1
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Jourdan‐Pineau H, Antoine G, Galataud J, Delatte H, Simiand C, Clémencet J. Estimating heritability in honeybees: Comparison of three major methods based on empirical and simulated datasets. Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Jourdan‐Pineau
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- ASTRE CIRAD, INRAE Univ Montpellier Montpellier France
- CIRAD UMR ASTRE Montpellier France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
| | - Gaëlle Antoine
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
| | - Julien Galataud
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
| | - Hélène Delatte
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
| | - Christophe Simiand
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
| | - Johanna Clémencet
- CIRAD UMR PVBMT Saint‐Pierre France
- UMR PVBMT Université de La Réunion St Denis France
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2
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Abe J, Iritani R, Tsuchida K, Kamimura Y, West SA. A solution to a sex ratio puzzle in Melittobia wasps. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2024656118. [PMID: 33972440 PMCID: PMC8157915 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2024656118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The puzzling sex ratio behavior of Melittobia wasps has long posed one of the greatest questions in the field of sex allocation. Laboratory experiments have found that, in contrast to the predictions of theory and the behavior of numerous other organisms, Melittobia females do not produce fewer female-biased offspring sex ratios when more females lay eggs on a patch. We solve this puzzle by showing that, in nature, females of Melittobia australica have a sophisticated sex ratio behavior, in which their strategy also depends on whether they have dispersed from the patch where they emerged. When females have not dispersed, they lay eggs with close relatives, which keeps local mate competition high even with multiple females, and therefore, they are selected to produce consistently female-biased sex ratios. Laboratory experiments mimic these conditions. In contrast, when females disperse, they interact with nonrelatives, and thus adjust their sex ratio depending on the number of females laying eggs. Consequently, females appear to use dispersal status as an indirect cue of relatedness and whether they should adjust their sex ratio in response to the number of females laying eggs on the patch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Abe
- Faculty of Liberal Arts, Meijigakuin University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-8539, Japan;
- Research Institute for Integrated Science, Kanagawa University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 159-1293, Japan
| | - Ryosuke Iritani
- RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Koji Tsuchida
- Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, 501-1193 Gifu, Japan
| | - Yoshitaka Kamimura
- Department of Biology, Keio University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8521, Japan
| | - Stuart A West
- Department of Zoology, Oxford University, OX1 3SZ Oxford, United Kingdom
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3
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Butler IA, Peters MK, Kronauer DJC. Low levels of hybridization in two species of African driver ants. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:556-571. [PMID: 29380454 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Revised: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Hybridization in ants can have consequences different from those observed in most other species, with many of the potential deleterious effects being mitigated due to haplodiploidy and eusociality. In some species where colonies are either headed by multiple queens or single queens that mate with many males, hybridization is associated with genetic caste determination, where hybrids develop into workers and purebred individuals develop into queens. A previous study suggested that hybridization occurs between two Dorylus army ant species with multiply mated queens. However, the extent and exact pattern of hybridization have remained unclear, and its possible effect on caste determination has not been investigated. In this study, we aimed to determine the extent and direction of hybridization by measuring how frequently hybrids occur in colonies of both species, and to investigate the possibility of genetic caste determination. We show that hybridization is bidirectional and occurs at equal rates in both species. Hybrid workers make up only 1-2% of the population, and successful interspecific matings represent approximately 2% of all matings in both species. This shows that, although interspecific matings that give rise to worker offspring occur regularly, they are much rarer than intraspecific mating. Finally, we find no evidence of an association between hybridization and genetic caste determination in this population. This means that genetic caste determination is not a necessary outcome of hybridization in ants, even in species where queens mate with multiple males.
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Affiliation(s)
- I A Butler
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - M K Peters
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - D J C Kronauer
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
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4
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Budge GE, Hodgetts J, Jones EP, Ostojá-Starzewski JC, Hall J, Tomkies V, Semmence N, Brown M, Wakefield M, Stainton K. The invasion, provenance and diversity of Vespa velutina Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Great Britain. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0185172. [PMID: 28950004 PMCID: PMC5614577 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The yellow-legged or Asian hornet (Vespa velutina colour form nigrithorax) was introduced into France from China over a decade ago. Vespa velutina has since spread rapidly across Europe, facilitated by suitable climatic conditions and the ability of a single nest to disperse many mated queens over a large area. Yellow-legged hornets are a major concern because of the potential impact they have on populations of many beneficial pollinators, most notably the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), which shows no effective defensive behaviours against this exotic predator. Here, we present the first report of this species in Great Britain. Actively foraging hornets were detected at two locations, the first around a single nest in Gloucestershire, and the second a single hornet trapped 54 km away in Somerset. The foraging activity observed in Gloucestershire was largely restricted to within 700 m of a single nest, suggesting highly localised movements. Genetic analyses of individuals from the Gloucestershire nest and the single hornet from Somerset suggest that these incursions represent an expansion of the European population, rather than a second incursion from Asia. The founding queen of the Gloucestershire nest mated with a single male, suggesting that sexual reproduction may have occurred in an area of low nest density. Whilst the nest contained diploid adult males, haploid ‘true’ males were only present at the egg stage, indicating that the nest was detected and removed before the production of queens. Members of the public reported additional dead hornets associated with camping equipment recently returned from France and imported timber products, highlighting possible pathways of incursion. The utility of microsatellites to inform surveillance during an incursion and the challenge of achieving eradication of this damaging pest are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giles E. Budge
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
- Institute for Agri-Food Research and Innovation, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Jennifer Hodgetts
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Eleanor P. Jones
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jayne Hall
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Victoria Tomkies
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Nigel Semmence
- National Bee Unit, Animal and Plant Health Agency, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Mike Brown
- National Bee Unit, Animal and Plant Health Agency, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Maureen Wakefield
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
| | - Kirsty Stainton
- Fera, The National Agrifood Innovation Campus, Sand Hutton, York, United Kingdom
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5
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The ecological and genetic basis of annual worker production in the desert seed harvesting ant, Veromessor pergandei. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2333-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
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6
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Cronin AL, Monnin T, Sillam-Dussès D, Aubrun F, Fédérici P, Doums C. Qualitative bias in offspring investment in a superorganism is linked to dispersal and nest inheritance. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.06.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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7
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Barth MB, Moritz RFA, Kraus FB. The evolution of extreme polyandry in social insects: insights from army ants. PLoS One 2014; 9:e105621. [PMID: 25144731 PMCID: PMC4140799 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2013] [Accepted: 07/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The unique nomadic life-history pattern of army ants (army ant adaptive syndrome), including obligate colony fission and strongly male-biased sex-ratios, makes army ants prone to heavily reduced effective population sizes (Ne). Excessive multiple mating by queens (polyandry) has been suggested to compensate these negative effects by increasing genetic variance in colonies and populations. However, the combined effects and evolutionary consequences of polyandry and army ant life history on genetic colony and population structure have only been studied in a few selected species. Here we provide new genetic data on paternity frequencies, colony structure and paternity skew for the five Neotropical army ants Eciton mexicanum, E. vagans, Labidus coecus, L. praedator and Nomamyrmex esenbeckii; and compare those data among a total of nine army ant species (including literature data). The number of effective matings per queen ranged from about 6 up to 25 in our tested species, and we show that such extreme polyandry is in two ways highly adaptive. First, given the detected low intracolonial relatedness and population differentiation extreme polyandry may counteract inbreeding and low Ne. Second, as indicated by a negative correlation of paternity frequency and paternity skew, queens maximize intracolonial genotypic variance by increasingly equalizing paternity shares with higher numbers of sires. Thus, extreme polyandry is not only an integral part of the army ant syndrome, but generally adaptive in social insects by improving genetic variance, even at the high end spectrum of mating frequencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Benjamin Barth
- Institute of Biology, Department of Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- DNA-Laboratory, Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Robin Frederik Alexander Moritz
- Institute of Biology, Department of Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Frank Bernhard Kraus
- Institute of Biology, Department of Zoology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Halle, Halle (Saale), Germany
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8
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Oettler J, Dijkstra MB, Heinze J. Egg-laying "intermorphs" in the ant Crematogaster smithi neither affect sexual production nor male parentage. PLoS One 2013; 8:e75278. [PMID: 24130699 PMCID: PMC3794939 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2013] [Accepted: 08/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We study male parentage and between-colony variation in sex allocation and sexual production in the desert ant Crematogaster smithi, which usually has only one singly-mated queen per nest. Colonies of this species are known to temporarily store nutrients in the large fat body of intermorphs, a specialized female caste intermediate in morphology between queens and workers. Intermorphs repackage at least part of this fat into consumable but viable male-destined eggs. If these eggs sometimes develop instead of being eaten, intermorphs will be reproductive competitors of the queen but--due to relatedness asymmetries--allies of their sister worker. Using genetic markers we found a considerable proportion of non-queen sons in some, but not all, colonies. Even though intermorphs produce ∼1.7× more eggs than workers, their share in the parentage of adult males is estimated to be negligible due to their small number compared to workers. Furthermore, neither colony-level sex allocation nor overall sexual production was correlated with intermorph occurrence or number. We conclude that intermorph-laid eggs typically do not survive and that the storage of nutrients and their redistribution as eggs by intermorphs is effectively altruistic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Oettler
- Biologie I, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Michiel B. Dijkstra
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Biologie I, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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9
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Hanna C, Cook ED, Thompson AR, Dare LE, Palaski AL, Foote D, Goodisman MAD. Colony social structure in native and invasive populations of the social wasp Vespula pensylvanica. Biol Invasions 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-013-0517-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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10
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Doums C, Cronin AL, Ruel C, Fédérici P, Haussy C, Tirard C, Monnin T. Facultative use of thelytokous parthenogenesis for queen production in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor. J Evol Biol 2013; 26:1431-44. [PMID: 23639217 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2012] [Revised: 01/30/2013] [Accepted: 02/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary paradox of sex remains one of the major debates in evolutionary biology. The study of species capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction can elucidate factors important in the evolution of sex. One such species is the ant Cataglyphis cursor, where the queen maximizes the transmission of her genes by producing new queens (gynes) asexually while simultaneously maintaining a genetically diverse workforce via the sexual production of workers. We show that the queen can also produce gynes sexually and may do so to offset the costs of asexual reproduction. We genotyped 235 gynes from 18 colonies and found that half were sexually produced. A few colonies contained both sexually and asexually produced gynes. Although workers in this species can also use thelytoky, we found no evidence of worker production of gynes based on genotypes of 471 workers from the six colonies producing sexual gynes. Gynes are thus mainly, and potentially exclusively, produced by the queen. Simulations of gynes inbreeding level following one to ten generations of automictic thelytoky suggest that the queen switches between or combines thelytoky and sex, which may reduce the costs of inbreeding. This is supported by the relatively small size of inbred gynes in one colony, although we found no relationship between the level of inbreeding and immune parameters. Such facultative use of sex and thelytoky by individual queens contrasts with other known forms of parthenogenesis in ants, which are typically characterized by distinct lineages specializing in one strategy or the other.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Doums
- Laboratoire Ecologie & Evolution CNRS UMR 7625, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
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11
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Ingram KK, Pilko A, Heer J, Gordon DM. Colony life history and lifetime reproductive success of red harvester ant colonies. J Anim Ecol 2013; 82:540-50. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 11/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Krista K. Ingram
- Department of Biology; Colgate University; Hamilton; NY; 13346; USA
| | - Anna Pilko
- Department of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
| | - Jeffrey Heer
- Department of Computer Science; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
| | - Deborah M. Gordon
- Department of Biology; Stanford University; Stanford; CA; 94305-5020; USA
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12
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Kobayashi K, Hasegawa E. Isolation of microsatellite loci from the onion thrips, Thrips tabaci. JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2013; 13:30. [PMID: 23902377 PMCID: PMC3735047 DOI: 10.1673/031.013.3001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2011] [Accepted: 10/09/2012] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), a cosmopolitan pest insect, is subdivided into at least three genetic lineages that have different biological characters, such as reproductive mode and resistibility to insecticides. Since the lineages are discriminated only by mitochondrial DNA, there is a possibility of gene flow among lineages at the genomic level. Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci were newly isolated from the taxon. Moderate to high levels of polymorphism were observed, with numbers of alleles ranging from 6 to 12 in 51 individuals. The mean observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.1373 to 0.3725 and 0.5381 to 0.7748, respectively. Contrary to the expectation under Hardy-Weinberg's equilibrium, six of the nine loci exhibited a reduction to homozygosities. However, we confirmed that alleles in all the loci were inherited as Mendeilan characteristics. These new loci will be useful to explore discrimination of lineages and population genetics in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuya Kobayashi
- Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University. Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
| | - Eisuke Hasegawa
- Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University. Sapporo 060-8589, Japan
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13
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Pérez-Espona S, McLeod JE, Franks NR. Landscape genetics of a top neotropical predator. Mol Ecol 2012; 21:5969-85. [PMID: 23110496 DOI: 10.1111/mec.12088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2010] [Revised: 08/31/2012] [Accepted: 09/12/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Habitat loss and fragmentation as a consequence of human activities is a worldwide phenomenon and one of the major threats to global biodiversity. Habitat loss and fragmentation is particularly a concern in the biodiverse tropics, where deforestation is occurring at unprecedented rates. Although insects are one of the most diverse and functionally important groups in tropical ecosystems, the quantitative effect of landscape features on their gene flow remains unknown. Here, we used a robust landscape genetics approach to quantify the effect of ten landscape features (deforestation, mature forests, other forest types, the River Chagres, streams, stream banks, roads, sea, lakes and swamps) and interactions between them, on the gene flow of a neotropical forest keystone species, the army ant Eciton burchellii. The influence of landscape on E. burchellii's gene flow reflected the different dispersal capability of its sexes; aerial for males and pedestrian for females, and the different depths of population history inferred from microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA. In contrast to the gene flow-facilitating effect of mature forests, deforested areas were found to be strong barriers for E. burchellii's gene flow. Other forest types were found to be gene flow facilitators but only when interacting with mature secondary forests, therefore indicating the importance of mature forests for the survival of E. burchelii and its associate species. The River Chagres was identified as a major historical gene flow barrier for E. burchellii, suggesting that an important loss of connectivity may occur because of large artificial waterways such as the Panama Canal.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Pérez-Espona
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK.
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14
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Inoue MN, Saito F, Tsuchida K, Goka K. Potential increase in mating frequency of queens in feral colonies of Bombus terrestris introduced into Japan. Naturwissenschaften 2012; 99:853-61. [PMID: 22976124 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-012-0967-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2012] [Revised: 08/29/2012] [Accepted: 08/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
With the exception of several species, bumblebees are monandrous. We examined mating frequency in feral colonies of the introduced bumblebee Bombus terrestris in Japan. Using microsatellite markers, genotyping of sperm DNA stored in the spermatheca of nine queens detected multiple insemination paternities in one queen; the others were singly mated. The average effective paternity frequency estimated from the genotypes of queens and workers was 1.23; that estimated from the workers' genotype alone was 2.12. These values were greater than those of laboratory-reared colonies in the native ranges of B. terrestris. The genotypes of one or two workers did not match those of their queens or showed paternities different from those of their nestmates; this may have arisen from either queen takeover or drifting of workers. These alien workers were responsible for the heterogeneous genotype distribution within each B. terrestris colony, resulting in higher estimates of paternity frequency than of insemination frequency. The high mating frequency of introduced B. terrestris may have occurred by artificial selection through mass breeding for commercialization. Moreover, polyandrous queens may be selectively advantageous, because reproduction by such queens is less likely to be disturbed by interspecific mating than that by monandrous queens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maki N Inoue
- National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0053, Japan.
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15
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A halictid bee with sympatric solitary and eusocial nests offers evidence for Hamilton's rule. Nat Commun 2012; 3:939. [PMID: 22760638 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2012] [Accepted: 05/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The validity of Hamilton's rule has been confirmed among cooperative breeders where helping behaviour is transient; however, Hamilton's rule has not been validated among eusocial insects where helpers commit for life. Here we conduct a direct test of Hamilton's rule using field populations of Lasioglossum baleicum bees, which inhabit sympatric solitary and eusocial nests. Our results show that the indirect fitness of sterile first-brood workers is higher than the direct fitness of solitary first-brood females, and spring foundresses achieve a large direct fitness by having helpers. These fitness benefits are attributed to markedly higher larval survival rates in multiple-female nests, and intruding into an unrelated nest yields a moderate degree of direct fitness, but coexistence with unrelated females also increase overall brood survival. We discuss reasons why various types of cooperation are maintained in Lasioglossum baleicum with relation to that how a multiple-female nesting improves larval survival.
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16
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Lawson LP, Vander Meer RK, Shoemaker D. Male reproductive fitness and queen polyandry are linked to variation in the supergene Gp-9 in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 279:3217-22. [PMID: 22535783 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Supergenes are clusters of tightly linked loci maintained in specific allelic combinations to facilitate co-segregation of genes governing adaptive phenotypes. In species where strong selection potentially operates at different levels (e.g. eusocial Hymenoptera), positive selection acting within a population to maintain specific allelic combinations in supergenes may have unexpected consequences for some individuals, including the preservation of disadvantageous traits. The nuclear gene Gp-9 in the invasive fire ant Solenopsis invicta is part of a non-recombining, polymorphic supergene region associated with polymorphism in social organization as well as traits affecting physiology, fecundity and behaviour. We show that both male reproductive success and facultative polyandry in queens have a simple genetic basis and are dependent on male Gp-9 genotype. Gp-9(b) males are unable to maintain exclusive reproductive control over their mates such that queens mated to Gp-9(b) males remain highly receptive to remating. Queens mated to multiple Gp-9(B) males are rare. This difference appears to be independent of mating plug production in fertile males of each Gp-9 genotype. However, Gp-9(b) males have significantly lower sperm counts than Gp-9(B) males, which could be a cue to females to seek additional mates. Despite the reduced fitness of Gp-9(b) males, polygyne worker-induced selective mortality of sexuals lacking b-like alleles coupled with the overall success of the polygyne social form act to maintain the Gp-9(b) allele within nature. Our findings highlight how strong worker-induced selection acting to maintain the Gp-9(b) allele in the polygyne social form may simultaneously result in reduced reproductive fitness for individual sexual offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucinda P Lawson
- USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, 1600/1700 Southwest 23rd Drive, Gainesville, FL, USA.
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17
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THURIN N, SERY N, GUIMBRETIERE R, ARON S. Colony kin structure and breeding system in the ant genus Plagiolepis. Mol Ecol 2011; 20:3251-60. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05161.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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18
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Chéron B, Monnin T, Fédérici P, Doums C. Variation in patriline reproductive success during queen production in orphaned colonies of the thelytokous ant Cataglyphis cursor. Mol Ecol 2011; 20:2011-22. [PMID: 21449906 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05075.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In genetically diverse insect societies (polygynous or polyandrous queens), the production of new queens can set the ground for competition among lineages. This competition can be very intense when workers can reproduce using thelytoky as worker lineages that manage to produce new queens gain a huge benefit. Selection at the individual level might then lead to the evolution of cheating genotypes, i.e. genotypes that reproduce more than their fair share. We studied the variation in reproductive success among worker patrilines in the thelytokous and highly polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor. Workers produce new queens by thelytoky in orphaned colonies. The reproductive success of each patriline was assessed in 13 orphaned colonies using genetic analysis of 433 workers and 326 worker-produced queens. Our results show that patrilines contributed unequally to queen production in half of the colonies, and the success of patrilines was function of their frequencies in workers. However, over all colonies, we observed a significant difference in the distribution of patrilines between workers and worker-produced queens, and this difference was significant in three of 13 colonies. In addition, six colonies contained a low percentage of foreign workers (drifters), and in one colony, they produced a disproportionably high number of queens. Hence, we found some evidence for the occurrence of rare cheating genotypes. Nevertheless, cheating appears to be less pronounced than in the Cape Honey bee, a species with a similar reproductive system. We argue that worker reproduction by parthenogenesis might not be common in natural populations of C. cursor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blandine Chéron
- Laboratoire Écologie and Évolution CNRS UMR 7625, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, France
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Lenoir JC, Lachaud JP, Nettel A, Fresneau D, Poteaux C. The role of microgynes in the reproductive strategy of the neotropical ant Ectatomma ruidum. Naturwissenschaften 2011; 98:347-56. [PMID: 21380620 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-011-0774-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2010] [Revised: 02/15/2011] [Accepted: 02/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Miniaturized queens, microgynes, are regarded as an alternative reproductive strategy sparsely present through the ant world. The described roles of miniaturized queens include alternative short-distance dispersal morphs, an adaptation to polygyny and inquiline parasites. Some of these inquiline parasite microgynes have been described as a separate species from their host. In the poneromorph group, miniaturized queens are only reported in two Mexican populations of two Ectatomminae: Ectatomma tuberculatum, in which small queens represent an inquiline species (Ectatomma parasiticum) and Ectatomma ruidum. E. ruidum presents apparently facultative polygyny with microgynes. We used mitochondrial DNA markers and newly developed microsatellite loci to investigate the status as well as the role of microgynes in E. ruidum. We confirmed that microgynes and macrogynes are from the same species. This species is almost exclusively monogynous and monoandrous, supernumerary dealate queens of both types being actually daughters of the mother queen. An apparently polygynous nest was more often headed by a macrogyne than a microgyne. We didn't find any inbreeding or isolation by distance in the studied population, indicating that new gynes are inseminated by unrelated males and can establish a new nest far from their natal nest. However, re-adoption of daughter queens seems to be the rule and rate of microgyny appears to be linked to nest density and environmental factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Christophe Lenoir
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, EA 4443, Université Paris-Nord, UFR L.S.H.S, Villetaneuse, France.
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Armitage SAO, Broch JF, Marín HF, Nash DR, Boomsma JJ. Immune defense in leaf-cutting ants: a cross-fostering approach. Evolution 2011; 65:1791-9. [PMID: 21644963 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01241.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
To ameliorate the impact of disease, social insects combine individual innate immune defenses with collective social defenses. This implies that there are different levels of selection acting on investment in immunity, each with their own trade-offs. We present the results of a cross-fostering experiment designed to address the influences of genotype and social rearing environment upon individual and social immune defenses. We used a multiply mating leaf-cutting ant, enabling us to test for patriline effects within a colony, as well as cross-colony matriline effects. The worker's father influenced both individual innate immunity (constitutive antibacterial activity) and the size of the metapleural gland, which secretes antimicrobial compounds and functions in individual and social defense, indicating multiple mating could have important consequences for both defense types. However, the primarily social defense, a Pseudonocardia bacteria that helps to control pathogens in the ants' fungus garden, showed a significant colony of origin by rearing environment interaction, whereby ants that acquired the bacteria of a foster colony obtained a less abundant cover of bacteria: one explanation for this pattern would be co-adaptation between host colonies and their vertically transmitted mutualist. These results illustrate the complexity of the selection pressures that affect the expression of multilevel immune defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie A O Armitage
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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21
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Kronauer DJC, O'Donnell S, Boomsma JJ, Pierce NE. Strict monandry in the ponerine army ant genus Simopelta suggests that colony size and complexity drive mating system evolution in social insects. Mol Ecol 2010; 20:420-8. [PMID: 21121990 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04945.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Altruism in social insects has evolved between closely related full-siblings. It is therefore of considerable interest why some groups have secondarily evolved low within-colony relatedness, which in turn affects the relatedness incentives of within-colony cooperation and conflict. The highest queen mating frequencies, and therefore among the lowest degrees of colony relatedness, occur in Apis honeybees and army ants of the subfamilies Aenictinae, Ecitoninae, and Dorylinae, suggesting that common life history features such as reproduction by colony fission and male biased numerical sex-ratios have convergently shaped these mating systems. Here we show that ponerine army ants of the genus Simopelta, which are distantly related but similar in general biology to other army ants, have strictly monandrous queens. Preliminary data suggest that workers reproduce in queenright colonies, which is in sharp contrast to other army ants. We hypothesize that differences in mature colony size and social complexity may explain these striking discrepancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J C Kronauer
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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22
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Corley M, Fjerdingstad EJ. Mating strategies of queens in Lasius niger ants—is environment type important? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1089-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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23
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Extreme population differentiation in a vulnerable slavemaking ant with a fragmented distribution. CONSERV GENET 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-010-0063-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Curry MM, Wheeler DE, Yang K, Anderson KE. The potential for gene flow in a dependent lineage system of a harvester ant: fair meiosis in the F1 generation. J Hered 2009; 101:378-84. [PMID: 20022894 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esp117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the potential for gene flow in a dependent lineage (DL) system of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex. Each DL system is composed of 2 reproductively isolated lineages that are locked in an obligate mutualism. The genetic components that produce the worker phenotype are acquired by hybridizing with the partner lineage. In the mating flight, queens of both lineages mate with multiple males from each lineage. During colony growth and reproduction, eggs fertilized by partner-lineage sperm produce F(1) hybrid workers with interlineage genomes, whereas eggs fertilized by same-lineage sperm result in the development of new queens with intralineage genomes. New males are typically produced from unfertilized eggs laid by the pure-lineage queen but in her absence may be produced by interlineage F(1) workers. We investigated the potential for interlineage gene flow in this system using 2 classes of lineage-specific nuclear markers to identify hybrid genome combinations. We confirmed the production of viable interlineage F(1) reproductive females in field colonies, the occurrence of which is associated with the relative frequencies of each lineage in the population: interlineage F(1) queens occurred only in the rare lineage of the population with dramatically skewed lineage frequencies. In laboratory colonies, we detected fair meiosis in interlineage F(1) workers leading to the production of viable and haploid interlineage F(2) males. We conclude that the genomes of each lineage recombine freely, suggesting that extrinsic postzygotic selection maintains the integrity of each lineage genome. We compare our findings with those of the H1/H2 DL system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan M Curry
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
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JONES ADAMG, SMALL CLAYTONM, PACZOLT KIMBERLYA, RATTERMAN NICHOLASL. A practical guide to methods of parentage analysis. Mol Ecol Resour 2009; 10:6-30. [PMID: 21564987 DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02778.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 241] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- ADAM G. JONES
- Department of Biology, 3258 TAMU, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - CLAYTON M. SMALL
- Department of Biology, 3258 TAMU, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - KIMBERLY A. PACZOLT
- Department of Biology, 3258 TAMU, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - NICHOLAS L. RATTERMAN
- Department of Biology, 3258 TAMU, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Debout GDG, Frederickson ME, Aron S, Yu DW. Unexplained split sex ratios in the neotropical plant-ant, Allomerus octoarticulatus var. demerarae (Myrmicinae): a test of hypotheses. Evolution 2009; 64:126-41. [PMID: 19703224 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00824.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We investigated sex allocation in the Neotropical ant Allomerus octoarticulatus var. demerarae. Because Allomerus is a plant symbiont, we could make geographically extensive collections of complete colonies and of foundresses in saplings, allowing us to estimate not only population- and colony-level sex allocation but also colony resource levels and the relatedness of competing ant foundresses. This species exhibits a strongly split sex ratio, with 80% of mature colonies producing >or=90% of one sex or the other. Our genetic analyses (DNA microsatellites) reveal that Allomerus has a breeding system characterized by almost complete monogyny and a low frequency of polyandry. Contrary to theoretical explanations, we find no difference in worker relatedness asymmetries between female- and male-specialist colonies. Furthermore, no clear link was found between colony sex allocation and life history traits such as the number of mates per queen, or colony size, resource level, or fecundity. We also failed to find significant support for male production by workers, infection by Wolbachia, local resource competition, or local mate competition. We are left with the possibility that Allomerus exhibits split sex ratios because of the evolution of alternative biasing strategies in queens or workers, as recently proposed in the literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel D G Debout
- Ecology, Conservation, and Environment Center, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan 65022, China
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Jaffé R, Moritz RFA, Kraus FB. Gene flow is maintained by polyandry and male dispersal in the army ant Eciton burchellii. POPUL ECOL 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/s10144-008-0133-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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28
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SCHLÜNS E, WEGENER B, SCHLÜNS H, AZUMA N, ROBSON SKA, CROZIER RH. Breeding system, colony and population structure in the weaver antOecophylla smaragdina. Mol Ecol 2009; 18:156-67. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.04020.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Smith CR, Anderson KE, Tillberg CV, Gadau J, Suarez AV. Caste determination in a polymorphic social insect: nutritional, social, and genetic factors. Am Nat 2008; 172:497-507. [PMID: 18707530 DOI: 10.1086/590961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
We examined how dietary, social, and genetic factors affect individual size and caste in the Florida harvester ant Pogonomyrmex badius, which has three discrete female castes. The diet that a larva consumed, as indicated by delta(13)C, delta(15)N, and C:N, varied with caste. Both N content and estimated trophic position of dietary input was higher for major than for minor workers and was highest for gynes (reproductive females). The size and resources of a colony affected the size of only minor workers, not that of gynes and major workers. Approximately 19% of patrilines showed a bias in which female caste they produced. There were significant genetic effects on female size, and the average sizes of a major worker and a gyne produced by a patriline were correlated, but neither was correlated with minor worker size. Thus, genetic factors influence both caste and size within caste. We conclude that environmental, social, and genetic variation interact to create morphological and physiological variation among females in P. badius. However, the relative importance of each type of factor affecting caste determination is caste specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- C R Smith
- Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
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30
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BERGHOFF SM, KRONAUER DJC, EDWARDS KJ, FRANKS NR. Dispersal and population structure of a New World predator, the army antEciton burchellii. J Evol Biol 2008; 21:1125-32. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01531.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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31
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Hughes WOH, Boomsma JJ. Genetic royal cheats in leaf-cutting ant societies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008; 105:5150-3. [PMID: 18339809 PMCID: PMC2278208 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0710262105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2007] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Social groups are vulnerable to cheating because the reproductive interests of group members are rarely identical. All cooperative systems are therefore predicted to involve a mix of cooperative and cheating genotypes, with the frequency of the latter being constrained by the suppressive abilities of the former. The most significant potential conflict in social insect colonies is over which individuals become reproductive queens rather than sterile workers. This reproductive division of labor is a defining characteristic of eusocial societies, but individual larvae will maximize their fitness by becoming queens whereas their nestmates will generally maximize fitness by forcing larvae to become workers. However, evolutionary constraints are thought to prevent cheating by removing genetic variation in caste propensity. Here, we show that one-fifth of leaf-cutting ant patrilines cheat their nestmates by biasing their larval development toward becoming queens rather than workers. Two distinct mechanisms appear to be involved, one most probably involving a general tendency to become a larger adult and the other relating specifically to the queen-worker developmental switch. Just as evolutionary theory predicts, these "royal" genotypes are rare both in the population and within individual colonies. The rarity of royal cheats is best explained as an evolutionary strategy to avoid suppression by cooperative genotypes, the efficiency of which is frequency-dependent. The results demonstrate that cheating can be widespread in even the most cooperative of societies and illustrate that identical principles govern social evolution in highly diverse systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- William O H Hughes
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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32
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Jaffé R, Kronauer DJ, Bernhard Kraus F, Boomsma JJ, Moritz RF. Worker caste determination in the army ant Eciton burchellii. Biol Lett 2007; 3:513-6. [PMID: 17638672 PMCID: PMC2391184 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Elaborate division of labour has contributed significantly to the ecological success of social insects. Division of labour is achieved either by behavioural task specialization or by morphological specialization of colony members. In physical caste systems, the diet and rearing environment of developing larvae is known to determine the phenotype of adult individuals, but recent studies have shown that genetic components also contribute to the determination of worker caste. One of the most extreme cases of worker caste differentiation occurs in the army ant genus Eciton, where queens mate with many males and colonies are therefore composed of numerous full-sister subfamilies. This high intracolonial genetic diversity, in combination with the extreme caste polymorphism, provides an excellent test system for studying the extent to which caste determination is genetically controlled. Here we show that genetic effects contribute significantly to worker caste fate in Eciton burchellii. We conclude that the combination of polyandry and genetic variation for caste determination may have facilitated the evolution of worker caste diversity in some lineages of social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo Jaffé
- Institut für Biologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-WittenbergHoher Weg 4, 06099 Halle/Saale, Germany
- Author for correspondence ()
| | - Daniel J.C Kronauer
- Department of Population Biology, Institute of Biology, University of CopenhagenUniversitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - F Bernhard Kraus
- El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Carretera Antiguo Aeropuerto km 2.5, C.P. 30700 TapachulaChiapas, Mexico
| | - Jacobus J Boomsma
- Department of Population Biology, Institute of Biology, University of CopenhagenUniversitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Robin F.A Moritz
- Institut für Biologie, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-WittenbergHoher Weg 4, 06099 Halle/Saale, Germany
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Holbrook CT, Strehl CP, Johnson RA, Gadau J. Low queen mating frequency in the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex (Ephebomyrmex) pima: implications for the evolution of polyandry. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0457-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Abstract
Social insects, ants in particular, show considerable variation in queen number and mating frequency resulting in a wide range of social structures. The dynamics of reproductive conflicts in insect societies are directly connected to the colony kin structure, thus, the study of relatedness patterns is essential in order to understand the evolutionary resolution of these conflicts. We studied colony kin structure and mating frequencies in two closely related Neotropical ant species Pachycondyla inversa and Pachycondyla villosa. These represent interesting model systems because queens found new colonies cooperatively but, unlike many other ant species, they may still co-exist when the colony becomes mature (primary polygyny). By using five specific and highly variable microsatellite markers, we show that in both species queens usually mate with two or more males and that cofounding queens are always unrelated. Polygynous and polyandrous colonies are characterized by a high genetic diversity, with a mean relatedness coefficient among worker nestmates of 0.27 (+/- 0.03 SE) for P. inversa and 0.31 (+/- 0.05 SE) for P. villosa. However, relatedness among workers of the same matriline is high (0.60 +/- 0.03 in P. inversa, 0.62 +/- 0.08 in P. villosa) since males that mated with the same queen are on average closely related. Hence, we have found a new taxon in social Hymenoptera with high queen-mating frequencies and with intriguing mating and dispersal patterns of the sexuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Kellner
- Institute of Biologie I, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstrasse 31, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany
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35
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Zinck L, Jaisson P, Hora RR, Denis D, Poteaux C, Doums C. The role of breeding system on ant ecological dominance: genetic analysis of Ectatomma tuberculatum. Behav Ecol 2007. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arm033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Su S, Albert S, Zhang S, Maier S, Chen S, Du H, Tautz J. Non-destructive genotyping and genetic variation of fanning in a honey bee colony. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2007; 53:411-7. [PMID: 17383675 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2007.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2006] [Revised: 01/10/2007] [Accepted: 01/11/2007] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The relationship between workers from different patrilines in a naturally mated queen honey bee colony is very complex due to queen polyandry, and still poorly characterized. Here, we report a means of determining the genotype of living workers in a natural honey bee colony by a new non-destructive method, which makes it possible to observe the relationship between behaviours and genotypes. DNA was extracted from the exuvia, found at the bottom of each brood cell, and confirmed to be identical to the DNA extracted from the thorax muscle of the bee emerging from that particular cell. The genotypes were thus determined using DNA from the exuviae without having to hurt or kill the organisms. The emerging workers were marked with coloured, numbered tags to enable behavioural observations over their entire life. Using this new method, we determined 20 patrilines in a naturally mated queen colony, and discovered that the patriline composition of bees exhibiting fanning behaviour was significantly different from the patriline composition of the whole colony. Our results confirm that the genetic structure of a natural insect society plays a fundamental role in the division of labour. The new non-destructive method reveals a novel avenue for the determination of relationships between the behaviours and genes of social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songkun Su
- College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310029, China.
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37
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Abstract
The evolution of mating systems in eusocial Hymenoptera is constrained because females mate only during a brief period early in life, whereas inseminated queens and their stored sperm may live for decades. Considerable research effort during recent years has firmly established that obligate multiple mating has evolved only a few times: in Apis honeybees, Vespula wasps, Pogonomyrmex harvester ants, Atta and Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants, the ant Cataglyphis cursor, and in at least some army ants. Here we provide estimates of queen-mating frequency for New World Neivamyrmex and Old World Aenictus species, which, compared to other army ants, have relatively small colonies and little size polymorphism among workers. To provide the first overall comparative analysis of the evolution of army ant mating systems, we combine these new results with previous estimates for African Dorylus and New World Eciton army ants, which have very large colonies and considerable worker polymorphism. We show that queens of Neivamyrmex and Aenictus mate with the same high numbers of males (usually ca. 10-20) as do queens of army ant species with very large colony sizes. We infer that multiple queen mating is ancestral in army ants and has evolved over 100 million years ago as part of the army ant adaptive syndrome. A comparison of army ants and honeybees suggests that mating systems in these two distantly related groups may have been convergently shaped by strikingly similar selective pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J C Kronauer
- Institute of Biology, Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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38
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Lenoir JC, Schrempf A, Lenoir A, Heinze J, Mercier JL. Genetic structure and reproductive strategy of the ant Cardiocondyla elegans: strictly monogynous nests invaded by unrelated sexuals. Mol Ecol 2006; 16:345-54. [PMID: 17217349 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2006.03156.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Cardiocondyla elegans is a Mediterranean ant that nests on river banks. It rears only wingless (ergatoid) males that live peacefully in the same nest as opposed to other species of the same genus, which have both peaceful, winged and mutually aggressive 'ergatoid' males. Using microsatellite analysis, we investigated the genetic structure of 21 colonies from three different locations as well as the parentage of sexuals of two colonies of C. elegans. We show that C. elegans is strictly monogynous, and that its nests can contain foreign sexuals. The presence of alien sexuals inside ant nests is described for the first time and probably counteracts inbreeding resulting from matings between siblings. In the laboratory, aggression tests showed that workers only allow alien males to enter their nests, while all winged female sexuals attempting to enter were attacked. Nevertheless, the presence of alien female sexuals in nests in the field seems to result from active carrying behaviour by workers during the reproductive period.
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Affiliation(s)
- J-C Lenoir
- Université François Rabelais, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 6035, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Tours, France.
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Beveridge M, Simmons LW, Alcock J. Genetic breeding system and investment patterns within nests of Dawson's burrowing bee (Amegilla dawsoni) (Hymenoptera: Anthophorini). Mol Ecol 2006; 15:3459-67. [PMID: 16968283 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2006.03021.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Dawson's burrowing bee is a large solitary ground-nesting bee endemic to the arid zone of Western Australia. In this study, we use microsatellite markers to analyse the genotypes of offspring from individual nests to determine the number of effective mates for each female. From these data we have determined that females almost certainly mate only once which is consistent with male reproductive tactics that include protandry and intense male-male competition for access to virgin females. We also use the molecular data to show that the nesting female is the mother of all the offspring of her nest and that brood parasitism is unlikely in this species. The data indicate that females make daughters at the beginning of the season followed by large sons in the middle, and then small sons at the end. Females often place one brood cell directly above another. The distribution of sex and morph in these doublets follows a pattern with most containing a female on the bottom and a minor male on the top, followed by almost equal numbers of female on top of female and minor male on top of major male. This pattern is likely favoured by emergence patterns, with males emerging before females and minor males emerging before major males. We suggest that although minor males have low reproductive success, their production may nonetheless be beneficial in that minor males open up emergence tunnels for their larger and reproductively more valuable siblings. In addition, minor males may be a best of a bad job product arising from changes in the costs to nesting females of gathering brood provisions over the course of the flight season.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxine Beveridge
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
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40
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Boomsma JJ, Franks NR. Social insects: from selfish genes to self organisation and beyond. Trends Ecol Evol 2006; 21:303-8. [PMID: 16769429 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2006.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2005] [Revised: 02/28/2006] [Accepted: 04/03/2006] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Selfish gene and self-organisation approaches have revolutionised the study of social insects and have provided unparalleled insights into the highly sophisticated nature of insect social evolution. Here, we briefly review the core programs and interfaces with communication and recognition studies that characterise these fields today, and offer an interdisciplinary future perspective for the study of social insect evolutionary biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacobus J Boomsma
- Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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41
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Abstract
In most social insects workers do not mate, but have retained the ability to produce haploid eggs that can develop into viable male offspring. Under what circumstances this reproductive potential is realized and how the ensuing worker-queen conflict over male production is resolved, is an area of active research in insect sociobiology. Here we present microsatellite data for 176 males from eight colonies of the African army ant Dorylus (Anomma) molestus. Comparison with worker genotypes and inferred queen genotypes from the same colonies show that workers do not or at best very rarely reproduce in the presence of the queen. Queens of D. (A.) molestus are known to be highly multiply mated. This implies that workers are on average more closely related to queen sons than to other workers' sons, so that our results are consistent with predictions from inclusive fitness theory. It remains unknown, however, whether worker sterility is maintained by active worker policing or by self-restraint.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J C Kronauer
- Institute of Biology, Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Kronauer DJC, Berghoff SM, Powell S, Denny AJ, Edwards KJ, Franks NR, Boomsma JJ. A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii. Naturwissenschaften 2006; 93:402-6. [PMID: 16676159 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-006-0121-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2006] [Accepted: 04/09/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
In a recent study, Denny et al. (2004a) showed that queens of the army ant, Eciton burchellii, mate with multiple males and presented estimates suggesting that they mate with more males than queens of any other ant species so far investigated. They also inferred that data were consistent with queens being inseminated repeatedly throughout their life, which would be exceptional among the social Hymenoptera and contradictory to predictions from kin selection theory. In the present study, we reanalyze these data using new software and supplement them with similar microsatellite data from other colonies of the same species. Mating frequencies in E. burchellii are indeed very high (mean observed and effective queen-mating frequencies of 12.9 each) but considerably lower than the previous estimates. We show that the number of patrilines represented in the first worker offspring of a young queen is lower than in older queens but suggest that this may be due to initial sperm clumping in the queen's sperm storage organ, rather than to repeated inseminations. Moreover, we found no evidence for repeated mating by genotyping sequential worker generations produced by a single old queen, showing that she did not obtain new inseminations despite ample opportunities for mating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J C Kronauer
- Institute of Biology, Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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43
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Jensen AB, Palmer KA, Chaline N, Raine NE, Tofilski A, Martin SJ, Pedersen BV, Boomsma JJ, Ratnieks FL. Quantifying honey bee mating range and isolation in semi-isolated valleys by DNA microsatellite paternity analysis. CONSERV GENET 2005. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-005-9007-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Abstract
In ants the presence of multiple reproductive queens (polygyny) decreases the relatedness among workers and the brood they rear, and subsequently dilutes their inclusive fitness benefits from helping. However, adoption of colony daughters, low male dispersal in conjunction with intranidal (within nest) mating and colony reproduction by budding may preserve local genetic differences, and slow down the erosion of relatedness. Reduced dispersal and intranidal mating may, however, also lead to detrimental effects owing to competition and inbreeding. We studied mating and dispersal patterns, and colony kinship in three populations of the polygynous ant Plagiolepis pygmaea using microsatellite markers. We found that the populations were genetically differentiated, but also a considerable degree of genetic structuring within populations. The genetic viscosity within populations can be attributed to few genetically homogeneous colony networks, which presumably have arisen through colony reproduction by budding. Hence, selection may act at different levels, the individuals, the colonies and colony networks. All populations were also significantly inbred (F=0.265) suggesting high frequencies of intranidal mating and low male dispersal. Consequently the mean regression relatedness among workers was significantly higher (r = 0.529-0.546) than would be expected under the typically reported number (5-35) of queens in nests of the species. Furthermore, new queens were mainly recruited from their natal or a neighbouring related colony. Finally, the effective number of queens coincided with that found upon excavation, suggesting low reproductive skew.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Trontti
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
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45
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Schrempf A, Reber C, Tinaut A, Heinze J. Inbreeding and local mate competition in the ant Cardiocondyla batesii. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2004. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-004-0869-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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