Authors: DALECKY, AMBROISE; GAUME, LAURENCE¹; SCHATZ, BERTRAND²; MCKEY, DOYLE²; KJELLBERG, FINN²

Source: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 86, Number 2, October 2005 , pp. 133-151(19)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

In polygynous ants it has been proposed that the coexistence of several queens in a colony evolved as a response to ecological, social and genetic parameters. We present demographic, histological and genetic data showing that the plant-ant Petalomyrmex phylax is facultatively and secondarily polygynous. Polygyny is functional, lowers the reproductive output per queen, and is a kin-selected trait as new queens accepted in polygynous colonies are highly related females that never left their natal colony. The degree of polygyny varies according to a geographical gradient. Northern colonies can be strongly polygynous, while at the southern edge of the species’ distribution, colonies are almost exclusively monogynous. However, ecological studies of the host-plant populations revealed that this cline could not be explained by variations in the degree of nest site limitation. We discuss selective costs and benefits associated with these social structures, and propose that this cline may result from historical processes such as selection of a more dispersive strategy along a colonization front. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 86, 133–151.

Keywords: ant–plant interactions; Cameroon; inbreeding; microsatellites; monogyny; myrmecophyte; nest site limitation; rainforest; relatedness; social insects

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00524.x

Affiliations: 1: Botanique et bioinformatique de l’architecture des plantes—CNRS UMR 5120, TA 40/PS 2, Bd de la Lironde, F-34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 2: Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive—CNRS UMR 5175, 1919 route de Mende, F-34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

Publication date: 2005-10-01

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