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Related Experiment Video

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A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants
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Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?

Duncan S Procter1, Joan E Cottrell2, Kevin Watts3

  • 1York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis & Department of Biology University of York York UK; Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences School for Policy Studies University of Bristol Bristol UK.

Ecology and Evolution
|December 31, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Socially connected wood ant nests cooperate through resource exchange, but genetic relatedness does not explain this cooperation. Social bonds, not kinship, drive cooperation between connected nests.

Keywords:
Formica lugubriscolony organizationeusocialitykin selectionpolydomysocial organization

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Insect Social Systems

Background:

  • Eusociality, characterized by cooperative colonies, is a complex social organization.
  • Altruistic behavior in social insects is often explained by inclusive fitness and kin selection.
  • Polydomy, where colonies span multiple nests, can involve social connections promoting cooperation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cooperation and internest genetic relatedness in polydomous wood ants (Formica lugubris).
  • To test if socially connected nests cooperate and if high internest relatedness drives this cooperation.

Main Methods:

  • Measurement of social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in Formica lugubris.
  • Comparison of cooperation levels and genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs.

Main Results:

  • Socially connected nests demonstrated worker and resource movement, indicating cooperation.
  • Unconnected nests did not exhibit cooperative behaviors.
  • No significant difference in internest genetic relatedness was found between connected and unconnected nest pairs; both showed high kinship.

Conclusions:

  • Socially connected wood ant nests exhibit cooperative distinctions, but not genetic ones.
  • High internest relatedness is not the primary driver of cooperation in these connected nests.
  • The loss of social connections may initiate ecological divergence, with genetic divergence potentially following later.