Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Making the right choice: how Crematogaster scutellaris queens choose to co-found in relation to nest availability

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

Abstract

One of the main tasks a freshly mated ant queen has to face is to find a safe and suitable nest site to start a new colony. Colony foundation by associated queens, also known as pleometrosis, has been described for several ant species and, under specific selective pressures, represents an alternative to independent colony foundation. Despite most newly mated queens of the common Mediterranean acrobat ant Crematogaster scutellaris generally adopting independent colony foundation inside tree trunks, both field and laboratory studies have demonstrated that the formation of pleometrotic groups may occur, particularly inside lignified aphid galls on poplar or oak trees. These associations typically end with the survival of only one queen after the foundation phase, and the benefits they may provide remain unclear. In this study, we investigated how queen density and different nest availability may promote the formation of pleometrotic associations in C. scutellaris. We found that occupied nests are not actively sought after by queens, as hypothesised in previous studies, but might be accepted when they are the only safe refugia available. Moreover, the tendency to form groups increases as queen density increases, and nest availability is a limiting factor. Finally, we found no evidence that the size of the queen affects whether to join an already occupied nest.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams ES, Tschinkel WR (1995) Effects of foundress number on brood raids and queen survival in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 37:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aron S, Steinhauer N, Fournier D (2009) Influence of queen phenotype, investment and maternity apportionment on the outcome of fights in cooperative foundations of the ant Lasius niger. Anim Behav 77:1067–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balas MT (2005) Conditions favoring queen execution in young social insect colonies. Insect Soc 52:77–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balas MT, Adams ES (1996) The dissolution of cooperative groups: mechanisms of queen mortality in incipient fire ant colonies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 38:391–399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baroni Urbani C (1971) Catalogo delle specie di Formicidae d’Italia (studi sulla mirmecofauna d’Italia X). Mem Soc Ent Ital 50:5–287

    Google Scholar 

  • Baroni Urbani C, Souliè J (1962) Monogynie chez la fourmi Cremastogaster scutellaris (Hymenoptera:Formicidae). Bull Soc Hist Nat Toulouse 97:29–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartz SH, HÓ§lldobler B (1982) Colony founding in Myrmecocystus mimicus wheeler and the evolution of foundress associations. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 10:137–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasconi G, Keller L (1999) Effect of queen phenotype and social environment on early queen mortality in incipient colonies of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Anim Behav 57:371–377

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasconi G, Strassmann JE (1999) Cooperation among unrelated individuals: the ant foundress case. Trends Ecol Evol 14:477–482

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breed M (2017) Forced queen associations. Insect Soc 2:177–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cahan S, Helms KR, Rissing SW (1998) An abrupt transition in colony founding behaviour in the ant Messor pergandei. Anim Behav 55:1583–1594

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cahan SH, Fewell JH (2004) Division of labor and the evolution of task sharing in queen associations of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Behav Ecol Soc 56:9–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casevitz-Weulersse J (1972) Habitat et comportement de Crematogaster scutellaris OLIVER (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bull Soc Entomol Fr 77:12–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Casevitz-Weulersse J (1991) Reproduction et développement des sociétés de Crematogaster scutellaris OLIVER (Hymenoptera:Formicidae). Ann Soc Entomol Fr 27:103–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole B (2009) The ecological setting of social evolution: the demography of ant populations. In: Gadau J, Fewell JH (eds) Organization of insect societies: from genome to sociocomplexity. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 74–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier D, Battaille G, Timmermans I, Aron S (2008) Genetic diversity, worker size polymorphism and division of labour in the polyandrous ant Cataglyphis cursor. Anim Behav 75:151–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frizzi F, Panichi S, Rispoli A, Masoni A, Santini G (2014) Spatial variation of the aggressive response towards conspecifics in the ant Crematogaster scutellaris (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Redia 97:165–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Frizzi F, Ciofi C, Dapporto L, Natali C, Chelazzi G, Turillazzi S, Santini G (2015) The rules of aggression: how genetic, chemical and spatial factors affect intercolony fights in a dominant species, the mediterranean acrobat ant Crematogaster scutellaris. PloS One 10(10)

  • Han DA, Tschinkel WR (1997) Settlement and distribution of colony-founding queens of the arboreal ant, Crematogaster ashmeadi, in a longleaf pine forest. Insect Soc 44:323–336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heinze J, Trunzer B, Hölldobler B, Delabie JHC (2001) Reproductive skew and queen relatedness in an ant with primary polygyny. Insect Soc 48:149–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmkampf M, Mikheyev AS, Kang Y, Fewell J, Gadau J (2016) Gene expression and variation in social aggression by queens of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Mol Ecol 25:3716–3730

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helms KR, Helms Cahan S (2012) Large-scale regional variation in cooperation and conflict among queens of the desert ant Messor pergandei. Anim Behav 84:499–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herbers JM (1986) Nest site limitation and facultative polygyny in the ant Leptothorax longispinosus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 19:115–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood WG, Tschinkel WR (1990) Desiccation resistance in arboreal and terrestrial ants. Physiol Entomol 15:23–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1977) The number of queens: an important trait in ant evolution. Naturwissenschaften 64:8–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (2009) The superorganism: the beauty, elegance, and strangeness of insect societies. Norton, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellner K, Trindl A, Heinze J, d’Ettorre P (2007) Polygyny and polyandry in small ant societies. Mol Ecol 16:2363–2369

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keller L, Passera L (1989) Size and fat content of gynes in relation to the mode of colony founding in ants (Hymenoptera; Formicidae). Oecol 80:236–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp DJ, Wiklund C (2004) Residency effects in animal contests. Proc R Soc Lond B 271:1707–1712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs RA, Rissing SW (1991) Preference for larger foundress associations in the desert ant Messor pergandei. Anim Behav 41:361–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeanson R, Fewell JH (2008) Influence of the social context on division of labor in ant foundress associations. Behav Ecol 19:567–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson RA (2004) Colony founding by pleometrosis in the semiclaustral seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Anim Behav 68:1189–1200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masoni A, Frizzi F, Mattioli M, Turillazzi S, Ciofi C, Santini G (2017) Pleometrotic colony foundation in the ant Crematogaster scutellaris (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): better be alone than in bad company. Myrmecol News 25:51–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Masoni A (2017) Ecology and behaviour of the dominant ant Crematogaster scutellaris (Olivier 1792). PhD dissertation, Università degli studi di Firenze

  • Motro M, Motro U, Cohen D (2016) Decision making by young queens of the harvester ant Messor semirufus while searching for a suitable nesting site. Insect Soc 63:615–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motro M, Motro U, Cohen D (2017) Forced associations by young queens of the harvester ant Messor semirufus during colony founding. Insect Soc 64:179–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonacs P (1990) Size and kinship affect success of co-founding Lasius pallitarsis queens. Psyche 97:217–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonacs P (1992) Queen condition and alate density affect pleometrosis in the ant Lasius pallitarsis. Insect Soc 39:3–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overson RP (2011) Causes and consequences of queen-number variation in the California harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Dissertation, Arizona State University

  • Overson R, Gadau J, Clark RM, Pratt SC, Fewell JH (2014) Behavioral transitions with the evolution of cooperative nest founding by harvester ant queens. Behav Ecol Soc 68:21–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfenning DW (1995) Absence of joint nesting advantage in desert seed harvester ants: evidence from a field experiment. Anim Behav 49:567–575

    Google Scholar 

  • Rissing SW, Johnson RA, Pollock GB (1986) Natal nest distribution and pleometrosis in the desert leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor (Pergande) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche 93:177–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rissing SW, Pollock GB (1987) Queen aggression, pleometrotic advantage and brood raiding in the ant Veromessor pergandei (Hymenoptera Formicidae). Anim Behav 35:975–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rueppell O, Heinze J (1999) Alternative reproductive tactics in females: the case of size polymorphism in winged ant queens. Insect Soc 46:6–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santini G, Tucci L, Ottonetti L, Frizzi F (2007) Competition trade-offs in the organisation of a Mediterranean ant assemblage. Ecol Entom 32:319–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki K, Jibiki E, Satoh T, Obara Y (2005) Queen phenotype and behaviour during cooperative colony founding in Polyrhachis moesta. Insect Soc 52:19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider CA, Rasband WS, Eliceiri KW (2012) NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat Methods 9:671–675

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer Z, Sasaki T, Haney B, Janssen M, Pratt SC, Fewell JH (2016) The foundress’s dilemma: group selection for cooperation among queens of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex californicus. Sci Rep 6:29828

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sommer K, Hölldobler B (1995) Colony founding by queen association and determinants of reduction in queen number in the ant Lasius niger. Anim Behav 50:287–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trunzer B, Heinze J, Hölldobler B (1998) Cooperative colony founding and experimental primary polygyny in the ponerine ant Pachycondyla villosa. Insect Soc 45:267–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel WR, Howard DF (1983) Colony founding by pleometrosis in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Behav Ecol Soc 12:103–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel WR (1993) Sociometry and sociogenesis of colonies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta during one annual cycle. Ecol Monogr 63:425–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tschinkel WR (2006) The fire ants. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Vargo EL (1992) Mutual pheromonal inhibition among queens in polygyne colonies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Behav Ecol Soc 31:205–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Florence, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    A. Masoni, F. Frizzi, S. Turillazzi & G. Santini

Authors
  1. A. Masoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Frizzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. Turillazzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. Santini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Masoni.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Masoni, A., Frizzi, F., Turillazzi, S. et al. Making the right choice: how Crematogaster scutellaris queens choose to co-found in relation to nest availability. Insect. Soc. 66, 257–263 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-018-00683-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-018-00683-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation