Queen adoption in colonies of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae (original) (raw)
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Queen adoption in colonies of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Hymenoptera: F
Fuel and Energy Abstracts, 2005
Bioassays were conducted in both laboratory and the field to determine if monogynous colonies of Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans (Myrmicinae, Attini) adopt queens from other colonies of the same subspecies. The results suggest that the adoption of fertilized queens is a possible mechanism to explain the occurrence of colonies with multiple queens in this subspecies. Only minor workers were able to discriminate queens from other colonies and were aggressive toward them. Therefore, queen recognition differs among subcastes.
Ethology, 2010
We present evidence indicating that the level of nestmate discrimination in the facultatively polygynous ant Pseudomyrmex pullidus varies predictably with the number of queens in the colony. P. pallidus workers were introduced into observation arenas in either nestmate or non-nestmate pairs. During the 5-min period immediately following the first contact between test ants, all interactions and relative distances were recorded. Aggression between non-nestmates was negatively correlated with the number of queens in the colony and distance between nestmates was positively correlated. These results are consistent with predictions of Reeve's (1989) optimal acceptance threshold model.
Ontogeny of queen attraction to workers in the ant Cataglyphis cursor (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Insectes Sociaux, 1991
Summary The behaviour ofCataglyphis cursor workers towards queens at 15 days, one month or two months after worker emergence was tested. Workers reared entirely with their own maternal queen were tested with this queen or with an unfamiliar alien queen. Workers transferred within 48 h of emerging to a new definitive nest with an alien queen were tested with this
2006
The present study focused on the relationship between the queen and workers in Acromyrmex subterraneus brunneus colonies mediated by the possible transfer of substances from the fertile to the sterile caste. The queens were submitted to different situations of physical limitation, i.e., they were kept isolated in cages with holes that only permitted the entry of workers but left the queen isolated. A tracer (water-soluble dye) was applied to the pronotum and gaster of the queen and its dispersal among workers was analyzed. The results demonstrated that the minor sub caste (0.7-0.9 mm) passed on the dye through allogrooming and self-grooming, or transferred the dye through trophallaxis to the major sub caste (1.2-2.0 mm) when they were not in direct contact with the queen. These findings indicate the communication and probable transfer of substances from the queen to the workers, as well as a substance transfer between workers.
Queen number and raiding behavior in the ant genus Myrmecocystus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
2011
An experimental field study demonstrates that mature colonies of Myrmecocystus mimicus WHEELER, 1908 raid neighboring conspecific small colonies without preceding territorial tournament actions. We also report a total of 17 complete brood raids that did not originate from territorial tournaments, collected during 10 field research seasons. The number of captured brood and booty varied greatly: 6-137 larvae, 9-152 pupae, 0-4 callows, 0-23 honeypots. We also observed raiding ants transporting liquid food in their crops when they left the raided nest (49-409). Most likely, this food was solicited from honeypots inside the foreign nest. In general, the captured booty during these raids is considerably smaller than that retrieved during raids that originated from tournaments. The socio-genetic analyses provided evidence that workers eclosing from raided brood become part of the work force of the raider colony. This was shown for Myrmecocystus mimicus and M. depilis FOREL, 1901. In M. depilis, we confirm previous findings by KRONAUER & al. (2003) of interspecific raiding (i.e., M. depilis raids M. mimicus but not vice versa). In addition, we provide genetic evidence for facultative polygyny in M. mimicus, and obligatory monogyny and occasional polyandry in M. depilis.
2018
The evolution of permanent inquiline social parasites in ants has been conjectured to be facilitated by secondary poly gyny, that is, the re-adoption of new queens into existing mature colonies. This idea was first formulated by Wasmann, Wheeler, and Emery more than a century ago. Emery predicted that inquilines should be the sister-lineages of their hosts, which prompted Alfred Buschinger to propose that they evolve by sympatric speciation. However, these scenarios hinge on two vital conditions that have not been quantitatively documented: 1. That host sister species are secondarily polygynous and primarily recruit close kin, and 2. That such adoptions are prone to occasional mistakes that would select for the condition-dependent expression of exploitative traits and reproductive isolation by disruptive selection. Here, we use a long-term data set on the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior (Forel, 1899), known to have a closely related inquiline social parasite A. insinuator Sch...
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1997
Multiple-queen (polygyne) colonies of the introduced fire ant Solenopsis invicta present a paradox for kin selection theory. Egg-laying queens within these societies are, on average, unrelated to one another, and the numbers of queens per colony are high, so that workers appear to raise new sexuals that are no more closely related to them than are random individuals in the population. This paradox could be resolved if workers discriminate between related and unrelated nestmate sexuals in important fitness-related contexts. This study examines the possibility of such nepotism using methods that combine the following features: (1) multiple relevant behavioral assays, (2) colonies with an unmanipulated family structure, (3) multiple genetic markers with no known phenotypic effects, and (4) a statistical technique for distinguishing between nepotism and potentially confounding phenomena. We estimated relatedness between interactants in polygyne S. invicta colonies in two situations, workers tending egg-laying queens and workers feeding maturing winged queens. In neither case did we detect a significant positive value of relatedness that would implicate nepotism. We argue that the non-nepotistic strategies displayed by these ants reflect historical selection pressures experienced by native populations, in which nestmate queens are highly related to one another. The markedly different genetic structure in native populations may favor the operation of stronger higher-level selection that effectively opposes weaker individual-level selection for nepotistic interactions within nests.
Journal of Insect Behavior, 1990
In socially parasitic ants, interspecific bonds between parasite and host develop during the process of colony founding. Early laboratory studies of colony takeover by queens of the facultative slave raiders, Formica rubicunda F. sanguinea (Viehmeyer, 1908), found that resident workers typically fled to a remote corner of the nest, and introduced queens eventually appropriated the pupal brood, usually without killing the resident queen. In contrast, studies of the obligatory parasitic ant genus Polyergus, Emery (1908), verified that queens of P. rufescens, P. lucidus, and P. breviceps routinely kill resident Formica queens during colony takeover.