Queen selection by worker groups of the ant Myrmica rubra L.

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Normal queens in a colony of Myrmica rubra L. were not necessarily more attractive to the workers than strange ones grafted into the colony. Workers chose the best queens using those they already had as a standard. After winter dormancy, workers in colonies with queens were less tolerant for queen variety. One week at 20°C was enough to cause them to reject still-dormant queens, even those of their own colony, though they accepted alien queens. However, after 2–3 weeks culture queens were acceptable only if they belonged to the same colony as the natural ones or to the same colony as those queens that had been artificially implanted. To re-open the group, it was essential to remove all the resident queens; then after 2 days the workers took any queen offered, rather than remain queenless, but when offered a choice between one of their originals and an unfamiliar one, they still took the former. Three queenless weeks were required before they lost their preference for an ex-nestmate. Queens from a single colony, isolated in separate groups of workers, remained acceptable to the workers with them indefinitely, but when these queens were transferred to identical collateral groups of workers, they were rejected even after only 2 weeks' separation. Some groups of workers were less tolerant than others and some queens were more attractive than others, but their compatibility diminished with time if they lived in isolation. A group with an attractive queen was more likely to resist other queens.