No supergene despite social polymorphism in the big-headed ant Pheidole pallidula

• Published in: bioRxiv
• Main Authors: Favreau, Emeline, Lebas, Claude, Stolle, Eckart, Priyam, Anurag, Pracana, Rodrigo, Aron, Serge, Wurm, Yannick
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 09.12.2022
• Subjects: Colonies; Genetic analysis; Pheidole pallidula; Polymorphism; Population genetics; Queens; Recombination; Social organization

Ant colonies ancestrally contained one queen and her non-reproductive workers. This is also the case for many but not all colonies of the Mediterranean big-headed ant Pheidole pallidula. Indeed, this species also has a derived form of social organization with multiple reproductive queens in the colo...