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Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment

Chemical recognition cues are used to discriminate among species, con-specifics, and potentially between patrilines in social insect colonies. There is an ongoing debate about the possible persistence of patriline cues despite evidence for the mixing of colony odors via a “gestalt” mechanism in soci...

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Autores principales: Martin, Stephen, Trontti, Kalevi, Shemilt, Sue, Drijfhout, Falko, Butlin, Roger, Jackson, Duncan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3488683/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23139891
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.319
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author Martin, Stephen
Trontti, Kalevi
Shemilt, Sue
Drijfhout, Falko
Butlin, Roger
Jackson, Duncan
author_facet Martin, Stephen
Trontti, Kalevi
Shemilt, Sue
Drijfhout, Falko
Butlin, Roger
Jackson, Duncan
author_sort Martin, Stephen
collection PubMed
description Chemical recognition cues are used to discriminate among species, con-specifics, and potentially between patrilines in social insect colonies. There is an ongoing debate about the possible persistence of patriline cues despite evidence for the mixing of colony odors via a “gestalt” mechanism in social insects, because patriline recognition could lead to nepotism. We analyzed the variation in recognition cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) with different mating frequencies or queen numbers in 688 Formica exsecta ants from 76 colonies. We found no increase in the profile variance as genetic diversity increased, indicating that patriline effects were absent or possibly obscured by a gestalt mechanism. We then demonstrated that an isolated individual's profile changed considerably relative to their colony profile, before stabilizing after 5 days. We used these isolated individuals to eliminate the masking effects of the gestalt mechanism, and we detected a weak but statistically significant patriline effect in isolated adult workers and also in newly emerged callow workers. Thus, our evidence suggests that genetic variation in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of F. exsecta ants (n-alkanes and alkenes) resulted in differences among patrilines, but they were obscured in the colony environment, thereby avoiding costly nepotistic behaviors.
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spelling pubmed-34886832012-11-08 Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment Martin, Stephen Trontti, Kalevi Shemilt, Sue Drijfhout, Falko Butlin, Roger Jackson, Duncan Ecol Evol Original Research Chemical recognition cues are used to discriminate among species, con-specifics, and potentially between patrilines in social insect colonies. There is an ongoing debate about the possible persistence of patriline cues despite evidence for the mixing of colony odors via a “gestalt” mechanism in social insects, because patriline recognition could lead to nepotism. We analyzed the variation in recognition cues (cuticular hydrocarbons) with different mating frequencies or queen numbers in 688 Formica exsecta ants from 76 colonies. We found no increase in the profile variance as genetic diversity increased, indicating that patriline effects were absent or possibly obscured by a gestalt mechanism. We then demonstrated that an isolated individual's profile changed considerably relative to their colony profile, before stabilizing after 5 days. We used these isolated individuals to eliminate the masking effects of the gestalt mechanism, and we detected a weak but statistically significant patriline effect in isolated adult workers and also in newly emerged callow workers. Thus, our evidence suggests that genetic variation in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile of F. exsecta ants (n-alkanes and alkenes) resulted in differences among patrilines, but they were obscured in the colony environment, thereby avoiding costly nepotistic behaviors. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012-09 2012-08-14 /pmc/articles/PMC3488683/ /pubmed/23139891 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.319 Text en © 2012 Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation.
spellingShingle Original Research
Martin, Stephen
Trontti, Kalevi
Shemilt, Sue
Drijfhout, Falko
Butlin, Roger
Jackson, Duncan
Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title_full Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title_fullStr Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title_full_unstemmed Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title_short Weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated Formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
title_sort weak patriline effects are present in the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of isolated formica exsecta ants but they disappear in the colony environment
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3488683/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23139891
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.319
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