Abstract
Eusocial queen polyandry increases genetic diversity within colonies, and genetically diverse colonies presumably suffer less from omnipresent parasites than genetically homogeneous colonies. So eusocial queen polyandry may have evolved in response to parasite load. Ewald’s theory of the evolution of virulence specifies conditions favoring the evolution of virulent, damaging parasites. Applying these ideas to parasites of ants, it is inferred that parasites are more virulent, and hence queen-polyandry is more often expected, when colonies are larger, when colonies are founded dependently, and when colonies are mobile or nomadic. An analysis of an ant-database supports these predictions. Further analyses, preferably using a generally accepted database, seem valuable.
Highlights
Single queens and single matingThe classic image of an eusocial colony such as an ant nest is that of many sterile individuals (‘workers’) and only one reproducing female, the ‘queen’
But certainly not all cases there is only one queen who, as in contrast to females of most solitary insects [3], usually mates with only one male [4], ‘monandry’. This arrangement results in a higher degree of relatedness between workers than if the queen were to mate with multiple males or if there were multiple queens in one colony
Strong and significant correlations are found in monogynous antspecies between the level of polyandry and the independent variables colony size, mode of foundation and the mobility of colonies
Summary
Single queens and single matingThe classic image of an eusocial colony such as an ant nest is that of many sterile individuals (‘workers’) and only one reproducing female, the ‘queen’. For a variety of reasons [1,2] workers refrain from producing offspring of their own and instead help a reproductive female, often their mother. But certainly not all cases there is only one queen (monogyny) who, as in contrast to females of most solitary insects [3], usually mates with only one male [4], ‘monandry’. This arrangement results in a higher degree of relatedness between workers than if the queen were to mate with multiple males (polyandry) or if there were multiple queens in one colony (polygyny). Workers are more closely related amongst themselves when all have the same father and the same mother
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