Effects of Queen Attractiveness to Workers on the Queen Nutritional Status and Egg Production in the Polygynous Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

The study of polygyny in Solenopsis invicta Buren has demonstrated that the attractiveness of individual co-existing queens to workers appears to play a critical role in queen nutritional status and egg production. The queen that was most attractive to workers was the queen that had a higher frequency of trophallaxis by attracting more attention and nourishment from workers. Furthermore, this trophic advantage resulted in a greater reproduction success of the dominant queen as evidenced by her higher ovipositional rate. However, this higher ovipositional rate was not associated with queen weight.