Restricted gene flow between two social forms in the ant Formica truncorum

We studied genetic differentiation between two social forms (M‐type: single queen, independent nest founding; P‐type: multiple queens, dependent nest founding, building of colonial networks) of the ant Formica truncorum in a locality where the social types characterize two sympatric populations. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2005-07, Vol.18 (4), p.978-984
Main Authors: GYLLENSTRAND, N., SEPPÄ, P., PAMILO, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animals
Ants - genetics
Base Sequence
Cluster Analysis
DNA Primers
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Evolutionary biology
Female
Finland
gene flow
Genetic diversity
Genetics, Population
Haplotypes - genetics
Hierarchy, Social
Insects
Male
microsatellites
Molecular Sequence Data
monogyny
mtDNA
polygyny
Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational
Population Dynamics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Species Specificity
split sex ratio theory
sympatry
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Summary:We studied genetic differentiation between two social forms (M‐type: single queen, independent nest founding; P‐type: multiple queens, dependent nest founding, building of colonial networks) of the ant Formica truncorum in a locality where the social types characterize two sympatric populations. The genetic results indicate restricted gene flow between the social forms. Female gene flow between the forms appears to be absent as they did not share mitochondrial haplotypes. Significant nuclear differentiation and the distribution of private alleles suggest that male gene flow between the forms is weak. However, the assignment analysis indicates some gene flow with P males mating with M females. The results have potentially important implications concerning social evolution within the forms but they need to be confirmed in other localities before they can be generalized. The colonies in the M‐type population have earlier been shown to produce split sex ratios, depending on the mating frequency of the queens. The inferred gene flow from the P to the M type means that the split sex ratio is partly suboptimal, possibly because the P populations are not long‐lived enough to influence the behavioural decisions in the M colonies.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.00908.x