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Ant parasite queens revert to mating singly

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A parasitic ant has abandoned the multiple mating habit of the queens of its related host.

Abstract

Multiple mating (polyandry) is widespread among animal groups, particularly insects1. But the factors that maintain it and underlie its evolution are hard to verify because benefits and costs are not easily quantified and they tend to be similar in related species. Here we compare the mating strategies of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior and its recently derived social parasite Acromyrmex insinuator, which is also its closest relative2 (see Fig. 1). We find that although the host queens mate with up to a dozen different males, the social parasite mates only singly. This rapid and surprising reversion to single mating in a socially parasitic ant indicates that the costs of polyandry are probably specific to a free-living lifestyle.

D. R. NASH

Small worker ants cluster around the parasite queen.

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Figure 2: The observed frequency distributions of patrilines (offspring sired by different males) of the social parasite Acromyrmex insinuator (n=13) and its host A. echinatior (n=10), as derived from genetic analysis of the progeny of single queens.

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Author notes

  1. Seirian Sumner

    Present address: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA 34002, USA

  2. Seirian Sumner

    Present address: Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London, N1 4RY, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population Biology, Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark

    Seirian Sumner, William O. H. Hughes, Jes S. Pedersen & Jacobus J. Boomsma

Authors
  1. Seirian Sumner
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  2. William O. H. Hughes
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  3. Jes S. Pedersen
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  4. Jacobus J. Boomsma
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Correspondence to Jacobus J. Boomsma.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Sumner, S., Hughes, W., Pedersen, J. et al. Ant parasite queens revert to mating singly. Nature 428, 35–36 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/428035a

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