Recognition of nestmate eggs in the ant Formica fusca is
based on queen derived cues

Helanterä, H; Martin, SJ; Ratnieks, f

Abstract

Inclusive fitness benefits depend on recognizing the right individuals to interact with. Social insect nests protect
themselves from non-kin intruders through nestmate recognition based on chemical cues. The recognition cues on adult individuals
are from a mixture of genetic and environmental sources, but the ontogeny and use of recognition cues on eggs has not been
previously assessed. We studied recognition by workers of eggs that were either nestmates or non-nestmates. and the ontogeny of
recognition cues on eggs in the ant Formica fusca, a species with precise egg recognition abilities. Workers were able to discriminate
among freshly laid eggs with no nest derived cues on them, and the egg surface chemicals varied among nests in these
eggs, suggesting that queen derived cues are used in nestmate recognition. The results are discussed in the light of their implications
on deceptive social parasite strategies and within colony conflict

Citation

based on queen derived cues. Current Zoology, 60(1), 131-136

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 26, 2015
• Journal: Current Zoology
• Print ISSN: 1674-5507
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 131-136
• Publisher URL: http://www.currentzoology.org/
• Related Public URLs: http://www.currentzoology.org/paperdetail.asp?id=12310