Effects of queen attractiveness to workers on the queen nutritional statusand egg production in the polygynous Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

The study of polygyny in Solenopsis invicta Buren has demonstrated. that th e attractiveness individual co-existing queens to workers appears to play a critical role in queen nutritional status and egg production. The queen th at was most attractive to workers was the queen that had a higher frequency of trophallaxis bq attracting more attention and nourishment from workers. Furthermore, this trophic advantage resulted in a greater reproductive suc cess of the dominant queen as evidenced Ly her higher ovipositional rate. H owever, this higher ovipositional rate was not associated with queen weight .