@article {3720, title = {Stealthy invaders: the biology of Cardiocondyla tramp ants}, journal = {Insectes Sociaux}, volume = {53}, year = {2006}, note = {Part of FORMIS 07; from-DPW, }, pages = {1-7}, abstract = {*[We document that the life history of Cardiocondyla closely resembles that of the more conspicuous tramp species, with polygyny, intranidal mating, budding,worker sterility, low genetic variability, \& possibly also unicoloniality. Given that introduced Cardiocondyla may locally reach a very high population density, the effects of these stealthy invaders on the native arthropod fauna should receive more attention.]}, author = {Heinze, J. and Cremer, S. and Eckl, N. and Schrempf, A.} } @article {3719, title = {Production of winged and wingless males in the ant Cardiocondyla minutior}, journal = {Insectes Sociaux}, volume = {52}, year = {2004}, note = {Part of FORMIS 06; from-DPW, }, pages = {275-278}, abstract = {*[Six large stock colonies from Tobago \& 4 large stock coloniesfrom Bahia, Brazil were used as sources to set up experimental subcolonies. Wingless (= ergatoid) males of the tramp ant Cardiocondyla minutior attack \& kill their young ergatoid rivals, thus attempting to monopolize mating with female sexuals reared in the colony. Because of the different strength of local mate competition in colonies with one or several reproductive queens, we expected the production of new ergatoid males to vary with queen number. Sex ratios were mostly female-biased, but neither the percentage of ergatoid males nor of female sexuals among the first 20 sexuals produced varied considerably with queen number. Experimental colony fragmentation led to the production of winged males, while in unfragmented control colonies only ergatoid males eclosed.]}, author = {Heinze, J. and B{\"o}ttcher, A. and Cremer, S.} } @article {3670, title = {Imperfect chemical female mimicry in males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior}, journal = {Naturwissenschaften}, volume = {95}, year = {2008}, note = {Part of FORMIS 08; from NAL{\textquoteright}S AGRICOLA; from-DPW, }, month = {Nov, Published o}, pages = {1101-1105}, abstract = {

Winged and wingless males coexist in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior. Wingless (ergatoid) males never leave their maternal colony and fight remorselessly among each other for the access to emerging females. The peaceful winged males disperse after about 10 days, but beforehand also mate in the nest. In the first 5 days of their life, winged males perform a chemical female mimicry that protects them against attack and even makes them sexually attractive to ergatoid males. When older, the chemical profile of winged males no longer matches that of virgin females; nevertheless, they are still tolerated, which so far has been puzzling. Contrasting this general pattern, we have identified a single aberrant colony in which all winged males were attacked and killed by the ergatoid males. A comparative analysis of the morphology and chemical profile of these untypical attacked winged males and the tolerated males from several normal colonies revealed that normal old males are still performing some chemical mimicry to the virgin queens, though less perfect than in their young ages. The anomalous attacked winged males, on the other hand, had a very different odor to the females. Our study thus exemplifies that the analysis of rare malfunctioning can add valuable insight on functioning under normal conditions and allows the conclusion that older winged males from normal colonies of the ant C. obscurior are guarded through an imperfect chemical female mimicry, still close enough to protect against attacks by the wingless fighters yet dissimilar enough not to elicit their sexual interest.

}, author = {Cremer, S. and D{\textquoteright}Ettorre, P. and Drijfhout, F.P. and Sledge, M.F. and Turillazzi, S. and Heinze, J.} }