title: Asexual queen succession mediates an accelerated colony life cycle in the termite Silvestritermes minutus.
abstract: Mixed modes of reproduction, combining sexual processes with thelytokous parthenogenesis, occur in all major clades of social insects. In several species of termites, queens maximize their genetic input into nondispersing replacement queens through parthenogenesis, while maintaining genetically diverse sterile offspring and dispersing reproductives via sexual reproduction. This so-called asexual queen succession (AQS) has multiple independent origins and its presumed advantages are diverse as well, ranging from multiplication of colony reproductive potential to extension of its lifespan beyond that of the foundress. However, how AQS shapes colony life cycles under natural conditions remains poorly known. The neotropical termite Silvestritermes minutus inhabits small but conspicuous nests, offering a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of AQS on life history. We report on its breeding system, life cycle and sex allocation using social structure census in 137 nests and genotyping of 12 colonies at 12 microsatellite loci. We show that colonies are established by an outbred pair of primary reproductives. In less than 2 years, the foundress is replaced by multiple neotenic queens, arising mostly through automixis with central fusion. Sterile castes, male and most (93%) female dispersers are produced sexually. Colony reproduction is usually restricted to a single dispersal of alates with unbiased sex ratio, taking place after 3 years. We conclude that S. minutus benefits from AQS to maximize colony growth rate and alate production within a very short life cycle rather than to extend colony lifespan. This highlights the versatile role of AQS in different cases of its polyphyletic origin.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est Créteil, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Université Paris-Diderot, iEES-Paris, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fougeyrollas
authors.affiliation: Chemistry of Social Insects, The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo n. 2, 166 10, Prague, Czech Republic.|Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Křivánek
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est Créteil, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Université Paris-Diderot, iEES-Paris, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Chemistry of Social Insects, The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo n. 2, 166 10, Prague, Czech Republic.|Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dolejšová
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est Créteil, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Université Paris-Diderot, iEES-Paris, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frechault
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Roisin
authors.affiliation: Chemistry of Social Insects, The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo n. 2, 166 10, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7054-1975
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hanus
authors.affiliation: IRD-Sorbonne Universités-UMR 242, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Université Paris-Diderot, CNRS, INRA, iEES-Paris, 32 avenue Henri Varagnat, 93143, Bondy, France.|LEEC, EA4443, Université Paris 13-Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 Avenue J. B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sillam-Dussès
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D020049:Isoptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010312:Parthenogenesis; D012098:Reproduction
keywords: 
  Silvestritermes minutus
  ; asexual queen succession; breeding system; life history; parthenogenesis; termites