Isolation and characterization of 10 microsatellite loci in the Ponerinae ant Pachycondyla luteipes (Hymenoptera; Formicidae)

Abstract

We developed 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Ponerinae ant Pachycondyla luteipes using the magnetic particle method. Nine of the 10 loci tested were highly polymorphic, having four to eight alleles in P. luteipes with expected heterozygosity of 0.38-0.73, and also appeared to be applicable to other related species such as Pachycondyla chinensis. These loci can be used to test the hypotheses on the population genetic structures, such as if this ant is unicolonial or not. © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.