龄相关的表皮颜色和蝶呤水平变化在一个克隆蚂蚁。

Age-dependent changes in cuticular color and pteridine levels in a clonal ant.

机构信息

Zoology / Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.

出版信息

J Insect Physiol. 2019 Oct;118:103943. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103943. Epub 2019 Sep 10.

DOI:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103943

Abstract

Social insects are emerging models for studying aging and the longevity/fecundity trade-off. Research on the demography of colonies and populations are hampered by the lack of reliable age markers. Here we investigate the suitability of cuticular pigmentation and pteridine fluorescence for age grading individuals of the clonal ant Platythyrea punctata. We found that both traits varied with age. Cuticular color darkened with individual's age until 25-30 days after hatching. For pteridine fluorescence, we found that P. punctata workers show a decrease in head pteridine levels over time until 70-80 days of age. Together with other markers, such as age-based behavior, cuticular coloration and pteridine fluorescence may help to estimate the age structure of colonies.

摘要

社会性昆虫是研究衰老和长寿/繁殖权衡的新兴模式生物。由于缺乏可靠的年龄标志物，对群体和种群的种群动态研究受到了阻碍。在这里，我们研究了外骨骼色素沉着和蝶呤荧光是否适合对无性蚂蚁 Platythyrea punctata 的个体进行年龄分级。我们发现这两个特征都随年龄而变化。外骨骼颜色随着个体的年龄而变暗，直到孵化后 25-30 天。对于蝶呤荧光，我们发现 P. punctata 工蚁的头部蝶呤水平随着时间的推移而下降，直到 70-80 天龄。与其他标志物（如基于年龄的行为、外骨骼颜色和蝶呤荧光）一起，可能有助于估计群体的年龄结构。