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Padget RFB, Cant MA, Thompson FJ. Us, them, and the others: Testing for discrimination amongst outgroups in a single‐piece nesting termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9901. [PMID: 36960235 PMCID: PMC10030232 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Recognition of group members is an important adaptation in social organisms because it allows help to be directed toward kin or individuals that are likely to reciprocate, and harm to be directed toward members of competing groups. Evidence in a wide range of animals shows that responses to outgroups vary with context, suggesting that cues to group membership also depend on the social or environmental context. In termites, intergroup encounters are frequent and their outcomes highly variable, ranging from destruction of a colony to colony fusion. As well as genetic factors, nestmate recognition in social insects commonly relies on cues that are mediated by environmental factors such as food source. However, single‐piece nesting termite colonies share nesting material and food source with rival colonies (their wood substrate serves as both). In principle, the shared environment of single‐piece nesting termite colonies could constrain their ability to identify non‐nestmates, contributing to some of the variation seen in encounters, but this has not been investigated. In this study, we raised incipient colonies of a single‐piece nesting termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis, on two different wood types and conducted behavioral assays to test whether nestmate discrimination can be constrained by common environmental conditions. We found that non‐nestmates elicited higher rates of identity checking and defense behavior compared to nestmates, but there was no effect of wood type on the strength of behavioral responses to non‐nestmates. We also found that one key cooperative behavior (allogrooming) was performed equally toward both nestmates and non‐nestmates. These findings offer no support for the hypothesis that common wood type constrains the nestmate recognition system of single piece nesting termites. We suggest that where groups encounter each other frequently in a common environment, selection will favor discrimination based on genetic and/or higher resolution environmentally mediated cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca F. B. Padget
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterExeterUK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
- German Primate CenterUniversity of GoettingenGoettingenGermany
| | - Faye J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of ExeterCornwallUK
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De Gasperin O, Blacher P, Chapuisat M. Social insect colonies are more likely to accept unrelated queens when they come with workers. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Relatedness underlies the evolution of reproductive altruism, yet eusocial insect colonies occasionally accept unrelated reproductive queens. Why would workers living in colonies with related queens accept unrelated ones, when they do not gain indirect fitness through their reproduction? To understand this seemingly paradox, we investigated whether acceptance of unrelated queens by workers is an incidental phenomenon resulting from failure to recognize non-nestmate queens, or whether it is adaptively favored in contexts where cooperation is preferable to rejection. Our study system is the socially polymorphic Alpine silver ant, Formica selysi. Within populations, some colonies have a single queen, and others have multiple, sometimes unrelated, breeding queens. Social organization is determined by a supergene with two haplotypes. In a first experiment, we investigated whether the number of reproductive queens living in colonies affects the ability of workers at rejecting alien queens, as multiple matrilines within colonies could increase colony odor diversity and reduce workers’ recognition abilities. As workers rejected all alien queens, independently of the number of queens heading their colony, we then investigated whether their acceptance is flexible and favored in specific conditions. We found that workers frequently accepted alien queens when these queens came with a workforce. Our results show that workers flexibly adjust their acceptance of alien queens according to the situation. We discuss how this conditional acceptance of unrelated queens may be adaptive by providing benefits through increased colony size and/or genetic diversity, and by avoiding rejection costs linked to fighting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ornela De Gasperin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pierre Blacher
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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Castillo Vardaro JA, Bonachela JA, Baker CCM, Pinsky ML, Doak DF, Pringle RM, Tarnita CE. Resource availability and heterogeneity shape the self-organisation of regular spatial patterning. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:1880-1891. [PMID: 34212477 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Explaining large-scale ordered patterns and their effects on ecosystem functioning is a fundamental and controversial challenge in ecology. Here, we coupled empirical and theoretical approaches to explore how competition and spatial heterogeneity govern the regularity of colony dispersion in fungus-farming termites. Individuals from different colonies fought fiercely, and inter-nest distances were greater when nests were large and resources scarce-as expected if competition is strong, large colonies require more resources and foraging area scales with resource availability. Building these principles into a model of inter-colony competition showed that highly ordered patterns emerged under high resource availability and low resource heterogeneity. Analysis of this dynamical model provided novel insights into the mechanisms that modulate pattern regularity and the emergent effects of these patterns on system-wide productivity. Our results show how environmental context shapes pattern formation by social-insect ecosystem engineers, which offers one explanation for the marked variability observed across ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Castillo Vardaro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, San José State University, San Jose, CA, USA
| | - Juan A Bonachela
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Christopher C M Baker
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Malin L Pinsky
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Daniel F Doak
- Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Robert M Pringle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Corina E Tarnita
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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The Dominance Hierarchy of Wood-Eating Termites from China. INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10070210. [PMID: 31323742 PMCID: PMC6681200 DOI: 10.3390/insects10070210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Revised: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Competition is a fundamental process in ecology and helps to determine dominance hierarchies. Competition and dominance hierarchies have been little investigated in wood-eating termites, despite the necessary traits of similar resources, and showing spatial and temporal overlap. Competition and dominance between five species of wood-eating termites found in Huangzhou, China, was investigated in three laboratory experiments of aggression and detection, plus a year-long field survey of termite foraging activity. Dominance depended on body size, with largest species winning overwhelmingly in paired contests with equal numbers of individuals, although the advantage was reduced in paired competitions with equal biomass. The termites could detect different species from used filter papers, as larger species searched through paper used by smaller species, and smaller species avoided papers used by larger species. The largest species maintained activity all year, but in low abundance, whereas the second largest species increased activity in summer, and the smallest species increased their activity in winter. The termite species displayed a dominance hierarchy based on fighting ability, with a temporal change in foraging to avoid larger, more dominant species. The low abundance of the largest species, here Macrotermes barneyi, may be a function of human disturbance, which allows subordinate species to increase. Thus, competitive release may explain the increase in abundance of pest species, such as Coptotermes formosanus, in highly modified areas, such as urban systems.
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Casalla R, Korb J. Termite diversity in Neotropical dry forests of Colombia and the potential role of rainfall in structuring termite diversity. Biotropica 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin Casalla
- Evolutionary Biology and EcologyUniversität Freiburg Freiburg Germany
- Departamento de Química y BiologíaUniversidad del Norte Barranquilla Colombia
| | - Judith Korb
- Evolutionary Biology and EcologyUniversität Freiburg Freiburg Germany
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Vickruck JL, Richards MH. Nestmate discrimination based on familiarity but not relatedness in eastern carpenter bees. Behav Processes 2017; 145:73-80. [PMID: 29031812 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Revised: 10/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
How animals recognize conspecific individuals has important outcomes in many contexts, but interactions among group members are particularly important. Two recognition criteria are often implicated in these interactions: kin recognition is based on relatedness cues and nestmate recognition is based on familiarity. For social insects, both types of recognition are possible, as many nestmates are close kin and familiarity can develop among individuals that encounter each other repeatedly. To discern whether social insects use kin or nestmate recognition, it is necessary to simultaneously assess how relatedness and familiarity influence behaviour. The facultatively social eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica, offers an excellent opportunity to study how either nestmate or kin recognition (or both) may influence interactions among nestmates, as many females disperse from their natal nests in spring, and often attempt to join new colonies that may contain unrelated individuals. This leads to frequent behavioural interactions among females that may be related or unrelated, and familiar or unfamiliar. We used observation nests and microsatellite loci to assess the influence of familiarity and relatedness on behavioural interactions during the early phase of colony development, when females establish reproductive queues prior to brood production. Females were more likely to feed and were less aggressive to familiar rather than related nestmates, regardless of their relatedness. This suggests that eastern carpenter bees primarily use learned cues to discriminate among nestmates. Interactions with nestmates were also context-dependent, as females returning to the nest without food were the recipients of more aggression than those returning with food. If spring dispersal leads to reduced relatedness in X. virginica colonies, then nestmate recognition based on familiarity would be an important factor in maintaining group cohesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- J L Vickruck
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
| | - M H Richards
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
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Cooney F, Vitikainen EIK, Marshall HH, van Rooyen W, Smith RL, Cant MA, Goodey N. Lack of aggression and apparent altruism towards intruders in a primitive termite. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160682. [PMID: 28018658 PMCID: PMC5180156 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
In eusocial insects, the ability to discriminate nest-mates from non-nest-mates is widespread and ensures that altruistic actions are directed towards kin and agonistic actions are directed towards non-relatives. Most tests of nest-mate recognition have focused on hymenopterans, and suggest that cooperation typically evolves in tandem with strong antagonism towards non-nest-mates. Here, we present evidence from a phylogenetically and behaviourally basal termite species that workers discriminate members of foreign colonies. However, contrary to our expectations, foreign intruders were the recipients of more rather than less cooperative behaviour and were not subjected to elevated aggression. We suggest that relationships between groups may be much more peaceable in basal termites compared with eusocial hymenoptera, owing to energetic and temporal constraints on colony growth, and the reduced incentive that totipotent workers (who may inherit breeding status) have to contribute to self-sacrificial intergroup conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feargus Cooney
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Emma I. K. Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Harry H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Wilmie van Rooyen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Robert L. Smith
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Forbes 410, Tucson, AZ 85721-0036, USA
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Nicole Goodey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
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Aguilera-Olivares D, Rizo JF, Burgos-Lefimil C, Flores-Prado L, Niemeyer HM. Nestmate recognition in defense against nest invasion by conspecifics during swarming in a one-piece nesting termite. REVISTA CHILENA DE HISTORIA NATURAL 2016. [DOI: 10.1186/s40693-016-0063-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Aguilera-Olivares D, Burgos-Lefimil C, Melendez W, Flores-Prado L, Niemeyer HM. Chemical basis of nestmate recognition in a defense context in a one-piece nesting termite. CHEMOECOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00049-016-0217-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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De Nardin J, Missaggia B, Araújo A. An experimental approach to test the source of information on kinship in butterfly immatures. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2014.946539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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11
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Sources of variation in cuticular hydrocarbons in the ant Formica exsecta. J Chem Ecol 2013; 39:1415-23. [PMID: 24272518 PMCID: PMC3851696 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-013-0366-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2013] [Revised: 09/23/2013] [Accepted: 10/08/2013] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic variation arises from interactions between genotype and environment, although how variation is produced and then maintained remains unclear. The discovery of the nest-mate recognition system in Formica exsecta ants has allowed phenotypic variation in chemical profiles to be quantified across a natural population of 83 colonies. We investigated if this variation was correlated or not with intrinsic (genetic relatedness), extrinsic (location, light, temperature), or social (queen number) factors. (Z)-9-Alkenes and n-alkanes showed different patterns of variance: island (location) explained only 0.2 % of the variation in (Z)-9-alkenes, but 21-29 % in n-alkanes, whereas colony of origin explained 96 % and 45-49 % of the variation in (Z)-9-alkenes and n-alkanes, respectively. By contrast, within-colony variance of (Z)-9-alkenes was 4 %, and 23-34 % in n-alkanes, supporting the function of the former as recognition cues. (Z)-9-Alkene and n-alkane profiles were correlated with the genetic distance between colonies. Only n-alkane profiles diverged with increasing spatial distance. Sampling year explained a small (5 %), but significant, amount of the variation in the (Z)-9-alkenes, but there was no consistent directional trend. Polygynous colonies and populous monogynous colonies were dominated by a rich C23:1 profile. We found no associations between worker size, mound exposure, or humidity, although effect sizes for the latter two factors were considerable. The results support the conjecture that genetic factors are the most likely source of between-colony variation in cuticular hydrocarbons.
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Societies drifting apart? Behavioural, genetic and chemical differentiation between supercolonies in the yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes. PLoS One 2010; 5:e13581. [PMID: 21042578 PMCID: PMC2962633 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2010] [Accepted: 09/30/2010] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In populations of most social insects, gene flow is maintained through mating between reproductive individuals from different colonies in periodic nuptial flights followed by dispersal of the fertilized foundresses. Some ant species, however, form large polygynous supercolonies, in which mating takes place within the maternal nest (intranidal mating) and fertilized queens disperse within or along the boundary of the supercolony, leading to supercolony growth (colony budding). As a consequence, gene flow is largely confined within supercolonies. Over time, such supercolonies may diverge genetically and, thus, also in recognition cues (cuticular hydrocarbons, CHC's) by a combination of genetic drift and accumulation of colony-specific, neutral mutations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We tested this hypothesis for six supercolonies of the invasive ant Anoplolepis gracilipes in north-east Borneo. Within supercolonies, workers from different nests tolerated each other, were closely related and showed highly similar CHC profiles. Between supercolonies, aggression ranged from tolerance to mortal encounters and was negatively correlated with relatedness and CHC profile similarity. Supercolonies were genetically and chemically distinct, with mutually aggressive supercolony pairs sharing only 33.1%±17.5% (mean ± SD) of their alleles across six microsatellite loci and 73.8%±11.6% of the compounds in their CHC profile. Moreover, the proportion of alleles that differed between supercolony pairs was positively correlated to the proportion of qualitatively different CHC compounds. These qualitatively differing CHC compounds were found across various substance classes including alkanes, alkenes and mono-, di- and trimethyl-branched alkanes. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that positive feedback between genetic, chemical and behavioural traits may further enhance supercolony differentiation through genetic drift and neutral evolution, and may drive colonies towards different evolutionary pathways, possibly including speciation.
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Wong N, Lee CY. Intra- and interspecific agonistic behavior of the subterranean termite Microcerotermes crassus (Isoptera: Termitidae). JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 2010; 103:1754-1760. [PMID: 21061976 DOI: 10.1603/ec10060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The aim of our study was to investigate the intra- and interspecific agonistic behaviors exhibited by the worker and soldier castes of the subterranean termite Microcerotermes crassus Snyder (Isoptera: Termitidae). Aggression between M. crassus colonies from different field locations and also against three termite species--Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann), Globitermnes sulphureus Haviland, and Odontotermes sp.--were observed in the laboratory. Termite responses were tested in paired combination of castes (soldiers versus soldiers, soldiers versus workers, and workers versus workers) consisting of 10 individuals each. Significant agonistic behaviors were observed only in encounters between pairings of different termite species. M. crassus was aggressive toward individuals from different species but not toward individuals from different M. crassus colonies. Mortality of M. crassus reached 100% in most of the interspecific encounters. However, no or low mortality was recorded in the intraspecific pairings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nellie Wong
- Urban Entomology Laboratory, Vector Control Research Unit, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia
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Husseneder C, Simms DM. Size and heterozygosity influence partner selection in the Formosan subterranean termite. Behav Ecol 2008; 19:764-773. [PMID: 19461839 PMCID: PMC2474661 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arn041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2006] [Revised: 05/18/2007] [Accepted: 01/18/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In monogamous species that exhibit extensive biparental investment, such as termites, both sexes are predicted to be selective when choosing a mate. Size-related traits are expected to be important in partner selection because the fat reserves of the colony founders sustain the incipient colony. Partner relatedness and heterozygosity determine the degree of inbreeding and genetic diversity within the colony and may thus also influence partner selection. To test these predictions, we investigated whether phenotypic and genetic traits influence mate choice and/or competitive advantage during pair formation of Formosan subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae). Pair formation in termites normally occurs within a short period after swarming when alates form tandem pairs on the ground. Alates were collected from 5 light trap samples in the French Quarter of New Orleans, LA. From each sample, both tandem pairs and single individuals were collected and their sex, body weights, and head widths were recorded. Pairwise relatedness and individual levels of heterozygosity were determined by microsatellite genotyping. Males in tandem pairs with females had a significantly larger head width than males that did not form tandem pairs. Weights as well as head widths of tandem running partners were positively correlated. For the majority of the samples, relatedness between tandem partners did not differ from the relatedness to members of the other tandem pairs. Thus, no kin discrimination occurred during tandem running. However, females engaged in tandem running had a higher degree of heterozygosity than females that remained single. These findings suggest partner selection and/or competitive advantage based on size-related phenotypic parameters and genetic diversity. The pairing advantage of heterozygous females might explain previous findings of sex-biased alate production depending on the degree of inbreeding in colonies of several species of the genus Coptotermes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Husseneder
- Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 404 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
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Nestmate recognition and levels of aggression are not altered by changes in genetic diversity in a socially polymorphic ant. Anim Behav 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.11.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Lack of evidence for nepotism by workers tending queens of the polygynous termite Nasutitermes corniger. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0506-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Adams ES, Atkinson L, Bulmer MS. Relatedness, recognition errors, and colony fusion in the termite Nasutitermes corniger. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2007. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-007-0349-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Holzer B, Chapuisat M, Kremer N, Finet C, Keller L. Unicoloniality, recognition and genetic differentiation in a native Formica ant. J Evol Biol 2006; 19:2031-9. [PMID: 17040400 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01133.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Some ants have an extraordinary form of social organization, called unicoloniality, whereby individuals mix freely among physically separated nests. This mode of social organization has been primarily studied in introduced and invasive ant species, so that the recognition ability and genetic structure of ants forming unicolonial populations in their native range remain poorly known. We investigated the pattern of aggression and the genetic structure of six unicolonial populations of the ant Formica paralugubris at four hierarchical levels: within nests, among nests within the same population, among nests of populations within the Alps or Jura Mountains and among nests of the two mountain ranges. Ants within populations showed no aggressive behaviour, but recognized nonnestmates as shown by longer antennation bouts. Overall, the level of aggression increased with geographic and genetic distance but was always considerably lower than between species. No distinct behavioural supercolony boundaries were found. Our study provides evidence that unicoloniality can be maintained in noninvasive ants despite significant genetic differentiation and the ability to discriminate between nestmates and nonnestmates.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Holzer
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Biophore, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Lehmann L, Perrin N. Altruism, Dispersal, and Phenotype‐Matching Kin Recognition. Am Nat 2002; 159:451-68. [DOI: 10.1086/339458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Thorne B, Traniello J, Adams E, Bulmer M. Reproductive dynamics and colony structure of subterranean termites of the genusReticulitermes(Isoptera Rhinotermitidae): a review of the evidence from behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 1999. [DOI: 10.1080/08927014.1999.9522833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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HUSSENEDER C, BRANDL R, EPPLEN C, EPPLEN JT, KAIB M. Variation between and within colonies in the termite: morphology, genomic DNA, and behaviour. Mol Ecol 1998. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00416.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Atkinson L, Adams ES. The origins and relatedness of multiple reproductives in colonies of the termiteNasutitermes corniger. Proc Biol Sci 1997. [DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lynn Atkinson
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NewYork 14627, USA
| | - Eldridge S. Adams
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NewYork 14627, USA
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Crozier RH, Oldroyd BP, Tay WT, Kaufmann BE, Johnson RN, Carew ME, Jennings KM. Molecular advances in understanding social insect population structure. Electrophoresis 1997; 18:1672-5. [PMID: 9378143 DOI: 10.1002/elps.1150180934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Social insects present many phenomena seen in all organisms but in more extreme forms and with larger sample sizes than those observable in most natural populations of vertebrates. Microsatellites are proving very much more informative than allozymes for the analysis of population biological problems, and prolifically polymorphic markers are fairly readily developed. In addition, the male-haploid genetic system of many social insects facilitates genetic analysis. The ability to amplify DNA from sperm stored in a female's sperm storage device enables the determination of mating types long after the death of the short-lived males, in addition to information on the degree of mixing of sperm from different males. Mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences are also proving important, not only in phylogenetic studies but also in molecular population genetics, as a tracer of female movements. Mitochondrial markers have definitively shown the movement of females between colonies, challenging models giving exclusive primacy to kin selection as the explanation for multiqueen colonies, in Australian meat ants, Iridomyrmex purpureus, and the aridzone queenless ant Rhytidoponera sp. 12. Microsatellite and mtDNA variation are being studied in Camponotus consobrinus sugar ants, showing an unexpected diversity of complexity in colony structure, and microsatellites have shown that transfer of ants between nests of the weaver ant Polyrhachis doddi must be slight, despite an apparent lack of hostility.
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Affiliation(s)
- R H Crozier
- School of Genetics and Human Variation, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
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