Dispersal and population structure of a New World predator, the army ant <i>Eciton burchellii</i>

Berghoff, Stefanie M.; Kronauer, Daniel J. C.; Edwards, Keith J.; Franks, Nigel R.

doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01531.x

Cited by 37 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…A recent study showed that a Panamanian population of the army ant Eciton burchellii Mayr exhibits high nuclear gene flow, in spite of restricted maternal (mitochondrial) gene flow (Berghoff et al 2008). Obviously, male-mediated gene flow must be important in these ants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene flow is maintained by polyandry and male dispersal in the army antEciton burchellii

2009

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The combination of haplodiploidy, complementary sex determination and eusociality constrains the effective population size (N e ) of social Hymenoptera far more than in any other insect group. Additional limitations on N e occur in army ants since they have wingless queens and colony fission, both of which are factors causing restricted maternal gene flow and high population viscosity. Therefore, winged army ant males gain a particular significance to ensure dispersal, facilitate gene flow and avoid inbreeding. Based on population genetic analyses with microsatellite markers, we studied a population of the Neotropical army ant Eciton burchellii, finding a high level of heterozygosity, weak population differentiation and no evidence for inbreeding. Moreover, by using sibship reconstruction analyses, we quantified the actual number of male contributing colonies represented in a queen's mate sample, demonstrating that, through extreme multiple mating, the queens are able to sample the genes of males from up to ten different colonies, usually located within an approximate radius of 1 km. We finally correlated the individual mating success of each male contributing colony with the relative siring success of individual males and found a significant colony-dependent male fitness component. Our results imply that the dispersal and mating system of these army ants seem to enhance gene flow and minimise the deleterious effects associated with small effective population size.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene flow is maintained by polyandry and male dispersal in the army antEciton burchellii

2009

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“…This holds as well for the coxI barcoding fragments, while divergence becomes even more pronounced with 12.8 % on average between our Mexican lineages (14.2 % over all lineages). Though deep coxI divergence within some ant species seems not to be unusual (Smith et al 2005;Fisher and Smith 2008), and particularly in army ants restricted maternal dispersal may foster mtDNA differentiation (Berghoff et al 2008;Barth et al 2013), the inclusion of nuclear 28S fragments shows that our results are not an artifact of mtDNA divergence only. Taking the 28S phylogeny alone not only confirms the whole sequence tree topology but still results in a divergence of 3.7 % between colony Cac1 and the other three, compared to 0.0 % among the latter (2.4 % among all Labidus species).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…The non-detection error of males (probability of genotypic identity by chance, Boomsma and Ratnieks 1996) is only 3.5 % for the two loci, and the nonsampling error is 0.53 on average, according to fitted Poisson distributions. Also population fragmentation can hardly explain this pattern because the well flying army ant males easily allow for gene flow within our sampling area (Berghoff et al 2008;Jaffé et al 2009;Barth et al 2013), and colonies Cac1 and Cac2 were even sampled in the very same time and place (Table 1). Thus, our results suggest two sympatric, but strongly reproductively isolated L. praedator lineages within our samples, which are, however, hardly distinguishable with the classical morphological keys (Borgmeier 1955;Watkins 1976Watkins , 1982 (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic differentiation at species level in the Neotropical army ant Labidus praedator

2015

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The nomadic, swarm-raiding army ant Labidus praedator (Smith, 1858) is an important arthropod predator in the Neotropics with a strong ecological impact on invertebrate communities. However, despite its high abundance and ubiquity over a large distribution range, it received relatively little scientific attention. Moreover, the taxonomic status is confusing because some morphological descriptions point towards the co-occurrence of several distinct taxa which are lumped together as L. praedator in most classical keys. Yet, clarifying genetic studies are lacking. Here, we show strong genetic differentiation within an L. praedator population in Mexico. Both microsatellite genotype patterns and phylogenetic analyses (concatenated nuclear and mtDNA sequences, including the coxI genetic barcoding region), reveal the occurrence of two strongly isolated lineages. Colonies from the very same location, clearly identified as the same species (L. praedator) according to classical morphological keys, exhibit an extremely high average sequence divergence (9.7-12.8 %), which was well in the range of divergence among GenBank sequences from other Labidus species. Thus, our data very likely show genetic differentiation at species level or cryptic speciation within L. praedator, which should be recognized when investigating biodiversity and ecological importance of army ants (or other arthropods) in the Neotropics.

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“…A similar genetic population structure of the host plant and ant partner in the latter association suggested that the population structure reflected historical colonisation dynamics, underscoring the importance of interdependence among ant and plant partners in shaping the genetic population structure of both symbionts (Leotard et al, 2008). The highly specialised nesting requirements of obligatory social parasites that require host colonies of specific ant species for reproduction (Trontti et al, 2006) or specific breeding systems where one sex shows very limited dispersal only (Chapuisat et al, 1997;Doums et al, 2002;Oberstadt & Heinze, 2003;Berghoff et al, 2008) have also been discussed as a factor responsible for strong differentiation at small spatial scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of dispersal distances of the obligately plant‐associated ant Crematogaster decamera

Türke¹,

Fiala²,

Linsenmair³

et al. 2010

Ecological Entomology

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Abstract. 1. In obligate symbioses with horizontal transmission, the population dynamics of the partner organisms are highly interdependent. Host population size limits symbiont number, and distribution of partners is restricted by the presence and thus dispersal abilities of their respective partner. The Crematogaster decamera -Macaranga hypoleuca ant-plant symbiosis is obligate for both partners. Host survival depends on colonisation by its ant partner while foundress queens require hosts for colony establishment.2. An experimental approach and population genetic analyses were combined to estimate dispersal distances of foundresses in their natural habitat in a Bornean primary rainforest.3. Colonisation frequency was significantly negatively correlated with distance to potential reproductive colonies. Results were similar for seedlings at natural densities as well as for seedlings brought out in the area experimentally. Population genetic analysis revealed significant population differentiation with an F ST of 0.041 among foundresses (n = 157) located at maximum 2280 m apart. In genetic spatial autocorrelation, genotypes of foundresses were significantly more similar than expected at random below 550 m and less similar above 620 m. Direct estimation of dispersal distances by pedigree analysis yielded an average dispersal distance of 468 m (maximum 1103 m).4. For ants that disperse on the wing, genetic differentiation at such small spatial scales is unusual. The specific nesting requirements of the queens and the necessity for queens to find a host quickly could lead to colonisation of the first suitable seedling encountered, promoting short dispersal distances. Nonetheless, dispersal distances of C. decamera queens may vary with habitat or host spatial distribution.

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Dispersal and population structure of a New World predator, the army ant Eciton burchellii

Cited by 37 publications

References 62 publications

Gene flow is maintained by polyandry and male dispersal in the army antEciton burchellii

Gene flow is maintained by polyandry and male dispersal in the army antEciton burchellii

Genetic differentiation at species level in the Neotropical army ant Labidus praedator

Estimation of dispersal distances of the obligately plant‐associated ant Crematogaster decamera

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