Decoupled evolution of mating biology and social structure in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants

作者：Romain A. Dahan, Nathan K. Grove, Martín Bollazzi, Benjamin P. Gerstner, Christian Rabeling · 发表于：Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1007/s00265-021-03113-1 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior、Plant and animal studies、Animal Behavior and Reproduction

Abstract Insect societies vary greatly in their social structure, mating biology, and life history. Polygyny, the presence of multiple reproductive queens in a single colony, and polyandry, multiple mating by females, both increase the genetic variability in colonies of eusocial organisms, resulting in potential reproductive conflicts. The co-occurrence of polygyny and polyandry in a single species is rarely observed across eusocial insects, and these traits have been found to be negatively correlated in ants. Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants are well-suited for investigating the evolution of complex mating strategies because both polygyny and polyandry co-occur in this genus. We used microsatellite markers and parentage inference in five South American Acromyrmex species to study how different selective pressures influence the evolution of polygyny and polyandry. We show that Acromyrmex species exhibit independent variation in mating biology and social structure, and polygyny and polyandry are not necessarily negatively correlated within genera. One species, Acromyrmex lobicornis , displays a significantly lower mating frequency compared to others, while another species, A. lundii , appears to have reverted to obligate monogyny. These variations appear to have a small impact on average intra-colonial relatedness, although the biological significance of such a small effect size is unclear. All species show significant reproductive skew between patrilines, but there was no signifi...