Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Are behavioral classifications blinders to studying natural variation?
- 2 Life beneath silk walls: a review of the primitively social Embiidina
- 3 Postovulation parental investment and parental care in cockroaches
- 4 The spectrum of eusociality in termites
- 5 Maternal care in the Hemiptera: ancestry, alternatives, and current adaptive value
- 6 Evolution of paternal care in the giant water bugs (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)
- 7 The evolution of sociality in aphids: a clone's-eye view
- 8 Ecology and evolution of social behavior among Australian gall thrips and their allies
- 9 Interactions among males, females and offspring in bark and ambrosia beetles: the significance of living in tunnels for the evolution of social behavior
- 10 Biparental care and social evolution in burying beetles: lessons from the larder
- 11 Subsocial behavior in Scarabaeinae beetles
- 12 The evolution of social behavior in Passalidae (Coleoptera)
- 13 The evolution of social behavior in the augochlorine sweat bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) based on a phylogenetic analysis of the genera
- 14 Demography and sociality in halictine bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)
- 15 Behavioral environments of sweat bees (Halictinae) in relation to variability in social organization
- 16 Intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with social evolution in allodapine bees
- 17 Cooperative breeding in wasps and vertebrates: the role of ecological constraints
- 18 Morphologically ‘primitive’ ants: comparative review of social characters, and the importance of queen–worker dimorphism
- 19 Social conflict and cooperation among founding queens in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- 20 Social evolution in the Lepidoptera: ecological context and communication in larval societies
- 21 Sociality and kin selection in Acari
- 22 Colonial web-building spiders: balancing the costs and benefits of group-living
- 23 Causes and consequences of cooperation and permanent-sociality in spiders
- 24 Explanation and evolution of social systems
- Organism index
- Subject index
18 - Morphologically ‘primitive’ ants: comparative review of social characters, and the importance of queen–worker dimorphism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Are behavioral classifications blinders to studying natural variation?
- 2 Life beneath silk walls: a review of the primitively social Embiidina
- 3 Postovulation parental investment and parental care in cockroaches
- 4 The spectrum of eusociality in termites
- 5 Maternal care in the Hemiptera: ancestry, alternatives, and current adaptive value
- 6 Evolution of paternal care in the giant water bugs (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)
- 7 The evolution of sociality in aphids: a clone's-eye view
- 8 Ecology and evolution of social behavior among Australian gall thrips and their allies
- 9 Interactions among males, females and offspring in bark and ambrosia beetles: the significance of living in tunnels for the evolution of social behavior
- 10 Biparental care and social evolution in burying beetles: lessons from the larder
- 11 Subsocial behavior in Scarabaeinae beetles
- 12 The evolution of social behavior in Passalidae (Coleoptera)
- 13 The evolution of social behavior in the augochlorine sweat bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) based on a phylogenetic analysis of the genera
- 14 Demography and sociality in halictine bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)
- 15 Behavioral environments of sweat bees (Halictinae) in relation to variability in social organization
- 16 Intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with social evolution in allodapine bees
- 17 Cooperative breeding in wasps and vertebrates: the role of ecological constraints
- 18 Morphologically ‘primitive’ ants: comparative review of social characters, and the importance of queen–worker dimorphism
- 19 Social conflict and cooperation among founding queens in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- 20 Social evolution in the Lepidoptera: ecological context and communication in larval societies
- 21 Sociality and kin selection in Acari
- 22 Colonial web-building spiders: balancing the costs and benefits of group-living
- 23 Causes and consequences of cooperation and permanent-sociality in spiders
- 24 Explanation and evolution of social systems
- Organism index
- Subject index
Summary
ABSTRACT
Ants that exhibit a relatively large proportion of ancestral morphological traits are commonly believed to exhibit less social complexity. This was examined through a comparative review of Nothomyrmecia, Myrmecia, and the heterogeneous subfamily Ponerinae. A limited dimorphism between winged queens and workers is a common characteristic of morphologically ‘primitive’ ants. This has two important consequences: (1) queens are not very fecund, and this is reflected in the small size of colonies (a few dozens to several hundreds of workers); (2) solitary foundresses are unable to rear their first generation of workers without hunting outside their nests. In contrast, some of the ‘primitive’ species having permanently wingless (= ergatoid) queens exhibit considerably greater fecundity, and colonies reach a few thousands. There is also a small number of permanently queenless ponerine ants, in which one or more mated workers reproduce (several dozens to a few hundreds of workers per colony).
Ecological characteristics of ‘primitive’ ants include their predatory habits (in addition, sweet secretions are collected in various genera), various degrees of diet specialization, and a widespread lack of cooperation among foragers (although several species with ergatoid queens, and larger colonies, exhibit sophisticated recruitment and even group predation). Role specialization among sterile workers (including the influence of age) follows the typical formicid pattern; polymorphic workers occur in only one species. True trophallaxis among nestmates does not exist (two exceptions only); eggs (either reproductive or trophic) are eaten in several species.
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- Information
- The Evolution of Social Behaviour in Insects and Arachnids , pp. 372 - 391Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997
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