Colony co-founding in ants is an active process by queens

Colony co-founding in ants is an active process by queens

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Abstract Cooperative breeding may be selected for in animals when, on average, it confers greater benefits than solitary breeding.In a number of eusocial insects (i.e., ants, bees, wasps, and termites), queens join together to co-create new nests, a phenomenon known as colony co-founding.It has been hypothesised that co-founding evolved because queens obtain several fitness benefits.

However, in ants, previous work has suggested that co-founding is a random process that results from high queen density and low nest-site 924 availability.We experimentally examined nest-founding behaviour in the black garden ant, Lasius niger.We gave newly mated queens the choice between two empty nesting chambers, and compared their distribution across the two chambers with that 2 Piece Outdoor Sectional expected under random allocation.We found that queens formed associations of various sizes; in most instances, queens group together in a single chamber.Across all experiments, the frequency of larger groups of queens was significantly higher than expected given random assortment.

These results indicate colony co-founding in ants may actually be an active process resulting from mutual attraction among queens.That said, under natural conditions, ecological constraints may limit encounters among newly mated queens.