Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of worker longevity and other endogenous factors on colony size in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Insectes Sociaux Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Central to the survival and reproduction of social insect queens is the size of colonies at maturity. The influence of exogenous factors such as predation, food abundance, and seasonal changes in temperature on colony size are well studied. Less well studied are endogenous life-history factors such as a queen’s fertility and lifespan, duration of worker development from egg to adult and worker lifespan. Endogenous factors regulating the rate of colony growth and colony size were simulated using the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Assuming ideal environmental conditions of no predation, abundant food and uniform temperature, the simulation showed unequivocally that colony size is determined by two endogenous factors: a queen’s egg-laying rate (R q) and worker longevity (L w) (Colony size = R q × L w). Thus, we are left with an unanswered question: if worker longevity contributes directly to colony size, why is the lifespan of workers so short—in most cases, a small fraction of a queen’s lifespan?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams E.S. 1990. Boundary disputes in the territorial ant Azteca trigona: effects of asymmetries in colony size. Anim. Behav. 39: 321-328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams E.S. and Tschinkel W.R. 1995. Density-dependent competition in fire ants: effects on colony survivorship and size variation. J. Anim. Ecol. 64: 315-324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briano J., Patterson R. and Cordo H. 1995. Relationship between colony size of Solenopsis richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and infection with Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporida: Thelohaniidae) in Argentina. J. Econ. Entomol. 88: 1233-1237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calabi P. and Porter S.D. 1989. Worker longevity in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta: ergonomic considerations of correlations between temperature, size and metabolic rates. J. Insect Physiol. 35: 643-649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassill D.L. 2002. Yo-yo bang: a risk-aversion investment strategy by a perennial insect society. Oecologia 132: 150-158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassill D.L. 2006. Why skew selection, a model of parental exploitation, should replace kin selection. J. Bioecon. 8: 101-119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassill D.L., Kuriachan I. and Vinson S.B. 2007. A test of two skew models to explain cooperative breeding among unrelated individuals. J. Bioecon. 9: 19-37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassill D.L. and Tschinkel W.R. 2000. Behavioral and developmental homeostasis in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. J. Insect Physiol. 46: 933-939.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassill D.L. and Vinson S.B. 2007. Effects of larval secretions on queen fecundity in the fire ant. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 100: 327-332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole B.J. and Wiernasz D.C. 2000. Colony size and reproduction in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Insect. Soc. 47: 249-255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cushman J.H., Martinsen G.D. and Mazeroll A.I. 1988. Density- and size-dependent spacing of ant nests: evidence for intraspecific competition. Oecologia 77: 522-525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler A., Liebig J. and Hölldobler B. 2006. Queen fertility, egg marking and colony size in the ant Camponotus floridanus. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 59: 490-499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fonseca C.R. 1999. Amazonian ant-plant interactions and the nesting space limitation hypothesis. J. Trop. Ecol. 15: 807-825.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon D.M. and Wagner D. 1997. Neighborhood density and reproductive potential in harvester ants. Oecologia 109: 556-560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B. and Wilson E.O. 1990. The Ants. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 732 pp.

  • Holway D.A., Suarez A.V. and Case T.J. 2002. Role of abiotic factors in governing susceptibility of invasion: a test with Argentine ants. Ecology 83: 1610-1619.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson R.A. 2000. Water loss in desert ants: caste variation and the effect of cuticle abrasion. Physiol. Entomol. 25: 48-53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis T. 2009. Colony size, density and distribution of the leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) in cultivated field. Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. London. 127: 51-64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markin G.P., Dillier J.H. and Collins H.L. 1973. Growth and development of colonies of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 66: 803-808.

    Google Scholar 

  • McInnes D.A. and Tschinkel W.R. 1995. Queen dimorphism and reproductive strategies in the fire ant Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Behav. Ecol. Sociol. 36: 367-375.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLain D.K. and Marsh N.B. 1990. Male copulatory success: heritability and relationship to mate fecundity in the southern green stinkbug, Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Heredity 64: 161-167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michener C.D. 1964. Reproductive efficiency in relation to colony size in Hymenopterous societies. Insect. Soc. 11: 317-341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oster G.F. and Wilson E.O. 1978. Caste and Ecology in the Social Insects. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 372 pp.

  • Palmer T.M. 2004. Wars of attrition: colony size determines competitive outcomes in a guild of African acacia-ants. Anim. Behav. 68: 993-1004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter S.D. 1988. Impact of temperature on colony growth and developmental rates of ant, Solenopsis invicta. J. Insect Physiol. 34: 1127-1133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter S.D. 1989. Effects of diet on the growth of laboratory fire ant colonies (Hymenoptera Formicidae). J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 62: 288-291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter S.D. and Jorgensen C.D. 1981. Foragers of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex owyheei: a disposable caste? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 9: 247-256.

  • Porter S.D. and Tschinkel W.R. 1985a. Fire ant polymorphism (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): factors affecting worker size. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 78: 381-386.

  • Porter S.D. and Tschinkel W.R. 1985b. Fire ant polymorphism: the ergonomics of brood production. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 16: 323-336.

  • Porter S.D. and Tschinkel W.R. 1987. Foraging in Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): effects of weather and season. Envir. Entomol. 16: 802-808.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter S.D. and Tschinkel W.R.1993. Fire ant thermal preferences: behavioral control growth and metabolism. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 32: 321-329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns S.C. 1992. The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. 264 pp.

  • Tschinkel W.R. 1987. Fire ant queen longevity and age: Estimation by sperm depletion. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 80: 263-266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel W.R. 1988a. Colony growth and the ontogeny of worker polymorphisms in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 22: 103-115.

  • Tschinkel W.R. 1988b. Social control of egg-laying rate in queens of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Physiol. Entomol. 13: 327-350.

  • Tschinkel W.R. 1993. Sociometry and sociogenesis of colonies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta during one annual cycle. Ecol. Monogr. 63: 425-457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel W.R. 1999. Sociometry and sociogenesis of colony-level attributes of the Florida harvester ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 92: 80-89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel W.R. 2006. The Fire Ants. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Mass. 729 pp.

  • Tschinkel W.R. and Porter S.D. 1988. The efficiency of sperm use in queens of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 81: 777-781.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters A.C. and Mackay D.A. 2005. Importance of large colony size for successful invasion by Argentine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): evidence for biotic resistance by native ants. Austral Ecol. 30: 395-406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiernasz D.C. and Cole B.J. 2003. Queen size mediates queen survival and colony fitness in harvester ants. Evolution 57: 2179-2183.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank two anonymous reviewers and Johan Billen for their encouragement and invaluable comments that improved the breadth of the manuscript immensely. Special recognition for preliminary simulations completed in the year 2000 goes to Norman Buck, lab technician for Diana Wheeler at the University of Arizona. This project was funded in part by Arizona’s Center for Insect Science, National Institute of Health, Grant I-T32-A107475.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of ESP-Mathematics, USF St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    E. Asano

  2. Department of ESP-Biology, USF St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    D. L. Cassill

Authors
  1. E. Asano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. L. Cassill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Asano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Asano, E., Cassill, D.L. Impact of worker longevity and other endogenous factors on colony size in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta . Insect. Soc. 58, 551–557 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0179-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-011-0179-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation