Polyandry and fitness in the western harvester ant,<i>Pogonomyrmex occidentalis</i>

Wiernasz, Diane C.; Perroni, Christina L.; Cole, Blaine J.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2004.02153.x

Cited by 84 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Genetic diversity was also shown to reduce colony-level variance in task performance or at maintaining a stable temperature in the nest (Jones et al 2004). In ants, increased genetic diversity is correlated with higher growth rates and survival of the colonies in the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis (Wiernasz et al 2004), but not with colony productivity in F. truncorum (Sundström & Ratnieks 1998) and Lasius niger . In a more causal study in which genetic diversity of colonies was experimentally manipulated, Rosset et al (2005) recently showed that increased genetic diversity had no significant impact on task efficiency (exploration of new territories, food collection, nest moving and corpse removal) and overall colony productivity in the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity, worker size polymorphism and division of labour in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor

et al. 2008

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Understanding the adaptive significance of multiple mating (polyandry) by females has long been a challenge in evolutionary biology. Several genetic and nongenetic benefits have been proposed to explain the evolution and maintenance of polyandry. In eusocial Hymenoptera, a prominent hypothesis is that increased genetic diversity within colonies results in more polymorphic workers and facilitates division of labour. We analysed the genetic basis of worker size (i.e. worker head width) and task preference in Cataglyphis cursor, an ant showing natural variations in queen-mating frequency. Our data show that increased genetic diversity within colonies does not result in more polymorphic workers. Moreover, worker head width is not different between patrilines within colonies. Consistent with these findings, worker size has a low heritable component. Moreover, task performance is not correlated with patriline. By contrast, it is significantly associated with worker size: the first foragers leaving the nest at sunrise are significantly larger than workers remaining in the nest. Overall, these results do not support the hypothesis that multiple mating is favoured because increased genetic diversity within colonies translates into more polymorphic workers and facilitates genetic polyethism. We discuss other hypotheses to account for the evolution of polyandry in C. cursor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity, worker size polymorphism and division of labour in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor

et al. 2008

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“…3), the associated P value (0.07) has marginal significance, indicating a higher mating frequency, sperm precedence, or extrinsic influences on colony founding success. Other harvester ant species, P. rugosus, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, and Pogonomyrmex badius, show considerable variability in patriline numbers and an unequal patriline representation within colonies (11,35,36). Thus, even if a queen mates with multiple males, the sperm of a single male may be overrepresented during initial brood production.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population-wide lineage frequencies predict genetic load in the seed-harvester antPogonomyrmex

Anderson

Hölldobler²,

Fewell

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Many populations of the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus exhibit genetic caste determination (GCD) generated by the interbreeding of two distinct yet interdependent lineages. Samelineage matings are genetically predestined to become female reproductives (gynes) whereas alternate-lineage matings become workers. The perpetuation of this system requires that reproductives of both lineages are available for mating and are thus part of the effective population. We label these dependent lineage populations, because each lineage depends on the alternate lineage for worker production. Here we investigate the potential costs associated with GCD in a population with highly skewed lineage frequencies. We reared colonies using newly mated queens from a GCD population and an ecologically equivalent Pogonomyrmex rugosus population with environmental caste determination. GCD founding queens suffer a genetic load from mating randomly and produce fewer brood with advanced development compared with environmental caste determination queens. Our results indicate that GCD queens acquiring a high proportion of same-lineage sperm are unlikely to found a colony successfully. Given model parameters of random mating and founding queens mating with three males on average, there was a close fit between theoretical expectations of variation in colony worker production based on mating and lineage frequencies and empirical deficits in worker production. As expected, severely decreased worker production was specific to the common lineage, suggesting that negative frequency-dependent selection acts to stabilize a dependent lineage system. genetic caste determination ͉ dependent lineage system ͉ frequency-dependent selection ͉ mating frequency ͉ obligate polyandry T he success of social insect societies is largely attributed to reproductive division of labor in which most colony members are sterile and provide for the reproductive caste, rather than producing their own progeny (1). The accepted mechanism for differentiation of colony members into reproductive and sterile castes is environmental caste determination (ECD), or caste polyphenism, a developmentally plastic process in which eggs or larvae of similar genotypes develop into discrete phenotypes depending on their environment (2-6). Genetic caste determination (GCD) occurs when different female genotypes are more likely to become either reproductives (gynes) or workers. Gynes become queens when they successfully mate and found a new colony. Although ECD is clearly predominant, there is growing evidence for a genetic influence on caste determination in some Hymenoptera (7-11).Differentiation of gynes and workers is determined by genotype in many populations of the seed-harvester ants Pogonomyrmex barbatus and Pogonomyrmex rugosus (12-15). In GCD colonies, gynes are consistently homozygous at diagnostic loci whereas workers are heterozygous at the same loci (12,16,17). This genetic colony structure occurs because founding queens mate with males of two distinct and reproductively iso...

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“…parasites, pathogens). Increasing genetic diversity within colonies has been shown to enhance productivity and fitness in social insects (ants: Cole & Wiernasz 1999;Wiernasz et al 2004; honeybee, Apis mellifera: Tarpy Rueppell et al 2008). This hypothesis, however, seems, unlikely to account for the relationship between the number of mates and the contribution of queens to the brood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of queen phenotype, investment and maternity apportionment on the outcome of fights in cooperative foundations of the ant Lasius niger

2009

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Keywords: aggression black garden ant colony founding competition Lasius niger microsatellite pleometrosis reproductive conflict Cooperative colony founding (pleometrosis) in social insects is an ideal model for investigating how cooperation and competition shape social behaviour among unrelated individuals. In many ant species, foundress associations are more competitive and the colonies survive better compared with singlequeen colonies. However, cooperation among queens breaks down at the time of emergence of the first workers, and all but one queen are eliminated. Because no sexuals are produced in incipient colonies, the surviving queen will monopolize the future reproductive success of the colony, while defeated queens will have zero fitness. We examined factors affecting queens' survival prospects during reversion to single-queen colonies in cooperative foundations of the ant Lasius niger. By combining phenotypic and genotypic analyses, we determined how queen's size, individual investment and maternity apportionment influence the outcome of fights. Larger queens were more likely to survive fights. However, smaller queens survived up to one-third of the fighting. By contrast, neither weight loss at the time of a fight outbreak, a measure of queens' relative investment in brood production, nor maternity apportionment influenced the outcome of fights. Moreover, investment of cofoundresses and partitioning of reproduction were not adjusted to queen's size, suggesting that reproductive competition among queens does not occur before the emergence of the first workers. These results lead us to consider pleometrotic associations in L. niger as a 'best of a bad job', whereby the benefits of joint founding and the probability of surviving the conflict might be sufficient for smaller queens to embark on cooperative foundations. Ó

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Polyandry and fitness in the western harvester ant,Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Cited by 84 publications

References 63 publications

Genetic diversity, worker size polymorphism and division of labour in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor

Genetic diversity, worker size polymorphism and division of labour in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor

Population-wide lineage frequencies predict genetic load in the seed-harvester antPogonomyrmex

Influence of queen phenotype, investment and maternity apportionment on the outcome of fights in cooperative foundations of the ant Lasius niger

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