Dysfunctional reproductive physiology, and not reproductive activation, triggers policing in experimental colonies of the clonal ant Cerapachys biroi

Abstract

We previously reported the existence of a unique policing system in the clonal ant Cerapachys biroi, where individuals that fail to synchronize to the colony reproductive dynamics and reproduce without control are recognized and executed by their nestmates. These executions help maintain the alternation of reproductive and foraging phases, a colony-level adaptive phenotype. In our previous study, we hypothesized that the specific chemical signature of non-synchronized individuals rather than some fertility-related cues serve as the proximate factor triggering their execution. We here examined this hypothesis by testing whether reproductively active individuals introduced in colonies in foraging phase are the target of aggression. We show that introduced fertile individuals display clear behavioral differences from sterile individuals of the foraging colonies, but are never targeted with aggressive behavior. Foraging workers, which usually perform aggressions, are able to discriminate the introduced individuals’ subcaste but not their reproductive status. Our results therefore demonstrate that ovarian activation is not enough to trigger policing in experimental colonies, supporting our previous hypothesis that aggressed individuals are not just unsynchronized, but possibly non-responsive to colony-level regulation cues and thus dysfunctional in their reproductive physiology.

Keywords: :

• social insects
• ants
• parthenogenesis
• Cerapachys biroi
• policing

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Supplemental Materials

Supplemental materials may be found here: 
www.landesbioscience.com/journals/cib/aricle/24954