Data from: Reproductive conflicts in polyandrous and polygynous ant Formica sanguinea

The occurrence of multiple reproductives within an ant colony changes the balance between indirect fitness benefits and reproductive competition. We test whether the number of matings by an ant queen (polyandry) correlates negatively with the number of reproductive queens in the colony (polygyny), whether the patrilines and matrilines differ in their contribution to the sexual and worker progeny and whether there is an overall reproductive skew. For these aims, we genotyped both worker and sexual offspring from colonies of the ant Formica sanguinea in three populations. Most colonies were monogynous, but eight (11%) were polygynous with closely related queens. Most queens in the monogynous colonies (86%) had mated with multiple males. The effective paternity was lower than the actual number of mates, and the paternity skew was significant. Furthermore, in some monogynous colonies, the patrilines were differently represented in the worker pupae and sexual pupae produced at the same time. Likewise, the matrilines in polygynous colonies were differently present in worker pupae and male offspring. The effective number of matings by a queen was significantly lower in polygynous colonies (mean me = 1.68) than in monogynous colonies (means 2.06–2.61). The results give support to the hypotheses that polyandry and polygyny are alternative breeding strategies and that reproductive competition can lead to different representation of patrilines and matrilines among the sexual and worker broods.蚁群内存在多个生殖蚁后，会改变间接适合度收益与生殖竞争之间的平衡。我们针对三个科学问题开展检验：其一，蚁后的交配次数（多雄交配，polyandry）是否与蚁群内生殖蚁后的数量（多后制，polygyny）呈负相关；其二，父系谱系（patrilines）与母系谱系（matrilines）对有性后代与工蚁后代的贡献是否存在差异；其三，种群整体是否存在生殖偏斜。为实现上述研究目标，我们对三个地理种群的血红林蚁（Formica sanguinea）的工蚁与有性后代进行了基因分型。多数蚁群为单后制，但其中8个（占比11%）为多后制，且各蚁后间亲缘关系紧密。单后制蚁群中的绝大多数蚁后（86%）曾与多只雄蚁交配。有效父权数低于实际交配的雄蚁数量，且父系偏移现象显著。进一步分析显示，部分单后制蚁群中，同期产生的工蚁蛹与有性型蛹内的父系谱系占比存在显著差异。同理，多后制蚁群的母系谱系在工蚁蛹与雄蚁后代中的占比亦有所不同。多后制蚁群中蚁后的有效交配次数（平均me=1.68）显著低于单后制蚁群（单后制蚁群的有效交配次数均值为2.06~2.61）。本研究结果支持如下假说：多雄交配与多后制为两种互斥的繁殖策略，且生殖竞争可导致父系谱系与母系谱系在有性后代与工蚁后代间的占比出现分化。