Behavioral evolution in the major worker subcaste of twig-nesting Pheidole (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): does morphological specialization influence task plasticity?

Abstract

Polymorphism frequently correlates with specialized labor in social insects, but extreme morphologies may compromise behavioral flexibility and thus limit caste evolution. The ant genus Pheidole has dimorphic worker subcastes in which major workers appear limited due to their morphology to performing defensive or trophic functions, thus providing an ideal model to investigate specialization and plasticity. We examined worker morphology, brood-care flexibility, and subcaste ratio in 17 species of tropical twig-nesting Pheidole by quantifying nursing by major workers in natural colonies and in subcolonies lacking minors, in which we also measured brood survival and growth. Across species, majors performed significantly less brood care than minors in intact colonies, but increased rates of brood care 20-fold in subcolonies lacking minors. Brood nursed by majors had lower survival than brood tended by minors, although rates of brood growth did not vary between subcastes. Significant interspecific variation in rates of brood care by major workers did not lead to significant differences in brood growth or survival. Additionally, we did not find a significant association between the degree of major worker morphometric specialization and rates of nursing, growth, or survival of brood among species. Therefore, major workers showed reduced efficacy of brood care, but the degree of morphological specialization among species did not directly compromise task plasticity. The compact nests and all-or-nothing consequences of predation or disturbance on colony fitness may have influenced the evolution of major worker brood-care competency in twig-nesting Pheidole.