Role of the queen in regulating reproduction in the bulldog ant Myrmecia gulosa: control or signalling?
Role of the queen in regulating reproduction in the bulldog ant Myrmecia gulosa: control or signalling?
复制标题
蚁后在调节牛头蚁 Myrmecia gulosa 繁殖中的作用：控制还是信号？
DOI：
10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.07.006
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发表时间：
2005
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
B. Hölldobler
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
V. Dietemann;C. Peeters;B. Hölldobler
蚁后通常垄断繁殖，即使工蚁能够在孤儿群体中产生雄性。在蚁后存在的情况下，维持工蜂不育的机制仍然没有得到充分的理解。在社会规模较小的物种中，蚁后可能会使用竞争性相互作用，而信息素在大的殖民地中更有效。这种信息素究竟代表胁迫工具还是诚实的信号还没有确定。我们调查了女王和工人之间的斗牛犬蚂蚁Myrmingulosa，一个物种，有限的女王，工人二型性和小殖民地的行为相互作用。蜂王大约1.6%的时间预算花在了访问巢穴上，但没有攻击性，工蜂也寻求与蜂王接触，这表明信息素与此有关。角质碳氢化合物沉积在巢基板上的女王有吸引力的工人，但没有必要调节他们的不育。封闭的蚁后能够阻止工蜂产卵。Myrmingulosa是单雌的，可能是单雄的，工人可以通过生产儿子和养育后代来最大限度地提高他们的适应能力。尽管如此，它们在有一个能生育的女王的情况下还是避免了繁殖，即使没有女王的监管。工蜂不育似乎是为了最大限度地提高群体生产力而选择的。我们的研究结果提供了证据反对女王信息素抑制工人产卵的概念。
Ant queens generally monopolize reproduction, even though workers are able to produce males in orphaned colonies. The mechanisms maintaining worker sterility in the presence of a queen remain inadequately understood. In species with small societies, queens may use agonistic interactions, whereas pheromones are more efficient in large colonies. Whether such pheromones represent coercive tools or honest signals has not been established. We investigated behavioural interactions between queen and workers in the bulldog ant Myrmecia gulosa, a species with limited queen–worker dimorphism and small colonies. About 1.6% of a queen's time budget was spent visiting nest chambers, but there was no aggression and the workers sought contact with their queen, suggesting that pheromones are involved. Cuticular hydrocarbons deposited on the nest substrate by the queen were attractive to workers, but were not necessary for regulating their sterility. Confined queens were able to prevent worker oviposition. Myrmecia gulosa is monogynous and probably monandrous, and workers could maximize their fitness by producing sons and rearing nephews. None the less, they refrained from reproduction in the presence of a fertile queen, even though there was no queen policing. Worker sterility seems to be selected to maximize colony productivity. Our results provide evidence against the notion that queen pheromones inhibit worker oviposition.
Tsuji K.：“日本蚂蚁 Diacamma sp. 中工蚁繁殖的调节”58・2 337-343 (1999)。
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