Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition
Cremer S, Heinze J. 2002. Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. 269(1489), 417–422.
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Author
Cremer, SylviaISTA ;
Heinze, Jürgen
Abstract
Hamilton's concept of local mate competition (LMC) is the standard model to explain female-biased sex ratios in solitary Hymenoptera. In social Hymenoptera, however, LMC has remained controversial, mainly because manipulation of sex allocation by workers in response to relatedness asymmetries is an additional powerful mechanism of female bias. Furthermore, the predominant mating systems in the social insects are thought to make LMC unlikely. Nevertheless, several species exist in which dispersal of males is limited and mating occurs in the nest. Some of these species, such as the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior, have evolved dimorphic males, with one morph being specialized for dispersal and the other for fighting with nest-mate males over access to females. Such life history, combining sociality and alternative reproductive tactics in males, provides a unique opportunity to test the power of LMC as a selective force leading to female-biased sex ratios in social Hymenoptera. We show that, in concordance with LMC predictions, an experimental increase in queen number leads to a shift in sex allocation in favour of non-dispersing males, but does not influence the proportion of disperser males. Furthermore, we can assign this change in sex allocation at the colony level to the queens and rule out worker manipulation.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2002-02-22
Journal Title
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences
Acknowledgement
We thank A. F. G. Bourke, J. J. Boomsma, S. Foitzik, M. Sixt,C. Anderson and C. Schubart for improving the manuscript, and E. Sixt for ant illustrations (figure 2). This study was funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: He1623/7-2).
Volume
269
Issue
1489
Page
417 - 422
ISSN
IST-REx-ID
Cite this
Cremer S, Heinze J. Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. 2002;269(1489):417-422. doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1892
Cremer, S., & Heinze, J. (2002). Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. Royal Society, The. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1892
Cremer, Sylvia, and Jürgen Heinze. “Adaptive Production of Fighter Males: Queens of the Ant Cardiocondyla Adjust the Sex Ratio under Local Mate Competition.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. Royal Society, The, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1892.
S. Cremer and J. Heinze, “Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences, vol. 269, no. 1489. Royal Society, The, pp. 417–422, 2002.
Cremer S, Heinze J. 2002. Adaptive production of fighter males: queens of the ant Cardiocondyla adjust the sex ratio under local mate competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. 269(1489), 417–422.
Cremer, Sylvia, and Jürgen Heinze. “Adaptive Production of Fighter Males: Queens of the Ant Cardiocondyla Adjust the Sex Ratio under Local Mate Competition.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences, vol. 269, no. 1489, Royal Society, The, 2002, pp. 417–22, doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1892.
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