OLIGOGYNY BY UNRELATED QUEENS IN THE CARPENTER ANT, CAMPONOTUS-LIGNIPERDUS

Multilocus DNA fingerprinting and microsatellite analysis were used to determine the number of queens and their mating frequencies in coloni es of the carpenter ant, Camponotus ligniperdus (Hymenoptera: Formicid ae). Only 1 of 61 analyzed queens was found to be double-mated and the population-wide effective mating frequency was therefore 1.02. In the studied population, 8 of 21 mature field colonies (38%) contained wor ker, male, or virgin queen genotypes which were not compatible with pr esumed monogyny and therefore suggested oligogyny, i.e., the cooccurre nce of several mutually intolerant queens within one colony. Estimated queen numbers in oligogynous colonies ranged between two and five. Ac cording to the results of the genetic analysis, most of the queens coe xisting in oligogynous colonies were not closely related. Pleometrosis is very rare and queenless colonies adopt mated queens both in the la boratory and field. Therefore, the most plausible explanation for the origin of oligogynous colonies in C. ligniperdus is the adoption of un related queens by orphaned mature colonies. The coexistence of unrelat ed, but mutually intolerant queens in C. ligniperdus colonies demonstr ates that oligogyny should be considered as a phenomenon distinct from polygyny.