Queen acceptance and nestmate recognition in monogyne and polygyne colonies of the antFormica truncorum

Sundström, Liselotte

doi:10.1006/anbe.1996.0300

Cited by 47 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This higher survival of virgin queens is in agreement with the results of previous experiments in F. paralugubris (Fortelius et al, 1993) and F. truncorum (Sundstrçm, 1997). The most likely explanation for the higher mortality of mated queens is that workers react more aggressively towards mated than virgin queens.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The average survival rate of mated queens in female-and male-producing foreign nests was 25 % after 22 hours, which is not significantly different from the survival rate of mated queens in their natal nest (20 %). This lack of discrimination is in line with the results of previous studies of highly polygynous Formica ants (Rosengren et al, 1986;Fortelius et al, 1993;Sundstrçm, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…A study in F. truncorum suggests that the mating status of queens influences their acceptance. Specifically, workers in laboratory colonies did not distinguish between nestmate and non-nestmate queens, but were more likely to accept virgin than mated queens (Sundstrçm, 1997). In F. polyctena, all old foreign and mated queens were accepted (Rosengren et al, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stay or drift? Queen acceptance in the ant Formica paralugubris

Holzer

Meunier²,

Keller³

et al. 2008

Insect. Soc.

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Abstract. The acceptance of new queens in ant colonies has profound effects on colony kin structure and inclusive fitness of workers. Therefore, it is important to study the recognition and discrimination behaviour of workers towards reproductive individuals entering established colonies. We examined the acceptance rate of queens in populations of the highly polygynous ant F. paralugubris, where the genetic differentiation among nests and discri-A C H T U N G T R E N N U N G mination ability among workers suggest that workers might reject foreign queens. We experimentally introduced young queens in their natal nest and in foreign nests. Surprisingly, the survival rate of mated queens did not differ significantly when introduced in a foreign maleproducing nest, a foreign female-producing nest, or the natal nest. Moreover, the survival of virgin queens in their natal nest was twice the one of mated queens, suggesting that mating status plays an important role for acceptance. The results indicate that other factors than queen discrimination by workers are implicated in the limited longdistance gene flow between nests in these populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stay or drift? Queen acceptance in the ant Formica paralugubris

Holzer

Meunier²,

Keller³

et al. 2008

Insect. Soc.

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“…This pattern likely results from adoption of natal queens, as found in a number of other ant species (e.g. Bourke and Franks, 1995;Keller, 1995;Chapuisat et al, 1997;Sundström, 1997;Dalecky et al, 2005). The recruitment of natal queens may serve to increase rates of worker production in C. mimosae colonies while maintaining a relatively high degree of within-colony relatedness.…”

Section: Polygyny and Relatednessmentioning

confidence: 77%

Polygyny in the nest-site limited acacia-ant Crematogaster mimosae

Rubin¹,

Anderson²,

Kennedy³

et al. 2013

Insect. Soc.

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Polygyny is common in social insects despite inevitable decreases in nestmate relatedness and reductions to the inclusive fitness returns for cooperating non-reproductive individuals. We studied the prevalence and mode of polygyny in the African acacia-ant Crematogaster mimosae. These ants compete intensively with neighboring colonies of conspecifics and with three sympatric ant species for resources associated with the whistling-thorn acacias in which they all obligately nest. We used the genotypes of alate males at ten microsatellite loci to reconstruct queen genotypes and found that C. mimosae colonies are frequently secondarily polygynous, in that they include multiple closely related (and sometimes full-sib) queens, and (more rarely) unrelated queens. We also found that individual queens in both monogynous and polygynous colonies had mated with multiple males, making C. mimosae an interesting example of simultaneous polygyny and polyandry. The presence of polygyny in C. mimosae and the intense competition for nest-sites between C. mimosae and its conspecifics support the association between nest-site limitation and polygyny. Polygyny may allow for increased worker populations and a competitive advantage, as intercolony conflicts are typically won by the colony with the larger number of workers.

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“…As a control, we conducted the same test on monogyne colonies containing only BB queens and BB workers that were kept under identical conditions and were subjected to the same manipulations. Mother queens heading the single-queen test units in this and the subsequent experiments were removed 3 days before the introduction of the foreign queens to extinguish recognition cues associated with the mother (47,48) and thereby favor the acceptance of the introduced queens (49). Results qualitatively similar to those presented were obtained when the mother queens were present during the introductions.…”

Section: Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic control of social organization in an ant

Ross

Keller

1998

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

167

196

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A central issue in evolutionary biology is the extent to which complex social organization is under genetic control. We have found that a single genomic element marked by the protein-encoding gene Gp-9 is responsible for the existence of two distinct forms of social organization in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. This genetic factor inf luences the reproductive phenotypes and behavioral strategies of queens and determines whether workers tolerate a single fertile queen or multiple queens per colony. Furthermore, this factor affects worker tolerance of queens with alternate genotypes, thus explaining the dramatic differences in Gp-9 allele frequencies observed between the two social forms in the wild. These findings reveal how a single genetic factor can have major effects on complex social behavior and inf luence the nature of social organization.Organic evolution is marked by a small number of major transitions, one of which is the evolution of complex social behavior (1, 2). Social life can take a variety of forms, each distinguished by features such as group size and the reproductive roles of group members (3,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). A critical need in evolutionary biology is to identify the causes of social behavior and its conspicuous variation and especially to determine the extent to which social organization is under genetic control (9-15). Such information is crucial for reconstructing pathways of social evolution (16,17) and can lead to improved genetic models for the origin and spread of new social variants (18-20) that may constitute adaptive solutions to changed environments or transitional stages during speciation (3,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). Current views on insect social evolution stress the importance of ecological and behavioral environments in molding what are largely plastic social behaviors (3,17,21,22,(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). As a result of this emphasis on behavioral plasticity and an immediate role of the environment, studies of the genetic underpinnings of social behavior have languished. Here we present evidence that major variation in the social organization of fire ant colonies is under simple genetic control, providing a unique demonstration of a strong genetic component to complex social behavior.The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is an introduced pest species in the southern United States that exists in two distinct social forms. The monogyne form features colonies with a single fertile (egg-laying) queen, whereas the polygyne form features colonies with multiple fertile queens. The two social forms differ in other major aspects of their reproductive biology, including the phenotypes and reproductive strategies of young queens and the modes of colony founding (3). Monogyne nests produce heavy queens that accumulate large fat reserves and exhibit rapid oogenesis, whereas polygyne nests produce mostly lighter queens with lesser reserves and more gradual oogenesis (31). These phenotypic differences are adaptive because young monogyne queens found colonies independently (without workers), a...

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Queen acceptance and nestmate recognition in monogyne and polygyne colonies of the antFormica truncorum

Cited by 47 publications

References 27 publications

Stay or drift? Queen acceptance in the ant Formica paralugubris

Stay or drift? Queen acceptance in the ant Formica paralugubris

Polygyny in the nest-site limited acacia-ant Crematogaster mimosae

Genetic control of social organization in an ant

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