Reproduction by ergatoid queens in the Oriental Myrmicinae ant Acanthomyrmex concavus, from Sabah, Borneo, with notes on their ecology and behavior

Hayato Shinohara and Sze Huei Yek and Hiroki Matsumura and Hiroki Kawaoka and Adam Khalife and Hajime Sasaki and Fuminori Ito (2025) Reproduction by ergatoid queens in the Oriental Myrmicinae ant Acanthomyrmex concavus, from Sabah, Borneo, with notes on their ecology and behavior. Asian Myrmecology, 18. pp. 1-12. ISSN 1985-1944

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URL: http://www.asian-myrmecology.org/doi/10.20362/am.0...

Abstract

Most Acanthomyrmex ants have a granivorous diet, supplemented with other invertebrates and sugars. They are characterized by dimorphic workers, with major workers having substantially larger head width than minor workers. In this study, we investigated the colony composition and behavioral characteristics of both the queen and worker castes in Acanthomyrmex concavus Moffett, 1986, collected in Sabah, Borneo Island, Malaysia. All colonies had one or two ergatoid queens that exhibited an intermediate morphology between major and minor workers. Colony size was small, ranging from nine to thirty-seven minor and one to three major workers. Consistent with other species of Acanthomyrmex, A. concavus fed on tiny seeds (Ficus and Oxalis), and major workers played a crucial role in seed cracking. We discuss the possible selective pressures linking granivory to ergatoid queen evolution in this genus, where more than half of the species have ergatoid queens

Item Type:	Article
Keyword:	Formicidae, ergatoid queen, dependent colony founding, seed eating
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology > QL1-991 Zoology > QL360-599.82 Invertebrates > QL461-599.82 Insects S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF1-1100 Animal culture > SF481-507 Poultry. Eggs
Department:	INSTITUTE > Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation
Depositing User:	JUNAINE JASNI -
Date Deposited:	29 Sep 2025 16:16
Last Modified:	29 Sep 2025 16:16
URI:	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/45265

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