Ant cuticular hydrocarbons are heritable and associated with variation in colony productivity.

ABSTRACT: In social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons function in nest-mate recognition and also provide a waxy barrier against desiccation, but basic evolutionary features, including the heritability of hydrocarbon profiles and how they are shaped by natural selection are largely unknown. We used a new pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) laboratory mapping population to estimate the heritability of individual cuticular hydrocarbons, genetic correlations between hydrocarbons, and fitness consequences of phenotypic variation in the hydrocarbons. Individual hydrocarbons had low to moderate estimated heritability, indicating that some compounds provide more information about genetic relatedness and can also better respond to natural selection. Strong genetic correlations between compounds are likel

SUBMITTER: Walsh J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7341921 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature