Polygyny, the presence of several mated queens within the same colony, is widespread in insect societies. This phenomenon is commonly associated with ecological constraints such as limited nest sites. In habitats where solitary nest foundation is risky, monogynous colonies can reintegrate young daughter queens (secondary polygyny). We studied the reproductive structure (i.e. queen number) of the ectatommine ant Ectatomma tuberculatum from Bahia State, Brazil. This species was found to present facultative polygyny: out of a total of 130 colonies collected, 39.2% were monogynous, while 43.8% were polygynous. Polygynous colonies had significantly more workers than monogynous ones. Queen number in polygynous colonies ranged from 2 to 26, with an average of 4 ± 4 queens per colony. All nestmate queens were egg-layers with no apparent dominance hierarchy or agonistic behavior. Non-nestmate queens were adopted by monogynous colonies suggesting that polygyny is secondary, originating through queen adoption. This species is characterized by an open recognition system, which probably allows a switch from monogynous to polygynous colonies. The behavioral acts of queens showed that resident queens remained frequently immobile on or near the brood, contrarily to alien or adopted queens and gynes. In addition, monogynous queens showed no behavioral or physiological (i.e. by ovarian status) differences in comparison with polygynous ones. Secondary or facultative polygyny, probably associated with queen adoption, may have been favored in particular environmental conditions. Indeed, by increasing colony productivity (i.e. number of workers) and territory size (by budding and polydomy), polygyny could uphold E. tuberculatum as a dominant species in the mosaic of arboreal ants in Neotropical habitats.
In ants, nest relocations are frequent but nevertheless perilous, especially for the reproductive caste. During emigrations, queens are exposed to predation and face the risk of becoming lost. Therefore the optimal strategy should be to move the queen(s) swiftly to a better location, while maintaining maximum worker protection at all times in the new and old nests. The timing of that event is a crucial strategic issue for the colony and may depend on queen number. In monogynous colonies, the queen is vital for colony survival, whereas in polygynous colonies a queen is less essential, if not dispensable. We tested the null hypothesis that queen movement occurs at random within the sequence of emigration events in both monogynous and polygynous colonies of the ponerine ant Pachycondyla obscuricornis. Our study, based on 16 monogynous and 16 polygynous colony emigrations, demonstrates for the first time that regardless of the number of queens per colony, the emigration serial number of a queen occurs in the middle of all emigration events and adult ant emigration events, but not during brood transport events. It therefore appears that the number of workers in both nests plays an essential role in the timing of queen movement. Our results correspond to a robust colony-level strategy since queen emigration is related neither to colony size nor to queen number. Such an optimal strategy is characteristic of ant societies working as highly integrated units and represents a new instance of group-level adaptive behaviors in social insect colonies.
1. Pachycondyla goeldii constitutes the only recorded case of a monogynous (i.e. one queen per colony) polydomous (i.e. several nests per colony) species in the Ponerinae subfamily. This study examines the impact of polydomy on reproductive allocation between nests (also called ‘calies’ in polydomous society) in Pachycondyla goeldii Forel, by: (i) recording the number of workers and sexuals in 67 nests belonging to 21 colonies; (ii) dissection of workers in nine nests containing a queen (QR nests), nine nests without a queen but associated to a QR nest (QL nests) and five nests belonging to colonies that permanently lost the queen (OR nests); and (iii) measuring the length of all eggs present in the nests (our laboratory study shows that queen‐laid eggs were significantly longer than worker‐laid eggs). 2. The number of workers was significantly higher in QR nests than in QL nests, while the number of virgin queens was significantly higher in QL nests compared with QR nests. 3. Worker ovarian activity is inversely related to queen proximity: highest in OR nests, intermediate in QL nests, and lowest in QR nests. 4. Egg length was highest in QR nests, where the queen was most likely the primary egg‐layer, intermediate in QL nests, where eggs could have originated from both the queen and workers, and lowest in OR nests, where workers were the sole egg‐layers. 5. We postulate that the proximal mechanism explaining differences between QR and QL nests is the pheromonal absence of the queen from QL nests and that the evolutionary reasons of these divergences between nest types are likely to originate from the different conflicts occurring in ant colonies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.