Colony structure and reproduction in the ant, Leptothorax acervorum |
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Authors: | Heinze Jurgen; Lipski Norbert; Schlehmeyer Kathrin; Holldobler Bert |
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Institution: | Theodor-Boveri-Institut, Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensphysiologie and Soziobiologie Am Hubland, D-97074 Wurzburg, Germany |
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Abstract: | We analyzed the sociogenetic organization of the ant (Leptothoraxacervorum) from N rnberger Reichswald in Southern Germany. Accordingto relatedness estimates from allozyme analyses, virgin femalesexuals produced in polygynous colonies were on average fullsisters, whereas workers in a pooled sample of polygynous colonieswere significantly less closely related. Rather than attributingthis to reproductive hierarchies among nest mate queens, weshow how this phenomenon could result from seasonal fluctuationsof colony composition and a decline of the production of femalesexuals in polygynous colonies. We suggest that by queen adoptionand emigration or budding, colonies easily switch from monogynyto polygyny and vice versa. Due to the long developmental timeof sexual larvae, colonies that have become polygynous onlyrecently will still produce the female sexual progeny of a singlequeen. In older polygynous nests, fewer and fewer female sexualsare produced, but colonies may fragment into monogynous budsin which the production of female sexuals may begin again. Relatednessestimates, dissection results, and field observations supportthis suggestion. This pattern of cyclical monogyny and polygynykeeps nest mate relatedness high and probably facilitates colonyfounding in boreal habitats. Preliminary data suggest that thepattern of the production of sexuals in colonies of L. acervorumfits the expectations of sex allocation theory. |
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Keywords: | Formicidae Hymenoptera Leptothorax polygyny population structure relatedness reproductive success [Behav Ecol 6: 359 367 (1995)] |
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