title: Social coercion of larval development in an ant species.
abstract: Ants provide one of the best examples of the division of labor in animal societies. While the queens reproduce, workers generally refrain from laying eggs and dedicate themselves exclusively to domestic tasks. In many species, the small diploid larvae are bipotent and can develop either into workers or queens depending mostly on environmental cues. This generates a conflicting situation between the adults that tend to rear a majority of larvae into workers and the larvae whose individual interest may be to develop into reproductive queens. We tested the social regulation of larval caste fate in the fission-performing ant Aphaenogaster senilis. We first observed interactions between resident workers and queen- and worker-destined larvae in presence/absence of the queen. The results show that workers tend to specifically eliminate queen-destined larvae when the queen is present but not when she is absent or imprisoned in a small cage allowing for volatile pheromone exchanges. In addition, we found that the presence of already developed queen-destined larvae does not inhibit the development of younger still bipotent larvae into queens. Finally, we analyzed the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of queen- and worker-destined larvae and found no significant quantitative or qualitative difference. Interestingly, the total amount of hydrocarbons on both larval castes is extremely low, which lends credence on the chemical insignificance hypothesis of larval ants. Overall, our results suggest that workers control larval development and police larvae that would develop into queens instead of workers. Such policing behavior is similar in many aspects to what is known of worker policing among adults.
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Seville, Spain. irenevillaltaalonso@gmail.com.|Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, Université François Rabelais, Tours, France. irenevillaltaalonso@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Villalta
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Amor
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Xim
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cerdá
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, Université François Rabelais, Tours, France.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boulay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006838:Hydrocarbons; D010675:Pheromones
keywords: Aggression; Ant; Aphaenogaster senilis; Caste production; Cuticular hydrocarbons; Social policing