ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2010
Evaluating the role of reproductive constraints in ant social evolution.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The dynamic evolution of panarthropod germ cell specification mechanisms.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- Larger colony sizes favour greater division of labour between queens and workers in ants.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2026Article
- Age, caste, and social context shape ovarian morphology and transcriptomic profiles in red harvester ants.npj aging · 2025Article
- Static allometries of caste-associated traits vary with genotype but not environment in the clonal raider ant.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Embryogenesis in Myrmicine Ants Combines Features of Short Germ-Band Development With a Progressive Mode of Segmentation.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2025Article
- From Egg to Adult: A Developmental Table of the Ant Monomorium pharaonis.Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution · 2024Article
- Juvenile hormone as a key regulator for asymmetric caste differentiation in ants.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Development of germline progenitors in larval queen honeybee ovaries.Biology open · 2024Article
- Phenomenon of reproductive plasticity in ants.Current opinion in insect science · 2024Review
- Article
- Worker Reproduction and Caste Polymorphism Impact Genome Evolution and Social Genes Across the Ants.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- Queens control caste allocation in the antProceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Canalized gene expression during development mediates caste differentiation in ants.Nature ecology & evolution · 2022Article
- Environmentally responsive reproduction: neuroendocrine signalling and the evolution of eusociality.Current opinion in insect science · 2022Review
- Validation of Potential Reference Genes for Real-Time qPCR Analysis in Pharaoh Ant,Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- The gene expression network regulating queen brain remodeling after insemination and its parallel use in ants with reproductive workers.Science advances · 2020Article
- Genome Architecture Facilitates Phenotypic Plasticity in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera).Molecular biology and evolution · 2020Article
- Convergent eusocial evolution is based on a shared reproductive groundplan plus lineage-specific plastic genes.Nature communications · 2019Article
- The evolution of queen control over worker reproduction in the social Hymenoptera.Ecology and evolution · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The reproductive division of labour is a key feature of eusociality in ants, where queen and worker castes show dramatic differences in the development of their reproductive organs. To understand the developmental and genetic basis underlying this division of labour, we performed a molecular analysis of ovary function and germ cell development in queens and workers. We show that the processes of ovarian development in queens have been highly conserved relative to the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. We also identify specific steps during oogenesis and embryogenesis in which ovarian and germ cell development have been evolutionarily modified in the workers. These modifications, which we call 'reproductive constraints', are often assumed to represent neutral degenerations that are a consequence of social evolutionary forces. Based on our developmental and functional analysis of these constraints, however, we propose and discuss the alternative hypothesis that reproductive constraints represent adaptive proximate mechanisms or traits for maintaining social harmony in ants. We apply a multi-level selection framework to help understand the role of these constraints in ant social evolution. A complete understanding of how cooperation, conflict and developmental systems evolve in social groups requires a 'socio-evo-devo' approach that integrates social evolutionary and developmental biology.
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