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Solenopsis invicta mono/polygynous variation observations


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#1 Offline cobratank - Posted June 3 2017 - 6:07 PM

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Invicta has been flying in Atlanta, Georgia this week over the last few days. I have caught many queens. I had made observations on their size and location of catch. I have been finding them near my golf course and near a relatives neighborhood (she let me drive over there to look!). I know there are variations of invicta in terms of their state of polygyny (gaster size).

Near the golf course (right next to my house) I caught about 4-5 queens yesterday. The majority of them have narrow gasters (polugynous feature). Near my relative’s house, I found one queen every day for three days. The ones I found near the relative's house has a less narrow gaster, but a much fatter gaster (like a balloon). Then I found one near my house that has a balloon gaster.

So here is what I think is interesting, the queens I find near my house are of the polygynous variety. When I found them near my house, it was all on one day (except for one infertile one I found two weeks ago). The ones I found near my relatives house (which is only like 2 miles away in a very similar suburban environment) are of the monogynous variety. The only exception is today where I found one monogynous queen near my house. Pretty interesting how invicta variations can differ by only a couple of miles !

My theory relates to the distribution of the ants. Near my house (poly), the majority of the ants have a clumped distribution in the golf course, since people are actively using ant killers near their homes. The relative's community (mono) is less active in ant killing and has a random distribution. I see huge ant beds (3 yards! ) near and in the golf course, and I see a bunch of smaller ant hills distributed randomly in the relative's neighborhood. I think the long-term (5 years) distribution of ant colonies leads to the variation of the queen.

Edited by cobratank, June 3 2017 - 7:02 PM.


#2 Offline Saltynuts - Posted June 13 2017 - 9:52 AM

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Interesting cobratank!  So is it almost always the case that the ones with narrow gasters are polygynous variety, and the ones with fat gasters are mongyn?  



#3 Offline cobratank - Posted June 16 2017 - 3:05 PM

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I don't think it is always the case. However that is what I heard. I have noticed narrow gasters near my house and fat gasters in my relative's area. 






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