Cuvillier-Hot Virginie, Gadagkar Raghavendra, Peeters Christian, Cobb Matthew
Laboratoire d'Ecologie, CNRS UMR 7625, Université Pierre-et-Marie Curie, 7 quai Saint Bernard, 75005 Paris, France.
Proc Biol Sci. 2002 Jun 22;269(1497):1295-300. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2002.1991.
In the monogynous queenless ant Diacamma ceylonense, the future reproductive (future gamergate) is very aggressive towards infertile workers during the first days of her adult life. Overt aggression disappears at about three weeks, when the future gamergate begins to lay male-destined eggs and is ready to mate. Over the same period, her cuticular hydrocarbon profile alters, changing from a chemical signature similar to that of a sterile worker towards that of a gamergate. In nature, these behavioural and chemical changes will coincide with a reduction in conflict within the nest: faced with a virgin future gamergate, infertile workers have an interest in producing male-destined eggs; however, once the gamergate produces female eggs, they have an interest in rearing her offspring. This demonstration of a shift from physical inhibition to chemical signalling is interpreted in terms of sociogenetic theory, the role of cuticular hydrocarbons as an indicator of fertility in insects and the fact that the regulation of reproduction in Diacamma involves mechanisms redolent of both queenless and queenright ant species.
在单后无蚁后的锡兰弓背蚁中，未来的繁殖蚁（未来的生殖雌蚁）在成年后的头几天对不育工蚁极具攻击性。大约三周后，明显的攻击性消失，此时未来的生殖雌蚁开始产下注定发育为雄蚁的卵并准备交配。在同一时期，其表皮碳氢化合物谱发生变化，从类似于不育工蚁的化学特征转变为生殖雌蚁的特征。在自然环境中，这些行为和化学变化将与巢内冲突的减少同时发生：面对未来的处女生殖雌蚁，不育工蚁会倾向于产下注定发育为雄蚁的卵；然而，一旦生殖雌蚁产出雌蚁卵，它们就会倾向于抚养其后代。这种从物理抑制到化学信号传递的转变，是根据社会遗传学理论、表皮碳氢化合物作为昆虫生育力指标的作用，以及锡兰弓背蚁的繁殖调控涉及无蚁后和有蚁后蚁种的相关机制这一事实来解释的。
