Gamergate number and control over reproduction in Pachycondyla krugeri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

Colonies of the queenless ant Pachycondyla krugeri were collected at different times of the year in order to determine the number of gamergates present. Dissection revealed that no colony contained more than one gamergate, suggesting that some form of regulation of gamergate numbers is present in this species. Groups of uninseminated workers kept in the laboratory began to lay reproductive eggs one month after removal from the influence of a gamergate, indicating that gamergates seem to regulate the reproductive activity of thir nestmates. Neither single reproductives nor reproductive regulation have previously been reported for species with gamergates. © 1988 Masson.