Colony structure and apparent intraspecific social parasitism in the
functionally monogynous ant Leptothorax gredleri
Abstract
In eusocial insects, social parasitism - the exploitation of the host’s
brood care behaviour for survival and reproduction – can occur either
within or between species. Parasite queens invade host nests and
aggressively replace the resident queen. While the adoption of
conspecific queens is a common feature of species with multi-queen
colonies (polygyny), the origin of parasitic founding is not fully
understood. Functionally monogynous ants, in which nestmate queens
establish social and reproductive hierarchies by biting and antennal
boxing, might provide a link between peaceful adoption and social
parasitism. In this study we aimed to evaluate whether alien queens
might usurp colonies of the functionally monogynous ant Leptothorax
gredleri. Ovary dissection of queens from 33 nests showed that multiple
queens with developed ovaries can occasionally cooccur in the same nest.
Genetic analysis highlighted frequent exchanges of the dominant queens.
We evidenced that alien queens may take over reproduction, suggesting
possible occurrences of intraspecific social parasitism in L. gredleri.