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Mating Triggers Queen Elimination by Workers of Japanese Harvester Ant (Messor aciculatus)

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Abstract

During reproduction, ant colonies produce winged queens. These new queens usually leave the nest to mate and can then establish a new nest. If the new nest is close to an existing colony, it will be in competition with the existing colony. Therefore, workers will kill any mated queens they find outside the colony during the reproductive season. In this study, factors that might determine whether workers eliminate queens were investigated. Mating status (mated or unmated), colony origin (same or different to tested workers) and mating partners (inbred or outbred) of the queens of Japanese harvester ants (Messor aciculatus) were manipulated and the workers’ behavior towards the queens was observed. Mated queens were always attacked by workers, though this was not affected by either colony origin or mating partners. These results suggest that mating status triggers elimination of queens by workers, and that the colony origin and mating partner are unlikely to be important roles in elimination of queens.

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Acknowledgements

We thank VAIC-CCI Yachimata centre for permitting us to collect ants. We are grateful to Michiko Fukumoto, Yuya Fukumoto and staff members of VAIC-CCI Yachimata centre for help collecting the queens. We thank two anonymous referees for their constructive comments.

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Author notes

  1. Mamoru Takata

    Present address: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Mamoru Takata & Satoshi Koyama

  2. School of Biology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Cathleen E. Thomas

Authors
  1. Mamoru Takata
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  2. Cathleen E. Thomas
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  3. Satoshi Koyama
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Correspondence to Satoshi Koyama.

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Takata, M., Thomas, C.E. & Koyama, S. Mating Triggers Queen Elimination by Workers of Japanese Harvester Ant (Messor aciculatus). J Insect Behav 31, 277–282 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-018-9678-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-018-9678-9

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