The evolution of worker–queen polymorphism in Cataglyphis ants: interplay between individual- and colony-level selections

Amor, Fernando; Ortega, Patrocinio; Jowers, Michael J.; Cerdá, Xím; Billen, Johan; Lenoir, Alain; Boulay, Raphaël

doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1157-7

Cited by 37 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Monogynous species may be organized as independent colonies (Leniaud et al, 2011) while others are organized in polydomous colonies, with one central nest holding the queen and the rest of the nests function as queenless satellites (Dahbi et al, 1997). In contrast to the usual association between monogyny and longrange nuptial flights, young queens of the monogyne C. cursor and C. floricola mate close to their natal nest and colony reproduction proceeds by fission (Lenoir et al, 1988;Hardy et al, 2008;Amor et al, 2011;Chéron et al, 2011). Queens of some species are singly mated (Eyer et al, 2012;Leniaud et al, 2012), whereas in other species they are obligatory multiply mated (Timmermans et al, 2008(Timmermans et al, , 2010Pearcy et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

At the brink of supercoloniality: genetic, behavioral, and chemical assessments of population structure of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger

et al. 2014

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† These authors have contributed equally to this work.The nesting habits of ants play an important role in structuring ant populations. They vary from monodomy, a colony occupies a single nest, via polydomy, a colony occupies multiple adjacent nests, to supercoloniality, a colony spans over large territories comprising dozen to thousands nests without having any boundaries. The population structure of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger, previously considered to form supercolonies, was studied using genetic, chemical, and behavioral tools in plots of 50 × 50 m at two distinct populations. At the Palmahim site, the plot comprised 15 nests that according to the genetic analysis constituted three colonies. Likewise at the Rishon Leziyyon site 14 nests constituted 5 genetic colonies. In both sites, both chemical analysis and the behavioral (aggression) tests confirmed the colony genetic architecture. The behavioral tests also revealed that aggression between colonies within a population was higher than that exhibited between colonies of different populations, suggesting the occurrence of the "nasty neighbor" phenomenon. In contrast to supercolony structure previously reported in another population of this species, the presently studied populations were composed of polydomous colonies. However, both the genetic and chemical data revealed that the inter-colonial differences between sites were larger than those within site, suggesting some within-site population viscosity. Thus, C. niger exhibits flexible nesting characteristics, from polydomy to supercoloniality, and can be considered at the brink of supercoloniality. We attribute the differences in population structure among sites to the intensity of intraspecific competition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

At the brink of supercoloniality: genetic, behavioral, and chemical assessments of population structure of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger

et al. 2014

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“…The strong control on larval development in A. senilis (Boulay et al 2007) means that untimely queens can be recognized and readily eliminated by workers, unless a fission event occurs soon after emergence. In the monogyne C. floricola, which also features colony fission, newly produced queens are transported to the new nest before their emergence, which reduces conflicts with the mother queen; cheater queens that remain in their natal nest are rapidly eliminated by workers (Amor et al 2011). In the honeybee, the mother queen leaves the nest before the emergence of new queens (Seeley 1985).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This colony fission strategy guarantees both high foundation success and monogyny. In ants, colony fission occurs, for example, in army ants (Godwald 1995), in desert ants Cataglyphis floricola (Amor et al 2011) and Cataglyphis cursor (Chéron et al 2011) and in the gipsy ant Aphaenogaster senilis (Boulay et al 2010;Galarza et al 2012). Several species of bees, including the honeybee Apis mellifera (Seeley 1985), and the Polybiine wasps (Ross and Mathews 1991) also disperse through fission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition of caste and mating status maintains monogyny in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis

Ruel¹,

Hefetz²,

Cerdá³

et al. 2013

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In ants dispersing through colony fission, queens mate near their natal nest and found a new society with the help of workers. This allows potential future queens to challenge the mother queen's reproductive monopoly. Conflicts might be resolved if the mated queen signals her presence and the workers control the developmental fate of the diploid larvae (whether they develop to worker or queen). In this study we sought to determine whether, in the fissionperforming ant Aphaenogaster senilis, conflicts between queens for control of the colony are resolved by the resident queen signalling her mating status. Virgin queens were less effective than newly mated queens in inhibiting queen rearing. Moreover, potential challenger queens were recognized and heavily aggressed independent of mating status. Chemical analyses showed that mating status was associated with changes in cuticular hydrocarbon and poison gland composition, but not in Dufour's gland composition. Cuticular dimethylalkanes were identified as potential constituents that signal both caste (present in queens only) and mating status (mated queens have higher amounts). We hypothesised that pheromone emission by virgin queens did not reach the threshold needed to fully inhibit larval development into queens but was sufficiently high to stimulate overt aggression by mated queens. These findings provide evidence for the complexity of chemical communication in social insects, in which a small number of signals may have a variety of effects, depending on the context.

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“…This restricted dispersal can lead to local resource competition among related colonies (Bourke and Franks 1995). To date, however, only a few studies have specifically examined colony reproduction via DCF in ants (e.g., Amor et al 2011;Chéron et al 2011), and fewer still have examined the response of colony reproduction to different extrinsic factors (but see Molet et al 2008;Boulay et al 2010). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The influence of intraspecific competition on resource allocation during dependent colony foundation in a social insect

et al. 2011

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Organisms face a trade-off between investment in fewer, larger offspring, or more, smaller offspring. Most organisms can adjust investment through variation in the size and number of offspring in response to factors such as resource availability and competition. In some social animals, established colonies divide into groups of individuals that become autonomous, a process known as colony fission (also dependent colony foundation in social insects). Resource allocation under fission can be fine-tuned by adjusting the number of new groups (offspring number) and the number of individuals in each new group (offspring size). We assessed the influence of competition on resource allocation during fission in the ant Cataglyphis cursor, by allowing colonies to fission in experimental enclosures of high or low conspecific colony density. The pattern of colony fission was similar to that observed in the field: each fissioning colony produced a few new nests comprising a highly variable number of workers and a single queen, the old queen was often replaced, and new queens were produced in excess. The number of new nests produced depended on the available workforce in the parent colony but was not affected by differences in colony density. Comparison with data from fission under natural field conditions, however, indicates that colonies in enclosures produced fewer, larger new nests, suggesting that resource investment patterns during fission are indeed subject to extrinsic factors. The density of conspecific colonies in the immediate surroundings may be an unreliable estimate of competition intensity and other factors should be considered.

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The evolution of worker–queen polymorphism in Cataglyphis ants: interplay between individual- and colony-level selections

Cited by 37 publications

References 52 publications

At the brink of supercoloniality: genetic, behavioral, and chemical assessments of population structure of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger

At the brink of supercoloniality: genetic, behavioral, and chemical assessments of population structure of the desert ant Cataglyphis niger

Recognition of caste and mating status maintains monogyny in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis

The influence of intraspecific competition on resource allocation during dependent colony foundation in a social insect

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