Oppelt, Angelika and Spitzenpfeil, N. and Kroiss, J. and Heinze, Juergen (2008) The significance of intercolonial variation of cuticular hydrocarbons for inbreeding avoidance in ant sexuals. ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 76. pp. 1029-1034. ISSN 0003-3472,
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
The reproductive biology of social Hymenoptera is characterized by lifelong sperm storage by queens and sperm limitation in males. Both sexes are therefore expected to be especially choosy about their mating partners. In particular, sexuals should avoid sibmating because of the resulting risk of producing sterile diploid male offspring. Colonies of the ant Leptothorax gredleri are specialists of patchy habitats and often live in subpopulations of fewer than a few dozen colonies with restricted gene flow between patches. Sexuals therefore have a high probability of mating with a related partner. Using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, we found that the blend of cuticular hydrocarbons, which is generally thought to be important in nestmate recognition in social insects, was colony specific in both sexes. In principle, this might provide sexuals with a chemical cue for the avoidance of sibmating. When allowed to choose among equal numbers of mating partners from their own and another nest insight cages, sexuals had only a weak although significant preference for mating with non-nestmates. Other characters might therefore be more important than relatedness in mate choice. (c) 2008 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | LOCAL MATE COMPETITION; LEPTOTHORAX-GREDLERI; HYMENOPTERA FORMICIDAE; NESTMATE RECOGNITION; POPULATION-STRUCTURE; SOCIAL HYMENOPTERA; COLONIES; INSECTS; BIOLOGY; QUEENS; ant; cuticular hydrocarbon; inbreeding avoidance; Leptothorax gredleri; mating; sexual selection |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Oct 2020 07:29 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2020 07:29 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/30303 |
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