Intranest Relatedness and Nestmate Recognition in the Meadow Ant Formica pratensis (R.)

The impact of intranest relatedness on nestmate recognition was tested in a population of polydomous and monodomous nests of the mound-building ant Formica pratensis. Nestmate recognition was evaluated by testing aggression levels between 37 pairs of nests (n=206 tests). Workers from donor colonies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2001-04, Vol.49 (5), p.366-374
Main Authors: C. W. W. Pirk, P. Neumann, R. F. A. Moritz, Pamilo, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animal ethology
Ants
Biological and medical sciences
Formica pratensis
Formicidae
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Insect behavior
Insect colonies
Insect genetics
Insect nests
Kin recognition
Nestmate recognition
Odors
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Social insects
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Summary:The impact of intranest relatedness on nestmate recognition was tested in a population of polydomous and monodomous nests of the mound-building ant Formica pratensis. Nestmate recognition was evaluated by testing aggression levels between 37 pairs of nests (n=206 tests). Workers from donor colonies were placed on the mounds of recipient nests to score aggressive interactions among workers. A total of 555 workers from 27 nests were genotyped using four DNA microsatellites. The genetic and spatial distances of nests were positively correlated, indicating budding and/or fissioning as spread mechanisms. Monodomous and polydomous nests did not show different aggression levels. Aggression behavior between nests was positively correlated with both spatial distance and intranest relatedness of recipient colonies, but not with genetic distance or intranest relatedness of donor colonies. Multiple regression analysis revealed a stronger effect of spatial distance than of genetics on aggression behavior in this study, indicating that the relative importance of environment and genetics can be variable in F. pratensis. Nevertheless, the positive regression between intranest relatedness of recipient colonies and aggression in the multiple analysis supports earlier results that nestmate recognition is genetically influenced in F. pratensis and further indicates that foreign label rejection most likely explains our data.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s002650000315