Kinship and incompatibility between colonies of the acacia ant Pseudomyrmex ferruginea

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology - Tập 17 - Trang 75-78 - 1985
Alex Mintzer1, S. B. Vinson1
1Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA

Tóm tắt

The effect of kinship on incompatibility between colonies of the acacia-ant Pseudomyrmex ferruginea was examined. Colonies were reared on a clone of Acacia hindsii in a standard environment. A slight but significant reduction in intercolony incompatibility was obtained within two inbred lineages, compared with the observed frequency of rejection for unrelated colonies. These results indicate that the relevant odor differences between colonies are probably not determined at a single gene locus. The ‘gestalt’ model for recognition pheromones does not apply to P. ferrugnea, since nestmates are often treated differently upon introduction to a second colony. However, the resulting intermediate rejection frequencies (30–100%) fail to converge on the 50% level predicted by single locus models for recognition pheromones.

Tài liệu tham khảo

Carlin N, Hölldobler B (1983) Nestmate and kin recognition in interspecific mixed colonies of ants. Science 222:1027 Crozier RH, Dix MW (1979) Analysis of two genetic models for the innate components of colony odor in social Hymenoptera. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 4:217 Greenberg L (1979) Genetic component of bee odor in kin recognition. Science 206:1095 Hölldobler B, Michener CD (1980) Mechanisms of identification and discrimination in social Hymenoptera. In: Markl H (ed) Evolution of social behavior: hypotheses and empirical tests. Dahlem Konferenzen 1980. Verlag Chemie, Weinheim Jarzen DH (1966) Coevolution of mutualism between ants and acacias in Central America. Evolution 20:249 Mintzer A (1982) Nestmate recognition and incompatibility between colonies of the acacia-ant Pseudomyrmex ferruginea. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 10:1065