Queen fecundity and reproductive skew in the termite Nasutitermes corniger

A major goal of studies on social animals is to understand variation in reproduction within and between groups. We used hierarchical regressions to analyze oviposition rates in the neotropical termite Nasutitermes corniger, a species with both monogynous and polygynous colonies. Queen fecundity was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insectes sociaux 2008-02, Vol.55 (1), p.28-36
Main Authors: Adams, E. S, Atkinson, L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Demecology
Entomology
fecundity
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Isoptera
Life Sciences
Nasutitermes corniger
Protozoa. Invertebrata
reproductive skew
Research Article
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Summary:A major goal of studies on social animals is to understand variation in reproduction within and between groups. We used hierarchical regressions to analyze oviposition rates in the neotropical termite Nasutitermes corniger, a species with both monogynous and polygynous colonies. Queen fecundity was a non-linear, saturating function of queen weight. Greater queen weight was associated with larger nest size and with lower numbers of queens per nest, suggesting competition among queens for resources acquired by the colony. The collective egglaying rate of pairs of queens exceeded that of single queens, but further increases in queen number did not raise total fecundity. Skew in oviposition rates, as quantified by Morisita's index I δ, averaged 1.2, indicating inequalities in reproductive rates that are only moderately greater than expected for random apportionment. The leveling off of oviposition with increasing queen weight suggests that it is costly for individual females to produce eggs at high rates, which could favor tolerance of reproduction by other females, reducing reproductive skew. We hypothesize that the incentive to tolerate reproduction by other females is especially pronounced for heavier queens, because these queens are close to the limit of their own reproductive capacity. Consistent with this hypothesis, skew in oviposition rates was inversely related to the mean weight of queens within a nest.
ISSN:0020-1812
1420-9098
DOI:10.1007/s00040-007-0970-5