Manipulation of worker size diversity does not affect colony fitness under natural conditions in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi
Manipulation of worker size diversity does not affect colony fitness under natural conditions in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi
复制标题
控制工蚁体型多样性不会影响自然条件下尼兰德里蚁的蚁群适应性
DOI：
10.1007/s00265-020-02885-2
复制
发表时间：
2020
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
M. Molet
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Honorio;C. Doums;M. Molet
在社会性昆虫中，群体内的工蜂多样性一直被认为可以提高群体适应度。最近的研究开始质疑这一说法在物种适度多样性。然而，证明不存在效果是困难的，因为这种不存在可能是由于仅测量了少数生活史特征或人为条件。为了规避这些限制，我们实验减少工人大小的蚂蚁Temnothorax nylanderi殖民地内的多样性，或不影响平均工人的大小，我们重新引入他们在外地4个月（春季和初夏）。然后，我们根据生存、生长和繁殖成功率彻底测量了它们的适应性。我们的研究结果表明，我们的操作并没有影响殖民地的健身。此外，殖民地没有恢复多样性到其初始水平，进一步表明工人规模的多样性不是一个关键参数。我们发现了典型的观察到的菌落大小，菌落生长和繁殖成功之间的正相关关系。总的来说，我们的研究结果证实，工人规模的多样性在殖民地不一定是适应的物种，它是温和的。我们讨论的替代机制，可以解释中等工人规模的多样性的进化持久性。生活在群体中的生物可以从新的群体水平特征的出现中受益匪浅。例如，社会性昆虫在群体内的工蜂大小上表现出显著的变异性。这种大小的多样性增加了工人之间的劳动分工，提高了群体的适应性。然而，在大小多样性适中的物种中，这种关系可能并不总是得到验证。在这里，我们操纵工人的大小多样性和平均工人的大小内的蚂蚁Temnothorax nylanderi殖民地，我们重新引入他们在外地，我们广泛测量殖民地健身后4个月。我们发现对菌落存活、生长和繁殖没有影响。我们讨论了社会生活及其相关的合作和冲突如何导致工蜂规模的变化，而对群体适应度没有任何积极影响。
In social insects, within-colony worker diversity has long been thought to improve colony fitness. Recent studies start to question this assertion in species with moderate diversity. However, demonstrating an absence of effect is difficult as this absence could be due to the measurement of only few life history traits or to artificial conditions. In order to circumvent these limitations, we experimentally decreased worker size diversity within colonies of the ant Temnothorax nylanderi, with or without affecting mean worker size and we reintroduced them in the field for 4 months (spring and early summer). We then thoroughly measured their fitness based on survival, growth, and reproductive success. Our results show that our manipulation did not affect colony fitness. In addition, colonies did not restore diversity to its initial level, further suggesting that worker size diversity is not a key parameter to them. We found the classically observed positive relationship between colony size, colony growth, and reproductive success. Overall, our results confirm that worker size diversity within colony is not necessarily adaptive in species where it is moderate. We discuss the alternative mechanisms that could explain the evolutionary persistence of moderate worker size diversity. Organisms that live in groups can greatly benefit from the emergence of novel group-level traits. For instance, social insects show significant variability in worker size within colonies. This size diversity increases the division of labor among workers and improves colony fitness. However, in species where size diversity is moderate, this relationship may not always be verified. Here, we manipulated both worker size diversity and mean worker size within colonies of the ant Temnothorax nylanderi, we reintroduced them in the field, and we extensively measured colony fitness after 4 months. We found no impact on colony survival, growth, and reproduction. We discuss how social life and its associated cooperation and conflicts could cause variation in worker size, without any positive effect on colony fitness.
影响因子：
2.8
作者：
Robinson, Elva J. H.;Feinerman, Ofer;Franks, Nigel R.
通讯作者：
Franks, Nigel R.