Division of labour and worker size polymorphism in ant colonies: the impact of social and genetic factors
Division of labour and worker size polymorphism in ant colonies: the impact of social and genetic factors
复制标题
蚁群的分工和工蚁规模多态性：社会和遗传因素的影响
DOI：
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发表时间：
2005
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
M. Chapuisat
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Schwander;H. Rosset;M. Chapuisat
工蜂之间的劳动分工是昆虫社会组织和生态成功的核心。如果有一个遗传成分，工人的大小，形态或任务偏好，增加殖民地遗传多样性所产生的存在下，每个殖民地的多个育种者可能会改善分工。我们研究了遗传基础的工人的大小和任务偏好在Formica selysi，蚂蚁物种，表现出自然的变化，在每个皇后的配偶数和皇后数每个殖民地。工人的大小有一个可遗传的组成部分，在殖民地为首的双交配女王（H2=0.26）和不同的母系在多女王殖民地之间显着。然而，更高水平的遗传多样性并没有导致更多的多态性工人在单或多女王殖民地。此外，工人从多女王殖民地一贯较小，多态性比工人从单女王殖民地。任务，身体大小和遗传谱系之间的关系似乎是复杂的。觅食者显着大于育雏招标，这可能会提供精力充沛或符合人体工程学的优势，殖民地。任务专门化也常常与遗传谱系有关。然而，遗传谱系和身体大小往往与任务相互独立，这表明工人的任务分配是由多种因素调节。总的来说，这些结果表明，在殖民地遗传多样性的增加不会增加工人的大小多态性，但可能会提高殖民地的稳态。
Division of labour among workers is central to the organisation and ecological success of insect societies. If there is a genetic component to worker size, morphology or task preference, an increase in colony genetic diversity arising from the presence of multiple breeders per colony might improve division of labour. We studied the genetic basis of worker size and task preference in Formica selysi, an ant species that shows natural variation in the number of mates per queen and the number of queens per colony. Worker size had a heritable component in colonies headed by a doubly mated queen (h2=0.26) and differed significantly among matrilines in multiple-queen colonies. However, higher levels of genetic diversity did not result in more polymorphic workers across single- or multiple-queen colonies. In addition, workers from multiple-queen colonies were consistently smaller and less polymorphic than workers from single-queen colonies. The relationship between task, body size and genetic lineage appeared to be complex. Foragers were significantly larger than brood-tenders, which may provide energetic or ergonomic advantages to the colony. Task specialisation was also often associated with genetic lineage. However, genetic lineage and body size were often correlated with task independently of each other, suggesting that the allocation of workers to tasks is modulated by multiple factors. Overall, these results indicate that an increase in colony genetic diversity does not increase worker size polymorphism but might improve colony homeostasis.