A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii
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A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii. / Kronauer, Daniel Jan Christoph; Berghoff, Stefanie M.; Powell, Scott; Denny, A. Jay; Edwards, Keith J.; Franks, Nigel R.; Boomsma, Jacobus Jan.
In: Die Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 93, No. 8, 2006, p. 402-406.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A reassessment of the mating system characteristics of the army ant Eciton burchellii
AU - Kronauer, Daniel Jan Christoph
AU - Berghoff, Stefanie M.
AU - Powell, Scott
AU - Denny, A. Jay
AU - Edwards, Keith J.
AU - Franks, Nigel R.
AU - Boomsma, Jacobus Jan
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
U2 - 10.1007/s00114-006-0121-2
DO - 10.1007/s00114-006-0121-2
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 16676159
VL - 93
SP - 402
EP - 406
JO - Naturwissenschaften
JF - Naturwissenschaften
SN - 0028-1042
IS - 8
ER -
ID: 81086