Out of the desert: Paleoclimatic changes drove the diversification of arid-adapted Ocymyrmex ants in southern Africa.

A highly endemic ant fauna is found in the arid regions of southern Africa, including species in the genus Ocymyrmex. This genus of ants has higher species richness in the western arid regions of southern Africa compared to tropical and subtropical parts of the continent. The processes that have produced these patterns of diversity and distribution of arid adapted ants in southern Africa have never been investigated.

Controlling invasive Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, in conservation areas using horizontal insecticide transfer.

Invasive ants are major agricultural and urban pests and a significant concern in conservation areas. Despite long history of control and eradication efforts, invasive ants continue to spread around the globe driven by a multitude of synergistic factors. Lack of effective management tools is one of the biggest challenges in controlling invasive ants.

The Behavior and Reproductive Physiology of a Solitary Progressive Provisioning Vespid Wasp: Evidence for a Solitary-Cycle Origin of Reproductive Castes.

The emergence of queens and workers from solitary antecedents mark a major evolutionary transition in the history of life. The solitary progressive provisioning wasp Synagris cornuta, a member of the subfamily Eumeninae (basal to eusocial vespid wasps), alternates between behavioral states characterized as queenlike and worker-like. Akin to a queen in eusocial wasps, a S.

Juvenile hormone titers, ovarian status and epicuticular hydrocarbons in gynes and workers of the paper wasp Belonogaster longitarsus.

The prevailing paradigm for social wasp endocrinology is that of juvenile hormone (JH) functioning pleiotropically in potential and actual queens, where it fuels dominance behaviors, stimulates ovarian growth and/or affects the production of status-linked cuticular compounds. In colonies with annual cycles (e.g.

Host-plant species conservatism and ecology of a parasitoid fig wasp genus (Chalcidoidea; Sycoryctinae; Arachonia).

Parasitoid diversity in terrestrial ecosystems is enormous. However, ecological processes underpinning their evolutionary diversification in association with other trophic groups are still unclear. Specialisation and interdependencies among chalcid wasps that reproduce on Ficus presents an opportunity to investigate the ecology of a multi-trophic system that includes parasitoids.

Behavioural and chemical evidence for multiple colonisation of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Background: The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is a widespread invasive ant species that has successfully established in nearly all continents across the globe. Argentine ants are characterised by a social structure known as unicoloniality, where territorial boundaries between nests are absent and intraspecific aggression is rare. This is particularly pronounced in introduced populations and results in the formation of large and spatially expansive supercolonies.

Maternity of emergency queens in the Cape honey bee, Apis mellifera capensis.

During reproductive swarming, some workers of the Cape honey bee, Apis mellifera capensis, lay eggs in queen cells, many of which are reared to maturity. However, it is unknown if workers are able to lay in queen cells immediately after queen loss during an episode of emergency queen rearing. In this study we experimentally de-queened colonies and determined the maternity of larvae and pupae that were reared as queens.

Inheritance of traits associated with reproductive potential in Apis mellifera capensis and Apis mellifera scutellata workers.

When workers of the thelytokous Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, come into contact with colonies of the neighboring arrhenotokous subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata, they can become lethal social parasites. We examined the inheritance of 3 traits (number of ovarioles, number of basitarsal hairs, and size of spermatheca) that are thought to be associated with reproductive potential in A. m.

Cheating honeybee workers produce royal offspring.

The Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is unique among honeybees in that workers can lay eggs that instead of developing into males develop into females via thelytokous parthenogenesis. We show that this ability allows workers to compete directly with the queen over the production of new queens. Genetic analyses using microsatellites revealed that 23 out of 39 new queens produced by seven colonies were offspring of workers and not the resident queen.

Virgin queen mandibular gland signals of Apis mellifera capensis change with age and affect honeybee worker responses.

The mandibular gland secretions of Apis mellifera capensis virgin queens were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Changes in the patterns of the mandibular gland volatiles of A. m.

Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing.

Relocation of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, by bee-keepers from southern to northern South Africa in 1990 has caused widespread death of managed African honeybee, A. m. scutellata, colonies.