Abstract
The great evolutionary success of insects is partly linked to the innovation of the cuticle, which underlies a complex exoskeleton with varied functions. Cuticle development is costly because chitin and cuticular proteins require ingested nitrogen. Studying cuticle thickness on a comparative basis allows insight into the trade-off between offspring quality and quantity. This trade-off takes a particular meaning in ant workers because they are wingless, non-dispersers and generally sterile. We selected a comprehensive sample of 42 ant species (40 genera belonging to nine subfamilies) and measured cuticle thickness in workers using labour-intensive histological sectioning of the prothorax. Thickness varied substantially across genera, ranging from 1.3 to 109.8 µm. We correlated thickness with body size, measured as head width. Our results show a strong influence of body size, but also phylogeny, because workers in ‘formicoid’ species tend to have a thinner cuticle (two exceptions). The effect of body size is also obvious in species having size-polymorphic workers. We discuss the idea that a thinner cuticle is associated with miniaturization of workers, and its ecological consequences are buffered in a social environment. We reveal that the bulk of ant species have a very thin cuticle, and this represents cost savings that may partly underlie the massive increase in colony size during adaptive radiation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 556-563 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |
| Volume | 121 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 Jan 1 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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Evolution of cheaper workers in ants : A comparative study of exoskeleton thickness. / Peeters, Christian; Molet, Mathieu; Lin, Chung-Chi; Billen, Johan.
In: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 121, No. 3, 01.01.2017, p. 556-563.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolution of cheaper workers in ants
T2 - A comparative study of exoskeleton thickness
AU - Peeters, Christian
AU - Molet, Mathieu
AU - Lin, Chung-Chi
AU - Billen, Johan
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - The great evolutionary success of insects is partly linked to the innovation of the cuticle, which underlies a complex exoskeleton with varied functions. Cuticle development is costly because chitin and cuticular proteins require ingested nitrogen. Studying cuticle thickness on a comparative basis allows insight into the trade-off between offspring quality and quantity. This trade-off takes a particular meaning in ant workers because they are wingless, non-dispersers and generally sterile. We selected a comprehensive sample of 42 ant species (40 genera belonging to nine subfamilies) and measured cuticle thickness in workers using labour-intensive histological sectioning of the prothorax. Thickness varied substantially across genera, ranging from 1.3 to 109.8 µm. We correlated thickness with body size, measured as head width. Our results show a strong influence of body size, but also phylogeny, because workers in ‘formicoid’ species tend to have a thinner cuticle (two exceptions). The effect of body size is also obvious in species having size-polymorphic workers. We discuss the idea that a thinner cuticle is associated with miniaturization of workers, and its ecological consequences are buffered in a social environment. We reveal that the bulk of ant species have a very thin cuticle, and this represents cost savings that may partly underlie the massive increase in colony size during adaptive radiation.
AB - The great evolutionary success of insects is partly linked to the innovation of the cuticle, which underlies a complex exoskeleton with varied functions. Cuticle development is costly because chitin and cuticular proteins require ingested nitrogen. Studying cuticle thickness on a comparative basis allows insight into the trade-off between offspring quality and quantity. This trade-off takes a particular meaning in ant workers because they are wingless, non-dispersers and generally sterile. We selected a comprehensive sample of 42 ant species (40 genera belonging to nine subfamilies) and measured cuticle thickness in workers using labour-intensive histological sectioning of the prothorax. Thickness varied substantially across genera, ranging from 1.3 to 109.8 µm. We correlated thickness with body size, measured as head width. Our results show a strong influence of body size, but also phylogeny, because workers in ‘formicoid’ species tend to have a thinner cuticle (two exceptions). The effect of body size is also obvious in species having size-polymorphic workers. We discuss the idea that a thinner cuticle is associated with miniaturization of workers, and its ecological consequences are buffered in a social environment. We reveal that the bulk of ant species have a very thin cuticle, and this represents cost savings that may partly underlie the massive increase in colony size during adaptive radiation.
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U2 - 10.1093/biolinnean/blx011
DO - 10.1093/biolinnean/blx011
M3 - Article
VL - 121
SP - 556
EP - 563
JO - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
JF - Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
SN - 0024-4066
IS - 3
ER -