Abstract
The antsPogonomyrmex catifornicusandPheidole tucsonicadisplay cooperative colony foundation with co-foundresses forming associations without respect to relatedness. Geographic variation in method of colony foundation [cooperative (pleometrosis) versus non-cooperative (haplometrosis)] occurs inP. californicus, Acromyrmex versicolor, Myrmecocystus mimicus and Messor pergandei.Such variation in colony founding behavior strongly suggests that comparative studies of the adaptive value of cooperative colony founding will be extremely rewarding.
Highlights
IntroductionWheeler (1910) believed firmly that, in the vast majority of ant species, new colonies are founded by solitary queens (haplometrosis) and retain a single queen throughout the colony lifetime (monogyny)
We have found populations of Myrmecocystus mimicus and Acromyrmex versicolor, species previously shown to be pleometrotic, where haplometrosis predominates, often exclusively (Table 1)
Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pheidole tucsonica, Myrmecocystus mimicus, and Acromyrmex versicolor all displayed the same patterns in our laboratory tests
Summary
Wheeler (1910) believed firmly that, in the vast majority of ant species, new colonies are founded by solitary queens (haplometrosis) and retain a single queen throughout the colony lifetime (monogyny). M. Wheeler (1910) believed firmly that, in the vast majority of ant species, new colonies are founded by solitary queens (haplometrosis) and retain a single queen throughout the colony lifetime (monogyny) This conception was assumed to be generally true until publication of a seminal paper by H611dobler and Wilson (1977). These authors drew attention to the frequent occurrence of multiple fertile queens in mature colonies (polygyny) and identified several species in which multiple founding queens cooperate to start new colonies (pleometrosis).
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