Rueppell, Olav and Heinze, Juergen and Hoelldobler, Bert (2001) Complex determination of queen body size in the queen size dimorphic ant Leptothorax rugatulus (Formicidae : Hymenoptera). HEREDITY, 87. pp. 33-40. ISSN 0018-067X
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
In order to understand the evolution of natural variability, and polymorphisms in particular, it is essential to study proximate causes. Our study is the first work on ants to determine formally the heritability of quantitative traits in a quantitative genetic framework. We investigated the causes of queen size dimorphism of the ant Leptothorax rugatulus and derive from the results a possible scenario for its evolutionary maintenance. Mother size was highly predictive of daughter size in field colonies. This finding could be repeated under constant laboratory conditions. Data suggested that maternal effects via egg size are not the cause for the transmission of body size. In colonies with coexisting large and small mother queens, daughter size did not correlate with mother size, and in an additional experiment we found a negative effect of queen number on daughter size. The integration of these various results suggests a high transmissibility of body size from generation to generation. However, social (queen) influences also affect daughter size, especially in the case of mixed colonies. This complex determination fits well with an adaptive adjustment of queen size to alternative reproductive strategies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | CASTE DETERMINATION; SOLENOPSIS-INVICTA; HONEY-BEE; FIRE ANT; POLYMORPHISM; EVOLUTION; POPULATIONS; HERITABILITIES; LONGISPINOSUS; CONSTRAINTS; alternative life histories; body size; heritability; phenotypic plasticity; social insects; threshold character |
| 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: | 11 Jan 2022 07:55 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Jan 2022 07:55 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/41292 |
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