Social Life in Arid Environments: The Case Study of <i>Cataglyphis</i> Ants

Boulay, Raphaël; Aron, Serge; Cerdá, Xím; Doums, Claudie; Graham, Paul; Hefetz, Abraham; Monnin, Thibaud

doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-031616-034941

Cited by 61 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 135 publications

(132 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…On top of that, the queens are polyandrous, mating with five males on average. This concurs with findings for most of the Cataglyphis species studied to date (Boulay et al, ). Nest abundance in the studied populations was 0.00185 nests/m 2 , with each nest comprising 200 to 2,000 workers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…The genus Cataglyphis is considered a good model for social evolution (Boulay et al, 2017;Lenoir, Aron, Cerda, & Hefetz, 2009). It comprises over a hundred species (Agosti, 1990), displaying various social and population structures, ranging from the basic monogynous multicolonial population to polygynous supercolonies (Jowers et al, 2013;Leniaud, Heftez, Grumiau, & Aron, 2011;Timmermans, Grumiau, Hefetz, & Aron, 2010;Timmermans, Hefetz, Fournier, & Aron, 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Determining social and population structures requires multiple approaches: A case study of the desert antCataglyphis israelensis

Brodetzki

Hefetz

2018

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The remarkable diversity of ant social organization is reflected in both their life history and population kin structure. Different species demonstrate a high variation with respect to both social structure and mating strategies: from the ancestral colony type that is composed of a single queen (monogyny), singly inseminated (monoandry), to the more derived states of colonies headed by a multiply inseminated queen (polyandry), to colonies composed of multiple queens (polygyny) that are either singly or multiply inseminated. Moreover, the population structure of an ant species can range from multicoloniality to polydomy to supercoloniality, and Cataglyphis is considered to be a model genus in regard to such diversity. The present study sought to determine the social and population structure of the recently described C. israelensis species in Israel. For this purpose we employed a multidisciplinary approach, rather than the commonly used single approach that is mostly based on genetics. Our study encompassed behavior (nest insularity/openness), chemistry (composition of nestmate recognition signals and cuticular hydrocarbons), and genetics (microsatellite polymorphism). Each approach has been shown to possess both advantages and disadvantages, depending on the studied species. Our findings reveal that C. israelensis colonies are headed by a single, multiply inseminated queen and that the population structure is polydomous, with each colony comprising one main nest and several additional satellite nests. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that none of the above‐noted approaches, when employed individually, is suitable or sufficient in itself for delineating population structure, thus emphasizing the importance of using multiple approaches when assessing such complex systems.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining social and population structures requires multiple approaches: A case study of the desert antCataglyphis israelensis

Brodetzki

Hefetz

2018

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Over the last few years, population genetic studies have revealed an amazing diversity of reproductive systems in Cataglyphis desert ants. This genus became a canonical model with which to study the evolution of unusual reproductive strategies in social Hymenoptera (Boulay et al, ). In some species, queens conditionally use asexual and sexual reproduction to generate the different female castes: new reproductive queens are produced asexually by thelytokous parthenogenesis, while workers arise from sexual reproduction (Pearcy, Aron, et al, ; Figure a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repeated evolution of queen parthenogenesis and social hybridogenesis in Cataglyphis desert ants

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the last decade, genetic studies on social insects have revealed a remarkable diversity of unusual reproductive strategies, such as male clonality, female clonality, and social hybridogenesis. In this context, Cataglyphis desert ants are useful models because of their unique reproductive systems. In several species, queens conditionally use sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis to produce sterile workers and reproductive queens, respectively. In social hybridogenesis, two distinct genetic lineages coexist within a population, and workers result from mating between partners of different lineages; in contrast, queens and males are both produced asexually by parthenogenesis. Consequently, nonreproductive workers are all interlineage hybrids, whereas reproductives are all pure lineage individuals. Here, we characterized the reproductive systems of 11 species to investigate the distribution of the conditional use of sex and social hybridogenesis in Cataglyphis. We identified one new case in which sexual reproduction was conditionally used in the absence of dependent‐lineage reproduction. We also discovered five new instances of social hybridogenesis. Based on our phylogenetic analyses, we inferred that both the conditional use of sex and social hybridogenesis independently evolved multiple times in the genus Cataglyphis.

show abstract

“…All Cataglyphis species inhabit arid lands or deserts -they are found in the Sahara, the Near East, the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Central Asia (Lenoir et al, 2009;Boulay et al, 2017). In contrast to many other desert-adapted species, which tend to escape the heat by being nocturnal or crepuscular, Cataglyphis ants take advantage of their high thermal tolerance to remain active even during the hottest parts of the day: most are scavengers and collect the bodies of lesstolerant, heat-stricken arthropods (Harkness and Wehner, 1977;Wehner et al, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proteome stability, heat hardening, and heat-shock protein expression profiles in Cataglyphis desert ants

Willot

Gueydan

Aron

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In ectotherms, high temperatures impose physical limits, impeding activity. Exposure to high heat levels causes various deleterious and lethal effects, including protein misfolding and denaturation. Thermophilic ectotherms have evolved various ways to increase macromolecular stability and cope with elevated body temperatures; these include the high constitutive expression of molecular chaperones. In this study, we investigated the effect of moderate to severe heat shock (37-45°C) on survival, heat hardening, protein damage and the expression of five heat tolerance-related genes (hsc70-4 h1, hsc70-4 h2, hsp83, hsc70-5 and hsf1) in two closely related Cataglyphis ants that occur in distinct habitats. Our results show that the highly thermophilic Sahara ant Cataglyphis bombycina constitutively expresses HSC70 at higher levels, but has lower induced expression of heat tolerance-related genes in response to heat shock, as compared with the more mesophilic Cataglyphis mauritanica found in the Atlas Mountains. As a result, C. bombycina demonstrates increased protein stability when exposed to acute heat stress but is less disposed to acquiring induced thermotolerance via heat hardening. These results provide further insight into the evolutionary plasticity of the hsp gene expression system and subsequent physiological adaptations in thermophilous desert insects to adapt to harsh environmental conditions.

show abstract

Social Life in Arid Environments: The Case Study of Cataglyphis Ants

Cited by 61 publications

References 135 publications

Determining social and population structures requires multiple approaches: A case study of the desert antCataglyphis israelensis

Determining social and population structures requires multiple approaches: A case study of the desert antCataglyphis israelensis

Repeated evolution of queen parthenogenesis and social hybridogenesis in Cataglyphis desert ants

Proteome stability, heat hardening, and heat-shock protein expression profiles in Cataglyphis desert ants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About