The evolution of ant worker polymorphism correlates with multiple social traits

Pletincx, Nathan Lecocq de; Dellicour, Simon; Aron, Serge

doi:10.1007/s00265-021-03049-6

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Not surprisingly, queen–worker dimorphism was a better predictor of worker polymorphism than sexual dimorphism because female castes are developmentally more similar than the sexes. Previous studies have documented the correlation between queen–worker and worker polymorphism across species (Fjerdingstad & Crozier, 2006 ), although these factors are not always correlated (Lecocq de Pletincx et al, 2021 ). The development of workers and queens is more similar than that of workers and males (Anderson et al, 2008 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have documented the correlation between queenworker and worker polymorphism across species (Fjerdingstad & Crozier, 2006), although these factors are not always correlated (Lecocq de Pletincx et al, 2021). The development of workers and queens is more similar than that of workers and males (Anderson et al, 2008).…”

Section: While This Study Documents How Sexual Dimorphism Relatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexual dimorphism as a facilitator of worker caste evolution in ants

Smith

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Ant societies are primarily composed of females, whereby labor is divided into reproductive, or queen, and non‐reproductive, or worker, castes. Workers and reproductive queens can differ greatly in behavior, longevity, physiology, and morphology, but queen–worker differences are usually modest relative to the differences in males. Males are short‐lived, typically do not provide the colony with labor, often look like a different species, and only occur seasonally. It is these differences that have historically led to their neglect in social insect research, but also why they may facilitate novel phenotypic variation – by increasing the phenotypic variability that is available for selection. In this study, worker variation in multivariate size–shape space paralleled male–queen variation. As worker variation increased within species, so did sexual variation. Across species in two independent genera, using head width as a proxy for body size, sexual size dimorphism correlated with worker polymorphism regardless of whether the ancestral condition was large or small worker/sexual dimorphism. Mounting molecular data support the hypothesis that queen–worker caste determination has co‐opted many genes/pathways from sex determination. The molecular evidence, coupled with the observations from this study, leads to the hypothesis that sexual selection and selection on colony‐level traits are non‐independent, and that sexual dimorphism may even have facilitated the evolution of the distinct worker caste.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: While This Study Documents How Sexual Dimorphism Relatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual dimorphism as a facilitator of worker caste evolution in ants

Smith

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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“…In Cataglyphis , maximum head width (eyes included) is highly correlated with the size of all other body parts. It thus serves as a reliable proxy for male body size [47,53]. Each male head was photographed at 50X magnification (MZ6 stereomicroscope; Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany) and measured to the nearest 0.01 mm using ImageJ.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These analyses were performed using the pgls function in the caper package [55]. We employed the Cataglyphis phylogeny (electronic supplementary material, figure S1) from [53]; it was handled using the ape package [56]. To evaluate whether λ -values were significantly different from 0, we used the phylosig function in the phytools package [57,58].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm competition increases sperm production and quality inCataglyphisdesert ants

Degueldre

Aron

2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Sperm competition is a pervasive evolutionary force that shapes sperm traits to maximize fertilization success. Indeed, it has been shown to increase sperm production in both vertebrates and invertebrates. However, sperm production is energetically costly, which may result in trade-offs among sperm traits. In eusocial hymenopterans, such as ants, mating dynamics impose unique selective pressures on ejaculate. Males are sperm limited: they enter adulthood with a fixed amount of sperm that will not be renewed. We explored whether sperm competition intensity was associated with sperm quantity and quality (i.e. sperm viability and DNA fragmentation) in nine Cataglyphis desert ants. Our results provide phylogenetically robust evidence that sperm competition is positively correlated with sperm production and sperm viability. However, it was unrelated to sperm DNA integrity, indicating the absence of a trade-off involving this trait. These findings underscore that sperm competition may strongly mould sperm traits and drive reproductive performance in eusocial Hymenoptera.

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“…Polymorphism is found both at the genetic [3] and organismic level [4]. An extreme case of polymorphism is prevalent in eusocial insects in which workers within a colony can vary highly in body size [5][6][7][8]. Bumblebee workers of the same colony, for instance, exhibit up to tenfold difference in body weight [9]; and around 30% of ant species have workers with large variation in body size [10], who may belong to distinct size classes and thus form distinct worker castes [5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coevolution of larval signalling and worker response can trigger developmental caste determination in social insects

Lagos-Oviedo,

Pen,

Kreider

2023

Preprint

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Eusocial insects belong to distinct queen and worker castes, which, in turn, can be divided into several morphologically specialised castes of workers. Caste determination typically occurs by differential nutrition of developing larvae. We present a model for the coevolution of larval signalling and worker task allocation – both modelled by flexible smooth reaction norms – to investigate the evolution of caste determination mechanisms and worker polymorphism. In our model, larvae evolve to signal their nutritional state to workers. The workers evolve to allocate time to foraging for resources versus feeding the brood, conditional on the larval signals and their body size. Worker polymorphism evolves under accelerating foraging returns of increasing body size, which causes selection to favour large foraging and small nursing workers. Worker castes emerge because larvae evolve to amplify their signals after obtaining some food, which causes them to receive more food, while the other larvae remain unfed. This leads to symmetry-breaking among the larvae who either are well-nourished or malnourished; thus, emerging as small or large workers. Our model demonstrates the evolution of nutrition-dependent caste determination and worker polymorphism by a self-reinforcement mechanism that evolves from the interplay of larval signalling and worker response to the signals.

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The evolution of ant worker polymorphism correlates with multiple social traits

Cited by 11 publications

References 77 publications

Sexual dimorphism as a facilitator of worker caste evolution in ants

Sexual dimorphism as a facilitator of worker caste evolution in ants

Sperm competition increases sperm production and quality inCataglyphisdesert ants

Coevolution of larval signalling and worker response can trigger developmental caste determination in social insects

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