Open AccessFacultative polygyny in the plant‐ant Petalomyrmex phylax (Hymenoptera: Formicinae): sociogenetic and ecological determinants of queen number
Author(s) -
DALECKY AMBROISE,
GAUME LAURENCE,
SCHATZ BERTRAND,
MCKEY DOYLE,
KJELLBERG FINN
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2005.00524.x
Subject(s) - polygyny , cline (biology) , biology , ecology , facultative , nest (protein structural motif) , hymenoptera , population , demography , biochemistry , sociology
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.