Colony foundation and polygyny in the ant Formica podzolica

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Deslippe ◽  
Riitta Savolainen
1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Deslippe ◽  
R. Savolainen

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e0147222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Munilla ◽  
Meritxell Genovart ◽  
Vitor H. Paiva ◽  
Alberto Velando
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek L Borowiec ◽  
Stefan P Cover ◽  
Christian Rabeling

Studying the behavioral and life history transitions from a cooperative, eusocial life history to exploitative social parasitism allows for deciphering the conditions under which changes in behavior and social organization lead to diversification. The Holarctic ant genus Formica is ideally suited for studying the evolution of social parasitism because half of its 178 species are confirmed or suspected social parasites, which includes all three major classes of social parasitism known in ants. However, the life-history transitions associated with the evolution of social parasitism in this genus are largely unexplored. To test competing hypotheses regarding the origins and evolution of social parasitism, we reconstructed the first global phylogeny of Formica ants and representative formicine outgroups. The genus Formica originated in the Old World during the Oligocene (~30 Ma ago) and dispersed multiple times to the New World. Within Formica, the capacity for dependent colony foundation and temporary social parasitism arose once from a facultatively polygynous, independently colony founding ancestor. Within this parasitic clade, dulotic social parasitism evolved once from a facultatively temporary parasitic ancestor that likely practiced colony budding frequently. Permanent social parasitism evolved twice from temporary social parasitic ancestors that rarely practiced colony budding, demonstrating that obligate social parasitism can originate from different facultative parasitic backgrounds in socially polymorphic organisms. In contrast to inquiline ant species in other genera, the high social parasite diversity in Formica likely originated via allopatric speciation, highlighting the diversity of convergent evolutionary trajectories resulting in nearly identical parasitic life history syndromes.


1955 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. Haskins ◽  
E. F. Haskins
Keyword(s):  

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Nielsen ◽  
Anurag A. Agrawal ◽  
Ann E. Hajek

Social insects defend their own colonies and some species also protect their mutualist partners. In mutualisms with aphids, ants typically feed on honeydew produced by aphids and, in turn guard and shelter aphid colonies from insect natural enemies. Here we report that Formica podzolica ants tending milkweed aphids, Aphis asclepiadis , protect aphid colonies from lethal fungal infections caused by an obligate aphid pathogen, Pandora neoaphidis . In field experiments, bodies of fungal-killed aphids were quickly removed from ant-tended aphid colonies. Ant workers were also able to detect infective conidia on the cuticle of living aphids and responded by either removing or grooming these aphids. Our results extend the long-standing view of ants as mutualists and protectors of aphids by demonstrating focused sanitizing and quarantining behaviour that may lead to reduced disease transmission in aphid colonies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madison A. Sankovitz ◽  
Michael D. Breed ◽  
Helen F. McCreery

1997 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tindo ◽  
P. D'Agostino ◽  
E. Francescato ◽  
A. Dejean ◽  
S. Turillazzi
Keyword(s):  

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