Studies documenting invariant presence of <i>b</i>-like <i>Gp-9</i> alleles in inhabitants of polygyne fire ant colonies.

Several of these studies [e.g.], [5], [9], [12], [20], [51,76] also showed that monogyne colonies lack b-like alleles. HSGE, horizontal starch gel electrophoresis; PCR/RFLP, polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism. an, number of individuals sampled; N, number of polygyne colonies from which these individuals were sampled. bFour additional study colonies were classified as monogyne based on worker size and brood composition, absence of multiple reproductive queens, and absence of the Gp-9b allele, but evidence from allozyme genotype distributions suggested that each comprised multiple families; the discrepancy was explained as resulting from recent queen turnover in these monogyne colonies. c10–15 workers per nest were pooled and their DNA extracted in bulk.