In many ant species polygyny can arise secondarily through colony adoption of new queens. Colony members may make adoption decisions based on their relatedness to new queens, queen competition for colony resources, and/or the effects of queen adoption on colony survivorship and productivity. Although there is no direct evidence of the role of queen adoption on colony expansion, it is possible that queen adoption may play a role in the formation of expansive colonies by means of colony fusion and, therefore, further investigation is needed. To better understand the dynamics of queen adoption, acceptance of nestmate and non-nestmate queens in queenless, monogyne, and polygyne laboratory colonies of the polygynous Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, was studied. Queens introduced into experimental colonies were either adopted or killed. Differences in responses were observed across colony condition (queenless, monogyne or polygyne) and among colonies. Levels of aggression between colony pairs and non-nestmate worker acceptance were also recorded. Responses toward non-nestmate workers differed from those toward introduced non-nestmate queens, with workers being killed to a higher extent than reproductives. Cuticular hydrocarbon and genetic analyses will provide further information on possible factors involved in queen adoption.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Formicidae Linepithema humile (Argentine ant)
Keywords: polygyny
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, Cb1, Apiculture and Social Insects
Back to Student Competition TMP Orals
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition