10 replies to this topic

[OhNoNotAgain]

'"Princess Pheromone" Tells Ants Which Larvae Are Destined to Become Queens'

 

https://phys.org/new...e-destined.html

 

Is the general thought that larvae become female alates based on feeding alone? Or do people think some larvae are sort of predetermined or more likely to become female alates?

Edited by OhNoNotAgain, March 7 2020 - 8:45 PM.

[justanotheramy]

I thought workers are workers because of supressed insulin levels — that future queens had a significant metabolic advantage?

[justanotheramy]

So it's gene expression, not genetic difference.
All ants in a nest are genetically identical, and how they're fed in most species will influence gene expression.
Giving worker ants IV insulin will make them more queen-like.

Scientific paper is here.
And podcast interview with author.

[OhNoNotAgain]

I wonder about permanent inquilines who produce mostly gynes? Like, are their brood just prone to becoming alates? Or do they put out something that makes the host worker ants feed them more?

[justanotheramy]

Mostly, or entirely?
The question would be if workerless inquilines are physiologically capable of the insulin suppression via gene expression that produces workers.

The researcher said in that interview I posted that ants are evolved from a more solitary insect with more wasp-like reproductive behaviour, and that the insulin suppression that creates workers is part of the quirk that has allowed them to evolve towards the advantages of social behaviours.

If workerless inquilines never evolved that, or somehow lost it, that would be interesting.

[OhNoNotAgain]

So presumably they can successfully turn into alates even without extra food, I guess? Or maybe enough to start the process the workers then feed them extra food? And they don't go to colonies that have strict breeding times where the workers punish princess larvae by biting them? 

[justanotheramy]

I'd assume they either turn into successful alates or stunted/dead alates — that they don't have any other form.

[Amazant]

Would this be an example of a stunted alate. She has wing scars and is a quarter the size of the queen and twice the size of the queen.
This picture was taken from my tetramorium colony.

[RushmoreAnts]

Yes, I believe so. The workers must have accidentally exposed the larva to some queen pheromones, as well as worker pheromones.

[TennesseeAnts]

Would this be an example of a stunted alate. She has wing scars and is a quarter the size of the queen and twice the size of the queen.
This picture was taken from my tetramorium colony.

This could be.

[Mdrogun]

In the example above, that looks to a be a queen x worker intercaste. The head, legs, and antennae are still relatively normal, but we do see a lot of development in the thorax and likely some development in the ovaries that you would not see in a true Tetramorium immigrans worker.

 

Intercastes are known to occur in ants relatively often. Some species are definitely more prone to it than others, though. The photo above is a perfect example. It's essentially an ant that is halfway between two castes.

 

Since all ants delegate caste somewhat differently, all that's really important to know is that at some point in the larva's development process it was receiving the signal to develop into one caste and at one point that signal changed to another caste. I believe it can also be caused by the larva's genetics, but I am less sure of this.