Caste regulation in the ant Monomorium pharaonis (L.) with emphasis on the role of queens

Boonen, Sofie; Billen, Johan

doi:10.1007/s00040-016-0521-z

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This implies a threshold response, where sexual brood cannibalism would cease if the number of egg-laying queens fell below a certain critical number. The highly dose-dependent response may also explain why some previous studies erroneously concluded that there was no evidence for any pheromonally mediated regulation of sexual production in M. pharaonis [20,29]. Interestingly, we observed that neocembrene inhibited the rearing of new queens and males in similar amounts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Identification of a queen pheromone mediating the rearing of adult sexuals in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

et al. 2020

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The division of labour between reproductive queens and mostly sterile workers is among the defining characteristics of social insects. Queen-produced chemical signals advertising her presence and fertility status, i.e. queen pheromones, are normally used to assert the queen's reproductive dominance in the colony. Most queen pheromones identified to date are chemicals that stop the daughter workers from reproducing. Nevertheless, it has long been suggested that queen pheromones could also regulate reproduction in different ways. In some multiple-queen ants with obligately sterile workers, for example—such as fire ants and pharaoh ants—queen pheromones are thought to regulate reproduction by inhibiting the rearing of new sexuals. Here, we identify the first such queen pheromone in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis and demonstrate its mode of action via bioassays with the pure biosynthesized compound. In particular, we show that the monocyclic diterpene neocembrene, which in different Monomorium species is produced solely by fertile, egg-laying queens, strongly inhibits the rearing of new sexuals (queens and males) and also exerts a weakly attractive ‘queen retinue’ effect on the workers. This is the first time that a queen pheromone with such a dual function has been identified in a social insect species with obligately sterile workers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Identification of a queen pheromone mediating the rearing of adult sexuals in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

et al. 2020

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“…Monomorium pharaonis and Pheidole pallidula), queens are much larger and highly fertile, with 24 to over 100 ovarioles [19,85] that can produce hundreds of eggs per day. In these species, caste determination also occurs during or before embryogenesis, allowing queens to control primary caste ratios [17,30], but workers regulate colony-level caste (and sex) allocation by culling sexual brood in the presence of fertile queens, thus influencing the timing of sexual production [38,72,[86][87][88][89]. High productivity may allow these species to adopt a reproductive allocation strategy that would be too costly for C. obscurior, also because it requires brood to produce traits that can be used for discrimination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queens control caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

et al. 2023

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Social insect queens and workers can engage in conflict over reproductive allocation when they have different fitness optima. Here, we show that queens have control over queen-worker caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior , a species in which workers lack reproductive organs. We describe crystalline deposits that distinguish castes from the egg stage onwards, providing the first report of a discrete trait that can be used to identify ant caste throughout pre-imaginal development. The comparison of queen and worker-destined eggs and larvae revealed size and weight differences in late development, but no discernible differences in traits that may be used in social interactions, including hair morphology and cuticular odours. In line with a lack of caste-specific traits, adult workers treated developing queens and workers indiscriminately. Together with previous studies demonstrating queen control over sex allocation, these results show that queens control reproductive allocation in C. obscurior and suggest that the fitness interests of colony members are aligned to optimize resource allocation in this ant.

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“…Queen control of sex allocation has been demonstrated previously in ants [19,[51][52][53], but complete control over caste allocation has, to the best of our knowledge, not been described. In other ant genera with fully sterile workers such as fire ants (Solenopsis), Pharaoh ants (Monomorium) and big-headed ants (Pheidole), caste may similarly be determined in the egg, allowing queens control over primary caste ratios [13,54]; however, workers continue to play an important role in regulating secondary caste ratios by culling sexual larvae in the presence of fertile queens or their pheromonal equivalent [46,[55][56][57][58][59][60][61].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal control over caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

Wallner

Schultner

Oettler

2021

Preprint

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Social insects are interesting models for the study of anticipatory developmental plasticity because of the striking differentiation into reproductive queens and functionally sterile workers. A few ant genera, including Cardiocondyla, represent the pinnacle of social evolution in the Hymenoptera, where workers have completely lost their reproductive organs, minimizing reproductive conflicts between queens and workers. Here we show that late embryos and larvae of queens of the ant C. obscurior can be identified by the appearance of urate deposits around the forming ovaries. The discovery of caste-specific urate patterns in C. obscurior and three additional Cardiocondyla species will facilitate future studies of developmental plasticity in ants.

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Caste regulation in the ant Monomorium pharaonis (L.) with emphasis on the role of queens

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 publications

Identification of a queen pheromone mediating the rearing of adult sexuals in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

Identification of a queen pheromone mediating the rearing of adult sexuals in the pharaoh ant Monomorium pharaonis

Queens control caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

Maternal control over caste allocation in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior

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