Age-dependent changes in cuticular color and pteridine levels in a clonal ant

[Display omitted] •Social insects are currently emerging as models for studying ageing.•Research on the demography of colonies is hampered by the lack of age markers.•We tested cuticular pigmentation and pteridine levels to reliably determine age.•In the ant Platythyrea punctata, cuticular color dar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect physiology 2019-10, Vol.118, p.103943-103943, Article 103943
Main Authors: Hartmann, Clara, Heinze, Jürgen, Bernadou, Abel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age determination
Aging
Animals
Ants
Ants - physiology
Color
Cuticular color
Fluorescence
Pteridines
Pteridines - analysis
Social insects
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Social insects are currently emerging as models for studying ageing.•Research on the demography of colonies is hampered by the lack of age markers.•We tested cuticular pigmentation and pteridine levels to reliably determine age.•In the ant Platythyrea punctata, cuticular color darkens with age until 25–30 days.•Pteridine levels need to be used in combination with other age markers. Social insects are emerging models for studying aging and the longevity/fecundity trade-off. Research on the demography of colonies and populations are hampered by the lack of reliable age markers. Here we investigate the suitability of cuticular pigmentation and pteridine fluorescence for age grading individuals of the clonal ant Platythyrea punctata. We found that both traits varied with age. Cuticular color darkened with individual’s age until 25–30 days after hatching. For pteridine fluorescence, we found that P. punctata workers show a decrease in head pteridine levels over time until 70–80 days of age. Together with other markers, such as age-based behavior, cuticular coloration and pteridine fluorescence may help to estimate the age structure of colonies.
ISSN:0022-1910
1879-1611
DOI:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103943