par Eyer, Pierre-André 
;Aron, Serge
Référence 19th Benelux Congress of Zoology (Brussels)
Publication Non publié, 2012
;Aron, Serge Référence 19th Benelux Congress of Zoology (Brussels)
Publication Non publié, 2012
Communication à un colloque
| Résumé : | Several genetic and non-genetic hypotheses have been formulated to account for the evolution and maintenance of multiple mating by females (polyandry) in social Hymenoptera. A major hypothesis argues that polyandry allows production of a genetically diverse worker force, enhancing division of labor and colony task efficiency. We tested the relationship between patriline, worker size and task specialization in the desert ant Cataglyphis cursor, a species showing natural variation in queen mating frequency. Our results show a significant association between patriline and task preference: workers belonging to different patrilines differ in their propensity to perform a given task (foraging, nest construction, waste management or food-storage). Furthermore, we found that worker size is closely associated with task specialization, but not with paternal origin. Overall, these results indicate that division of labor is at least partly genetically influenced in the ant Cataglyphis cursor, lending support to the ‘polyandry for a more efficient polyethism’ hypothesis. |
