Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Sep;91(9):432-5.
doi: 10.1007/s00114-004-0549-1. Epub 2004 Jul 23.

Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae

Vincent Dietemann  1 , Christian Peeters, Bert Hölldobler
Affiliations

Gamergates in the Australian ant subfamily Myrmeciinae

Vincent Dietemann et al. Naturwissenschaften. 2004 Sep.

Abstract

Ant workers can mate and reproduce in a few hundreds of species belonging to the phylogenetically basal poneromorph subfamilies ( sensu Bolton 2003). We report the first occurrence of gamergates (i.e. mated reproductive workers) in a myrmeciomorph subfamily. In a colony of Myrmecia pyriformis that was collected without a queen, workers continued to be produced over a period of 3 years in the laboratory. Behavioural observations and ovarian dissections indicated that three workers were mated and produced the diploid offspring. The Myrmeciinae are thus another taxon in which the selective benefits of sexual reproduction by workers can be investigated.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Annu Rev Entomol. 2001;46:601-30 - PubMed
    1. Science. 1978 Sep 15;201(4360):979-85 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1995 Nov 21;92(24):10977-9 - PubMed
    1. Naturwissenschaften. 2002 Jul;89(7):305-7 - PubMed
    1. Naturwissenschaften. 2002 Feb;89(2):71-4 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources