugia in France. While gene flow among inner Iberian refugia may have been larger during the late glacial, extra-Mediterranean refugia in southern France may have contributed to the post-glacial recolonization of W-Europe.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0711-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Phylogeography of social polymorphism in a boreo-montane ant

2016

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“…This matches earlier observations that worker removal leads to queen–queen antagonism (Trettin et al. ) and corroborates the hypothesis that queens are capable of adjusting their reproductive strategies in response to social changes (Trettin et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…) and corroborates the hypothesis that queens are capable of adjusting their reproductive strategies in response to social changes (Trettin et al. ). This supports the assumptions of reproductive skew models that cooperative individuals are capable of accommodating skew in relation to ecological constraints (Vehrencamp ; Johnstone ; Nonacs and Hager ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Queen:worker ratios of 1:4 or more are commonly observed in high‐skew populations of L. acervorum (e.g., see figure S1 in Trettin et al. ). For example, the ratio varied from 1:8 to 1:4 queens per worker in L. acervorum colonies in Japan (Ito ), and queen:worker ratios ≥1:4 were observed in 25 of 50 colonies from Spain (Felke ; Felke and Buschinger ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, it was shown that the behavior of L. acervorum is not fixed within populations and that an increase of queen:worker ratio can elicit aggression among normally peaceful queens from a low‐skew population (Trettin et al. ). Unfortunately, the consequences of this manipulation for reproductive skew were not evaluated, calling for a more detailed examination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Queen–worker ratio affects reproductive skew in a socially polymorphic ant

Walter

Heınze

2015

Ecology and Evolution

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The partitioning of reproduction among individuals in communally breeding animals varies greatly among species, from the monopolization of reproduction (high reproductive skew) to similar contribution to the offspring in others (low skew). Reproductive skew models explain how relatedness or ecological constraints affect the magnitude of reproductive skew. They typically assume that individuals are capable of flexibly reacting to social and environmental changes. Most models predict a decrease of skew when benefits of staying in the group are reduced. In the ant Leptothorax acervorum, queens in colonies from marginal habitats form dominance hierarchies and only the top‐ranking queen lays eggs (“functional monogyny”). In contrast, queens in colonies from extended coniferous forests throughout the Palaearctic rarely interact aggressively and all lay eggs (“polygyny”). An experimental increase of queen:worker ratios in colonies from low‐skew populations elicits queen–queen aggression similar to that in functionally monogynous populations. Here, we show that this manipulation also results in increased reproductive inequalities among queens. Queens from natural overwintering colonies differed in the number of developing oocytes in their ovaries. These differences were greatly augmented in queens from colonies with increased queen:worker ratios relative to colonies with a low queen:worker ratio. As assumed by models of reproductive skew, L. acervorum colonies thus appear to be capable of flexibly adjusting reproductive skew to social conditions, yet in the opposite way than predicted by most models.

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High skew in the Caucasus: functional monogyny in the ant Leptothorax scamni

Heınze

Gratiashvili

2015

Insect. Soc.

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Behavioral Plasticity in Ant Queens: Environmental Manipulation Induces Aggression among Normally Peaceful Queens in the Socially Polymorphic Ant Leptothorax acervorum

Cited by 5 publications

References 40 publications

Phylogeography of social polymorphism in a boreo-montane ant

Phylogeography of social polymorphism in a boreo-montane ant

Queen–worker ratio affects reproductive skew in a socially polymorphic ant

High skew in the Caucasus: functional monogyny in the ant Leptothorax scamni

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