Differentiation of the reproductive tract between dominant and subordinate workers in the Japanese queenless ant <i>Diacamma</i> sp.

Allard, Diane; Ito, Fuminori; Gobin, Bruno; Tsuji, Kazuki; Billen, Johan

doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2005.00197.x

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because gemmae have afferent sensory neurons, mutilation is though to cause a modification in central nerve system (Gronenberg and Peeters 1993). But the intensive physical aggression from gamergate and workers during mutilation also has an important role in "workerization" (Allard et al 2005; Tsuji, Okada unpublished data). Therefore, the combination of mutilation and mutilation-associated physical aggression forms the complete dominance interaction as we focused in this study, but how the effect of mutilation and aggression can be decoupled remains unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…These sexual behaviors are active in evening (1400-2200 hours, Nakata et al 1998), thus circadian rhythms in FGs and males may facilitate to synchronize across-colony sexual activities. Since mutilated females never mate (Fukumoto et al 1989;Nakata et al 1998;Allard et al 2005), the decline of rhythmicity after gemmae mutilation may coincide with the loss of mating chance. Because gemmae have afferent sensory neurons, mutilation is though to cause a modification in central nerve system (Gronenberg and Peeters 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Social dominance modifies behavioral rhythm in a queenless ant

Fuchikawa

Okada

Miyatake

et al. 2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Social insects provide an intriguing model system in chronobiology. Typically, an egg-laying queen exhibits arrhythmicity in activity while foraging worker has clear rhythmicity. In the queenless ant, Diacamma sp., from Japan, colony members lack morphological caste, and reproductive differentiation occurs as a consequence of dominance hierarchy formation. Their specialized dominance interaction "gemmae mutilation", provide us a fascinating model system to investigate the effect of social dominance on rhythmic ontogeny. Measurement of individual rhythms revealed that they have clear circadian rhythm at eclosion but it is diminished by social mutilation of gemmae. Moreover, unlike highly eusocial species, mated egg-layer (i.e., gamergate) possessed a circadian rhythm even after mating in Diacamma. Measurement of colony-level rhythms revealed that gemmae mutilations are performed in the limited time of the day, but foraging occurs around-the-clock. The above finding is a novel form of temporal organization in social insects, providing a new insight in morphologically casteless species. We discuss the causes and consequences of rhythmic variability in social organization.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Social dominance modifies behavioral rhythm in a queenless ant

Fuchikawa

Okada

Miyatake

et al. 2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Other than part of a study on the genital tract in Diacamma (Allard et al 2005), the spermatheca has not been investigated in poneromorph ants. Although queenworker dimorphism is generally limited compared to "higher" ants, the phylogenetically basal (Bolton 2003) poneromorphs show variations in the extent of queenworker differences (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Queen-worker differences in spermatheca reservoir of phylogenetically basal ants

et al. 2006

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Ant queens mate when young and store sperm in their spermatheca to fertilize eggs for several years until their death. In contrast, workers in most species never mate. We have compared the histological organization of spermathecae in 25 poneromorph species exhibiting various degrees of queen-worker dimorphism. The spermathecae of both castes in all species are similar in having a reservoir connected by a sperm duct to the ovary, and a paired gland opening into this duct. The reservoir of queens typically has a columnar epithelium in the hilar region (near the opening of the sperm duct), whereas the epithelium in the distal region is cuboidal. Abundant mitochondria together with apical microvilli and basal invaginations indicate an osmoregulatory function. In contrast, the reservoir epithelium of workers is flattened throughout and lacks these transport characteristics. This single difference shows the importance of a columnar epithelium in the reservoir for sperm storage. However, our data have not revealed inter-specific variations in the development of the hilar region linked with higher fecundity. We have found no consistent differences in associated structures, such as the spermatheca gland or sperm ducts, or in the musculature between queens and workers.

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“…1). Mutilated females lose their ability to mate (Allard et al, 2005), and they can reproduce only when the gamergate is absent (Fukumoto et al, 1989;Peeters and Higashi, 1989). This unique behavioral determination of reproductives in Diacamma enables us to investigate the precise process of ovarian differentiation under the control of age and dominant status.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%