Reproductive competition in multiple-queen fire ant colonies: Insights from analyses of breeding systems

When animals reproduce in social groups, the potential for conflict and cooperation is shaped by the number of reproductive individuals (breeders), their relatedness to one another, and division of reproduction among them. These features comprise species’ “breeding systems.” Despite their importance, breeding systems are poorly characterized in most social animals, and detailed accounts for single species are rare. Here, we fully characterize the breeding systems in invasive populations of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, a species in which a large genetic element (supergene) determines whether a colony has a single queen (monogyne social form) or multiple queens (polygyne form). Colonies of the monogyne form are simple families, and the breeding system is correspondingly straightforward. The breeding system of the polygyne form is complex, with many features still uncharacterized. We conducted a large longitudinal experiment tracking parentage, relatedness, and supergene genotype in se..., , # Data from *Reproductive Competition in Multiple-queen Fire Ant Colonies: Insights from Analyses of Breeding Systems*

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.vhhmgqp5g](10.5061/dryad.vhhmgqp5g)

## Description of the data and file structure

This repository contains datasets associated with the manuscript:

**Hale Walker S, Lacy KD, Ross KG, Zeng H. (2025). Reproductive Competition in Multiple-queen Fire Ant Colonies: Insights from Analyses of Breeding Systems. *Molecular Ecology*.**

The study investigates the breeding systems of *Solenopsis invicta* (fire ants), focusing on the polygyne social form. The data include information on queen longevity, reproductive output, parentage, and genetic structure, providing a detailed characterization of reproductive skew and supergene effects in multiple-queen colonies.

---

## File Versions

Each raw data file has an **Excel version** containing annotations, colors, and notes to aid understanding.

For analytical purposes, most files are also provided in...,