La biologie de la fourmiDolichoderus quadripunctatus (Hyménoptère-Formicoidea-Dolichoderidae)

Dominance and fertility in a functionally monogynous ant

“…We observed that prior to oviposition, workers flexed the gaster below the thorax, p r o t r u d e d the stinger, and secreted droplets of a whitish fluid that were eaten by high r a n k i n g females, sometimes by other workers, and once by the secreting w o r k e r herself. Similar behaviors have been described a m o n g the D o l i c h o d e r i n a e (e.g., Torossian 1958) and in the myrmicine Zacryptocerus varians (Wilson 1976). In Dolichoderus quadripunctatus, the fluid has been identified as the y o l k y r e m n a n t s of abortive trophic eggs (Torossian 1978).…”

Intricacies of the Biology of Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…Before discussing our results in light of studies on D. quadripunctatus , a few notes of caution are in place. Torossian (1960, 1967a,b,c, 1968a,b) studied the species in France both in the field through three whole active seasons, and experimentally in the laboratory. Stukalyuk (2018) studied in Ukraine an extensive supercolony which stretched over numerous trees, mainly walnut.…”

“…Its nests are usually found in dead parts of living trees, under bark, in empty galls, old wooden structures, but also in rock and wall crevices. Often such spaces can accommodate only a few dozen individuals, which means that a typical colony with a few hundred workers has to occupy several nests (Torossian 1960, Seifert 2018). The basic social unit of D. quadripunctatus is a strictly monogynous colony with one queenright central or main nest and a number of queenless auxiliary nests which may be distributed even over a considerable space, though usually within a tree (Torossian 1967a, Seifert 2018).…”

“…In such polydomous colony, the queen produces gyne and worker offspring; development of gynes takes place in auxiliary nests which are close enough to the central nest to inhibit reproduction of workers there through their frequent contacts with the queen (Torossian 1967b, c, 1968b). Males, in turn, are produced by workers in such auxiliary nests which are adequately distant from the queenright nest (Torossian 1960, 1968a).…”

Alate gyne of the ant Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (L.) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) follows foraging trail to aphids

“…Typically, it is monogynous polydomy with one main queenright nest and a few branch nests inhabited by workers with possible offspring. This structure is caused by the small size of individual nest spaces which most often can harbour maximally several tens of individuals; the entire colony usually consists of several hundred, rarely over 1000 adults (Torossian 1960(Torossian , 1967aSeifert 2018). The scattered nest loci of the colony enable the species the following specific life-history features: (1) males arise only from eggs laid by workers; (2) worker oviposition is possible only away from the queen; (3) larvae can develop to gynes only without contact with the queen; (4) insemination of gynes frequently takes place inside or close to the nest; (5) to initiate a colony, the gyne needs to be adopted by queenless workers (Torossian 1967b(Torossian , 1968(Torossian , 1974Seifert 2018).…”