Abstract
Reproduction-related behaviours are key components determining individual fitness. Many behavioural traits are linked, and such trait associations often affect fitness. Here, we combine behavioural and physiological data during two critical time points of founding queens (early and late nest-founding stage) in the claustral ant Lasius flavus to assess how these factors affect their initial productivity. We show that most behavioural traits, except brood care behaviour, are plastic during queen development and demonstrate that there are alternative behavioural pathways to achieve high productivity under standardised conditions. These results indicate that queens can utilise multiple behavioural trait combinations to maximise reproductive output at the earliest, and arguably most critical, time of colony foundation.
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Acknowledgments
We thank members of the Hughes Lab and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. VN was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Syngenta (BB/J011339/1). TP was supported by the DFG grant number PA 2460/1-1 and an EC FP7 Marie Curie Fellowship PIEF-GA-2013-626585.
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Communicated by: Alain Dejean
V. C. Norman and T. Pamminger contributed equally to this work.
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Norman, V.C., Pamminger, T. & Hughes, W.O.H. Behavioural development, fat reserves and their association with productivity in Lasius flavus founding queens. Sci Nat 103, 23 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1350-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1350-7