The reproductive potential of workers in slave-making ants |
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Authors: | J Heinze |
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Institution: | (1) Lehrstuhl Verhaltensphysiologie und Soziobiologie, Theodor-Boveri-Institut (Biozentrum der Universität), D-97074 Am Hubland, Würzburg, Germany |
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Abstract: | Summary Colonies of slave-making ants have been used repeatedly to test sex allocation theory. It was suggested that workers of slave-making ants are more strongly selected to reproduce than workers of related, non-parasitic species, because they are incapable of manipulating sex allocation and the sexualization of larvae in their colonies. I show here that in slave-making Formicoxenini, worker ovaries on average consist of significantly more ovarioles than in non-parasiticLeptothorax species. Similarly, whereas in mostLeptothorax species, workers form reproductive hierarchies and lay eggs only in orphaned colonies, slave-maker workers show antagonistic interactions already in the presence of the queen and at least in some species have been observed ovipositing in queen-right colonies. The significance of these results is discussed. |
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Keywords: | Sex ratio reproductive conflict social parasitism Formicidae |
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