“Worker queens”? Behavioral flexibility, juvenile hormone binding protein and Vitellogenin in queens of the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata

Many species of social Hymenoptera demonstrate behavioral flexibility, where older workers that typically forage can revert to younger worker tasks, such as nursing, when these are absent. This flexibility is typical of the sterile worker class, yet rare in queens. In the little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata) queens have been reported to perform only egg laying. We examined behavior of queens of W. auropunctata after demographic manipulation. When half of the workers were removed from the colony, queens were observed caring for eggs, larvae and pupae as well as eating outside of the nest, like forager workers. We examined the relationship between these atypical queen behaviors and their juvenile hormone binding protein (JHbp) and vitellogenin (Vg) expression via QRT-PCR method. JHbp and Vg expression decreased when queens were performing worker tasks, resembling the expected expression pattern of typical sterile workers. Flexibility in queen behaviors in the little fire ant may be an...多种膜翅目社会性昆虫（social Hymenoptera）均展现出行为可塑性：通常负责觅食的老年工蜂，在保育类工蜂缺失时，可转而执行年轻工蜂的保育类任务。这种可塑性是不育工蜂阶层的典型特征，但在蚁后中却极为罕见。此前有研究报道，小火蚁（Wasmannia auropunctata）的蚁后仅会进行产卵行为。本研究通过种群结构操控，对小火蚁蚁后的行为展开了观测。当移除蚁群中半数工蜂后，研究人员观测到蚁后会照料卵、幼虫与蛹，同时还会像觅食工蜂一样在巢外进食。本研究借助实时定量聚合酶链式反应（QRT-PCR）技术，分析了这类非典型蚁后行为与其体内保幼激素结合蛋白（juvenile hormone binding protein, JHbp）及卵黄原蛋白（vitellogenin, Vg）表达水平的关联。当蚁后执行工蜂任务时，其体内JHbp与Vg的表达量出现下调，这与典型不育工蜂的预期表达模式一致。小火蚁蚁后行为的可塑性或许是一种……