Sexual broods and the production of young queens in two species of army ants

Schneirla, T. C.; Brown, Robert Z.

doi:10.5962/p.203456

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…During non‐reproductive brood cycles, army ants are replenishing their worker force with each cycle. During reproductive cycles, workers are not produced (Schneirla & Brown, 1952), presumably resulting in an extended period when colony size decreases as a result of worker loss. This is compounded by colony fission following mating, resulting in abrupt decreases in colony size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The synchronization is within colonies and not among colonies, with each round of worker production requiring about 30 days (Schneirla, 1971). When sexuals are produced, it is a dedicated brood cycle in which only males and new queens are produced (at least for well‐studied species Eciton burchellii and E. hamatum , and possibly for most or all army ants; Schneirla, 1948; Schneirla & Brown, 1952). Sexual production is strongly male biased, with just a few virgin queens and hundreds to thousands of males (Schneirla, 1948; Schneirla & Brown, 1952).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When sexuals are produced, it is a dedicated brood cycle in which only males and new queens are produced (at least for well‐studied species Eciton burchellii and E. hamatum , and possibly for most or all army ants; Schneirla, 1948; Schneirla & Brown, 1952). Sexual production is strongly male biased, with just a few virgin queens and hundreds to thousands of males (Schneirla, 1948; Schneirla & Brown, 1952). The males are robust flying insects that are much larger than the workers and similar in size to the queens they mate with.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the broad tropical region, where annual temperature and day length variation is small, army ants experience a range of precipitation regimes, from desert habitats to monsoonal tropical dry forest to almost aseasonal rainforest. Seasonal patterns in the appearance of army ant males must involve (1) a cue to initiate a sexual brood, at least a month before males appear (Flanders, 1976; Schneirla & Brown, 1952); and (2) synchronization among colonies, such that many colonies initiate sexual production at approximately the same time (with some variation due to the general asynchrony of brood cycles among colonies).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sexual production is strongly male biased, with just a few virgin queens and hundreds to thousands of males (Schneirla, 1948;Schneirla & Brown, 1952). The males are robust flying insects that are much larger than the workers and similar in size to the queens they mate with.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Army ant males lose seasonality at a site on the equator

et al. 2022

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Constraining effects of seasonal cold are obvious in temperate zone habitats, and effects of seasonal drought can be obvious in areas of highly seasonal rainfall. But phenological patterns become more variable, subtle, and complex in less seasonal tropical environments (Abernethy et al., 2018). Many studies of phenology emphasize plants, but phenology of consumers also receives attention (Van Schaik et al., 1993). Tropical insects exhibit a wide range of seasonal patterns, even in very weakly seasonal regions (Kishimoto-Yamada et al., 2015;Wolda, 1988). Ants are dominant consumers in tropical forests and phenology of ant reproductive flights has been

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%