INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION OF THE FIRE ANT, <i>SOLENOPSIS INVICTA</i>

Ball, David E.; Mirenda, John; Sorensen, A. Ann; Vinson, S. B.

doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1983.tb03256.x

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Fire ant queens mate monandrously (or primarily monandrously) so that a single queen produces only workers from a single patriline, or genetic lineage [ 35 , 44 ]. Fire ants mate in nuptial flights high in the air and attempts to artificially cross them in the lab have proved challenging and largely ineffective [ 45 , 46 ]. Thus, studies of heritability must be approached via indirect methods.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior

2015

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Individuals vary within a species in many ecologically important ways, but the causes and consequences of such variation are often poorly understood. Foraging behavior is among the most profitable and risky activities in which organisms engage and is expected to be under strong selection. Among social insects there is evidence that within-colony variation in traits such as foraging behavior can increase colony fitness, but variation between colonies and the potential consequences of such variation are poorly documented. In this study, we tested natural populations of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, for the existence of colony and regional variation in foraging behavior and tested the persistence of this variation over time and across foraging habitats. We also reared single-lineage colonies in standardized environments to explore the contribution of colony lineage. Fire ants from natural populations exhibited significant and persistent colony and regional-level variation in foraging behaviors such as extra-nest activity, exploration, and discovery of and recruitment to resources. Moreover, colony-level variation in extra-nest activity was significantly correlated with colony growth, suggesting that this variation has fitness consequences. Lineage of the colony had a significant effect on extra-nest activity and exploratory activity and explained approximately half of the variation observed in foraging behaviors, suggesting a heritable component to colony-level variation in behavior.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior

2015

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“…Queen and male age is also important for AI success in the honeybee Apis mellifera, where decades of bee breeding have shown that more queens survive and successfully produce offspring when they are inseminated roughly 7-10 days after hatching (Cobey, 2007) and using the semen of males that are about 2-weeks old, when semen quality is highest (Locke and Peng, 1993). We obtained further indications of the importance of optimal starting material by scrutinizing the fire ant AI data by Ball et al (1983). The percentage of fire ant queens producing pupae after AI was found to be higher (27 %) than in our study, but Ball et al (1983) apparently only used queens that were engaging in flights just prior to AI so that optimal sexual maturity at that point was highly likely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…We obtained further indications of the importance of optimal starting material by scrutinizing the fire ant AI data by Ball et al (1983). The percentage of fire ant queens producing pupae after AI was found to be higher (27 %) than in our study, but Ball et al (1983) apparently only used queens that were engaging in flights just prior to AI so that optimal sexual maturity at that point was highly likely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…AI techniques are also available for commercially valuable crustaceans such as the tiger prawn (Benzie et al, 1995) and the lobster (Aiken et al, 1984) and for insects such as honeybees (Mackensen and Roberts, 1948;Ruttner, 1975), the silkworm Bombyx mori (Takemura et al, 1996), bumblebees (Baer and Schmid-Hempel, 2000), and the bedbug Cimex lectularius (Davis, 1964). However, only a single paper describing the manual transfer of semen from males to queens has been published for ants (the fire ant Solenopsis invicta; Ball et al, 1983); to our knowledge, this study has never been elaborated further.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A technique to artificially inseminate leafcutter ants

2012

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Artificial insemination (AI), the instrumental transfer of semen from the male to female reproductive organs, offers excellent opportunities to study mating system adaptations as it allows paternity to be experimentally manipulated. AI techniques have been developed for many animals, but rarely for ants, where they would be particularly useful as most species do not mate under controlled lab conditions. Here, we describe an AI technique for Atta leafcutter ants involving (1) the collection of ejaculates via induction of natural ejaculation, (2) storage in glass capillaries, and (3) transfer to queens using a modified AI equip ment as used for honeybees. Queens were fixed and anesthetized in a queen holder, after which the sting chamber was opened with two steel hooks, the tip of the semen-containing glass capillary was inserted into the bursa copulatrix and the semen slowly expelled. Sperm was successfully stored in the spermatheca of queens, and some queens produced a small colony as a result. We could furthermore confirm the earlier observations that Atta semen is directly transferred to the spermatheca rather than to the bursa copulatrix as in most other eusocial insects. The technique that we present here can offer novel opportunities to study mating events such as sperm transfer, sperm competition, and cryptic female choice in ants. At present, the number of queens that produce colonies after AI remains low. However, this number will likely increase, as our results indicate that rearing conditions after AI influence colony founding success of artificially inseminated Atta queens.

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“…The observation that fire ant MAGs contain and transfer the same fatty acids as do those of the bumblebees makes it likely that they serve they both serve to inhibit female re-mating. Further circumstantial evidence linking the function of fire ant and bumblebee MAGs comes from reports that MAG secretions are not critical for the successful instrumental insemination of either bumblebees or fire ants (Ball et al, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for mating plugs in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

Mikheyev

2003

Insectes Sociaux

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Male inhibition of female re-mating is common in many insects. Mating plugs, used by males to control female re-mating, have been postulated in several ant species. Recent studies of bumblebees have described re-mating inhibition by male accessory gland secretions. Fire ants Solenopsis invicta possess accessory glands containing the same four fatty acids as do the bumblebees. Furthermore it appears that some of these acids are transferred to the female at mating. Thus, it is possible that single mating of fire ant females may be enforced by male mating plugs.

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INSTRUMENTAL INSEMINATION OF THE FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS INVICTA

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior

Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior

A technique to artificially inseminate leafcutter ants

Evidence for mating plugs in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

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