Passera L, Aron S, Vargo E L, Keller L
Laboratory of Ethology and Animal Cognition, FRE-CNRS 2382, University Paul-Sabatier, Toulouse Cedex 31062, France.
Science. 2001 Aug 17;293(5533):1308-10. doi: 10.1126/science.1062076.
The haplodiploid sex-determination system of ants gives rise to conflict between queens and workers over colony sex ratios, and the female-biased allocation ratios seen in many species suggest that workers often prevail in this conflict. We exchanged queens between male- and female-specialist colonies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. These exchanges quickly reversed the sex-ratio biases of adopting colonies. The sex ratio of queen-laid eggs differed strongly between male- and female-specialist colonies. These findings suggest that queens can force workers to raise male sexuals by limiting the number of female brood and help to explain why sex investment ratios lie between the queen and worker equilibria in this and many other ant species.
蚂蚁的单倍体二倍体性别决定系统导致蚁后和工蚁在蚁群性别比例上产生冲突，许多物种中偏向雌性的分配比例表明，在这场冲突中工蚁往往占上风。我们在红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta）的雄性偏好型和雌性偏好型蚁群之间交换了蚁后。这些交换迅速扭转了接纳蚁群的性别比例偏差。雄性偏好型和雌性偏好型蚁群中蚁后所产卵子的性别比例差异很大。这些发现表明，蚁后可以通过限制雌性幼虫数量来迫使工蚁培育雄性后代，这有助于解释为何在这种蚂蚁以及许多其他蚂蚁物种中，性别投资比例处于蚁后和工蚁的平衡之间。
