Banschbach Valerie S, Herbers Joan M
Department of Zoology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 05405.
Evolution. 1996 Feb;50(1):298-307. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb04493.x.
Differences in colony structure between two populations of the forest ant, Myrmica punctiventris, have had dramatic consequences on allocation to growth and reproduction. A population in Vermont, in which colonies have a single, once-mated queen, shows no evidence of inbreeding or population subdivision and has allocated 25% of sexual reproduction to males in two consecutive years. In contrast, for a population in New York that is facultatively polygynous, we have evidence of microgeographic genetic structure and inbreeding, and the populationwide allocation ratio was extremely male-biased. Additionally, the Vermont population allocated much more energy to sexual reproduction than did the New York population. Detailed analysis of data from the Vermont population, within which colonies undergo a seasonal cycle of expansion to multiple nesting sites (polydomy), gave strong evidence of queen-worker conflict over male allocation and indicated that workers are winning that conflict. Finally, we used contextual analysis to find that fertility selection operates almost exclusively at the level of the individual nest rather than at the higher level of the multinest colony.
森林蚁种点刻蚁（Myrmica punctiventris）的两个种群在蚁群结构上的差异，对生长和繁殖的资源分配产生了显著影响。佛蒙特州的一个种群中，蚁群只有一只曾交配过的蚁后，没有近亲繁殖或种群细分的迹象，并且在连续两年中，有25%的有性繁殖分配给了雄性。相比之下，纽约的一个种群是兼性多蚁后的，存在微观地理遗传结构和近亲繁殖的证据，且全种群的分配比例极度偏向雄性。此外，佛蒙特州的种群在有性繁殖上分配的能量比纽约的种群多得多。对佛蒙特州种群的数据进行详细分析后发现，该种群的蚁群会经历季节性的扩展到多个筑巢地点（多巢性）的循环，这有力地证明了蚁后和工蚁在雄性分配上存在冲突，并且表明工蚁在这场冲突中获胜。最后，我们通过背景分析发现，生育选择几乎完全在单个蚁巢层面起作用，而不是在多蚁巢蚁群的更高层面。
