Giehr, Julia and Senninger, Lisa and Ruhland, Katja and Heinze, Juergen (2020) Ant workers produce males in queenless parts of multi-nest colonies. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 10 (1): 2152. ISSN 2045-2322,
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Workers of several social insects are capable of gaining direct fitness by laying unfertilized eggs, which then develop into males. However, under queenright conditions, direct reproduction of workers is usually prevented by queen-induced regulatory mechanisms. In nature, some ant colonies inhabit multiple nests sites (polydomy). This might allow workers to escape queen control and to reproduce. However, whether worker-produced brood survives after colony reunion in seasonally polydomous species remains unclear. In several species, worker-produced eggs and male-destined larvae are selectively destroyed in queenright colonies. Here, we test whether workers discriminate between queen- and worker-produced larvae during colony reunion. We examined the reproductive success of workers in queenless subcolonies of our study species Temnothorax crassispinus. Our results show that present brood did not inhibit worker reproduction but had a positive effect on worker lifespan. Larvae produced by workers were readily integrated into queenright subcolonies during colony reunion and these larvae successfully developed into adult males.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | APIS-MELLIFERA; SEX-RATIOS; INTRASPECIFIC PARASITISM; SOCIAL-BEHAVIOR; MONANDROUS ANT; LIFE-SPAN; REPRODUCTION; POLYDOMY; HYMENOPTERA; ALLOCATION; |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 570 Life sciences 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Mar 2021 06:20 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Mar 2021 06:20 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/45134 |
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