Patterns of male parentage in the fungus-growing ants

Villesen, Palle; Boomsma, Jacobus J.

doi:10.1007/s00265-002-0577-9

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Second, viability of worker-laid eggs is clearly demonstrated by the high number of males reared in queenless colonies of wasps, bees and ants (e.g. Marchal, 1896;Ross, 1985;Bourke, 1988;Martin, 1990;Foster and Ratnieks, 2001c;Miller and Ratnieks, 2001;Villesen and Boomsma, 2003). Finally, if workers are able to lay eggs, natural selection should favour laying viable eggs, unless they have a trophic function.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worker policing in the common wasp Vespula vulgaris is not aimed at improving colony hygiene

et al. 2006

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In insect societies, eggs laid by workers are frequently killed by other workers -a behaviour known as "worker policing". The traditional explanation of worker policing is that it is a mechanism to resolve intracolony conflict, and maintain the reproductive monopoly of the queen. Recently, Pirk et al. (2004) proposed that worker policing instead is aimed at removing unviable worker-laid eggs and is ultimately just another example of hygienic behaviour. Here we test this hypothesis for the common wasp Vespula vulgaris, a species with highly effective worker policing. We show that worker-laid eggs from queenless colonies have a lower hatch rate (68%) than queen-laid eggs (82%). Analysis of egg laying rates of queens and workers, however, shows that the difference is not big enough to explain the apparent absence of adult worker-derived males in this species.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worker policing in the common wasp Vespula vulgaris is not aimed at improving colony hygiene

et al. 2006

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“…In particular, many species with single-mated queens have little or no worker reproduction [34]. In some of these species, such as the hornet Vespa crabro (18), there is strong evidence for worker policing, but in others, such as the lower attine ants [35], it is unclear whether egg policing occurs. A comparative analysis of nine wasp species and the honeybee Apis mellifera shows that significantly fewer workers attempt to reproduce when the eggs they lay are more effectively killed or 'policed' by nestmates.…”

Section: Selection For Coercionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altruism in insect societies and beyond: voluntary or enforced?

Ratnieks

Wenseleers

2008

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

173

196

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“…In addition, genetic marker studies have so far failed to find evidence of worker reproduction in queenright colonies of the leafcutter ant Ac. octospinosus (Boomsma et al, 1999) and a number of closely related fungusgrowing ant genera (Villesen and Boomsma, 2003). The aim of the present study is to determine the frequency and within-nest distribution of trophic and reproductive egg-laying workers in queenright leafcutter ant colonies, and to unravel some of the ultimate and proximate causes of the observed patterns of self-restraint and worker sterility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Self-restraint and sterility in workers of Acromyrmex and Atta leafcutter ants

Dijkstra¹,

Nash²,

Boomsma³

2005

Insectes Soc.

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Summary. Queens of leafcutter ants (Acromyrmex and Atta) are highly multiply mated, resulting in a potential queenworker and worker-worker conflict over who should produce the males in the colony. We studied whether this conflict is expressed, by determining the amount of reproductive egglaying by workers in queenright colonies of Acromyrmex echinatior, Acromyrmex octospinosus, Atta cephalotes, and Atta sexdens through ovary dissections. Worker sons are absent or rare in queenright Acromyrmex colonies, but can be produced in orphaned colonies. In Atta, most workers have rudimentary ovaries that never produce eggs, but a few (mostly small and medium workers that form a retinue around the queen) lay many trophic eggs for consumption by the queen. These eggs are large, flaccid, and lacking in yolk compared to queen-laid eggs, and appear to be always inviable. In Acromyrmex, many workers (especially young large workers) lay eggs that are similar in size to queen-laid eggs, but mostly with a reduced amount of yolk. Trophic eggs appear to be an important source of food for larvae in Acromyrmex (especially in Ac. echinatior), but not in Atta. Five (0.8 %) of 616 dissected Ac. echinatior workers but no Ac. octospinosus workers (n = 552), had ready-to-lay reproductive eggs. Old workers in all four species are incapable of laying eggs due to ovary resorption. We conclude that Atta workers are sterile, while Acromyrmex workers display reproductive self-restraint, possibly representing an earlier stage in the evolution towards worker sterility. Worker selfrestraint in Acromyrmex may be maintained by a queen or worker policing mechanism, but individual cost-benefit explanations may also apply.

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Patterns of male parentage in the fungus-growing ants

Cited by 23 publications

References 41 publications

Worker policing in the common wasp Vespula vulgaris is not aimed at improving colony hygiene

Worker policing in the common wasp Vespula vulgaris is not aimed at improving colony hygiene

Altruism in insect societies and beyond: voluntary or enforced?

Self-restraint and sterility in workers of Acromyrmex and Atta leafcutter ants

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