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Vidal, Mathilde ; Königseder, Florian ; Giehr, Julia ; Schrempf, Alexandra ; Lucas, Christoph ; Heinze, Jürgen

Worker ants promote outbreeding by transporting young queens to alien nests

Vidal, Mathilde, Königseder, Florian, Giehr, Julia, Schrempf, Alexandra, Lucas, Christoph and Heinze, Jürgen (2021) Worker ants promote outbreeding by transporting young queens to alien nests. Communications Biology 2021 (4), pp. 1-8.

Date of publication of this fulltext: 10 Feb 2022 13:15
Article
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.45028


Abstract

Vidal et al. identify a breeding system in the ant Cardiocondyla elegans that avoids colonial inbreeding, managed by a third party of worker ants. This system bears similarities to human matchmaking, but with fundamental genetic drivers rather than social ones. Choosing the right mating partner is one of the most critical decisions in the life of a sexually reproducing organism and is the basis ...

Vidal et al. identify a breeding system in the ant Cardiocondyla elegans that avoids colonial inbreeding, managed by a third party of worker ants. This system bears similarities to human matchmaking, but with fundamental genetic drivers rather than social ones. Choosing the right mating partner is one of the most critical decisions in the life of a sexually reproducing organism and is the basis of sexual selection. This choice is usually assumed to be made by one or both of the sexual partners. Here, we describe a system in which a third party - the siblings - promote outbreeding by their sisters: workers of the tiny ant Cardiocondyla elegans carry female sexuals from their natal nest over several meters and drop them in the nest of another, unrelated colony to promote outbreeding with wingless, stationary males. Workers appear to choose particular recipient colonies into which they transfer numerous female sexuals. Assisted outbreeding and indirect female choice in the ant C. elegans are comparable to human matchmaking and suggest a hitherto unknown aspect of natural history - third party sexual selection. Our study highlights that research at the intersection between social evolution and reproductive biology might reveal surprising facets of animal behavior.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleCommunications Biology
Publisher:Nature
Place of Publication:BERLIN
Volume:2021
Number of Issue or Book Chapter:4
Page Range:pp. 1-8
Date3 May 2021
InstitutionsBiology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze)
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1038/s42003-021-02016-1DOI
KeywordsSEX DETERMINATION; INBREEDING DEPRESSION; CARDIOCONDYLA-ELEGANS; CLONAL REPRODUCTION; GENETIC-STRUCTURE; HYMENOPTERA; MALES; COMPETITION; ACCEPTANCE; AVOIDANCE;
Dewey Decimal Classification500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgYes
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-450284
Item ID45028

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