---
_id: '12696'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: "Background: Fighting disease while fighting rivals exposes males to constraints
and tradeoffs during male-male competition. We here tested how both the stage
and intensity of infection with the fungal pathogen Metarhizium robertsii interfered
with fighting success in Cardiocondyla obscurior ant males. Males of this species
have evolved long lifespans during which they can gain many matings with the young
queens of the colony, if successful in male-male competition. Since male fights
occur inside the colony, the outcome of male-male competition can further be biased
by interference of the colony’s worker force.\r\nResults: We found that severe,
but not yet mild, infection strongly impaired male fighting success. In late-stage
infection, this could be attributed to worker aggression directed towards the
infected rather than the healthy male and an already very high male morbidity
even in the absence of fighting. Shortly after pathogen exposure, however, male
mortality was particularly increased during combat. Since these males mounted
a strong immune response, their reduced fighting success suggests a trade-off
between immune investment and competitive ability already early in the infection.
Even if the males themselves showed no difference in the number of attacks they
raised against their healthy rivals across infection stages and levels, severely
infected males were thus losing in male-male competition from an early stage of
infection on.\r\nConclusions: Males of the ant C. obscurior have evolved high
immune investment, triggering an effective immune response very fast after fungal
exposure. This allows them to cope with mild pathogen exposures without cost to
their success in male-male competition, and hence to gain multiple mating opportunities
with the emerging virgin queens of the colony. Under severe infection, however,
they are weak fighters and rarely survive a combat already at early infection
when raising an immune response, as well as at progressed infection, when they
are morbid and preferentially targeted by worker aggression. Workers thereby remove
males that pose a future disease threat by biasing male-male competition. Our
study thus revealed a novel social immunity mechanism how social insect workers
protect the colony against disease risk."
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: LifeSc
acknowledgement: "We are thankful to Mike Bidochka for the fungal strain, Lukas Schrader
for sharing the C. obscurior genome data for primer development, the Lab Support
Facility of ISTA for general laboratory support and help with the permit approval
procedures, and the Finca El Quinto for letting us collect ants on their property.
We thank the Social Immunity Team at ISTA for help with ant collection and experimental
help, in particular Elina Hanhimäki and Marta Gorecka for behavioural observation,
and Elisabeth Naderlinger for spore load PCRs. We further thank the Social Immunity
Team and Jürgen Heinze for continued discussion and comments on the manuscript.\r\nOpen
access funding provided by Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). This
project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 771402
to SC). "
article_number: '37'
article_processing_charge: Yes
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Jessica
full_name: Kirchner, Jessica
id: 21516227-15aa-11ec-9fb2-c6e8ffc155d3
last_name: Kirchner
- first_name: Anna V
full_name: Grasse, Anna V
id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Metzler S, Kirchner J, Grasse AV, Cremer S. Trade-offs between immunity and
competitive ability in fighting ant males. BMC Ecology and Evolution. 2023;23.
doi:10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7
apa: Metzler, S., Kirchner, J., Grasse, A. V., & Cremer, S. (2023). Trade-offs
between immunity and competitive ability in fighting ant males. BMC Ecology
and Evolution. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7
chicago: Metzler, Sina, Jessica Kirchner, Anna V Grasse, and Sylvia Cremer. “Trade-Offs
between Immunity and Competitive Ability in Fighting Ant Males.” BMC Ecology
and Evolution. Springer Nature, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7.
ieee: S. Metzler, J. Kirchner, A. V. Grasse, and S. Cremer, “Trade-offs between
immunity and competitive ability in fighting ant males,” BMC Ecology and Evolution,
vol. 23. Springer Nature, 2023.
ista: Metzler S, Kirchner J, Grasse AV, Cremer S. 2023. Trade-offs between immunity
and competitive ability in fighting ant males. BMC Ecology and Evolution. 23,
37.
mla: Metzler, Sina, et al. “Trade-Offs between Immunity and Competitive Ability
in Fighting Ant Males.” BMC Ecology and Evolution, vol. 23, 37, Springer
Nature, 2023, doi:10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7.
short: S. Metzler, J. Kirchner, A.V. Grasse, S. Cremer, BMC Ecology and Evolution
23 (2023).
date_created: 2023-02-28T07:38:17Z
date_published: 2023-08-07T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-12-13T11:13:14Z
day: '07'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1186/s12862-023-02137-7
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '001042643600002'
pmid:
- '37550612'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 95966dc7d242d2c85bdd4fe14233dbd8
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2023-08-14T07:51:47Z
date_updated: 2023-08-14T07:51:47Z
file_id: '14048'
file_name: 2023_BMCEcology_Metzler.pdf
file_size: 2004276
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2023-08-14T07:51:47Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 23'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
month: '08'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '771402'
name: Epidemics in ant societies on a chip
publication: BMC Ecology and Evolution
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 2730-7182
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
record:
- id: '12693'
relation: research_data
status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Trade-offs between immunity and competitive ability in fighting ant males
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 23
year: '2023'
...
---
_id: '10727'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: "Social insects are a common model to study disease dynamics in social animals.
Even though pathogens should thrive in social insect colonies as the hosts engage
in frequent social interactions, are closely related and live in a pathogen-rich
environment, disease outbreaks are rare. This is because social insects have evolved
mechanisms to keep pathogens at bay – and fight disease as a collective. Social
insect colonies are often viewed as “superorganisms” with division of labor between
reproductive “germ-like” queens and males and “somatic” workers, which together
form an interdependent reproductive unit that parallels a multicellular body.
Superorganisms possess a “social immune system” that comprises of collective disease
defenses performed by the workers - summarized as “social immunity”. In social
groups immunization (reduced susceptibility to a parasite upon secondary exposure
to the same parasite) can e.g. be triggered by social interactions (“social immunization”).
Social immunization can be caused by (i) asymptomatic low-level infections that
are acquired during caregiving to a contagious individual that can give an immune
boost, which can induce protection upon later encounter with the same pathogen
(active immunization) or (ii) by transfer of immune effectors between individuals
(passive immunization).\r\nIn the second chapter, I built up on a study that I
co-authored that found that low-level infections can not only be protective, but
also be costly and make the host more susceptible to detrimental superinfections
after contact to a very dissimilar pathogen. I here now tested different degrees
of phylogenetically-distant fungal strains of M. brunneum and M. robertsii in
L. neglectus and can describe the occurrence of cross-protection of social immunization
if the first and second pathogen are from the same level. Interestingly, low-level
infections only provided protection when the first strain was less virulent than
the second strain and elicited higher immune gene expression.\r\nIn the third
and fourth chapters, I expanded on the role of social immunity in sexual selection,
a so far unstudied field. I used the fungus Metarhizium robertsii and the ant
Cardiocondyla obscurior as a model, as in this species mating occurs in the presence
of workers and can be studied under laboratory conditions. Before males mate with
virgin queens in the nest they engage in fierce combat over the access to their
mating partners.\r\nFirst, I focused on male-male competition in the third chapter
and found that fighting with a contagious male is costly as it can lead to contamination
of the rival, but that workers can decrease the risk of disease contraction by
performing sanitary care.\r\nIn the fourth chapter, I studied the effect of fungal
infection on survival and mating success of sexuals (freshly emerged queens and
males) and found that worker-performed sanitary care can buffer the negative effect
that a pathogenic contagion would have on sexuals by spore removal from the exposed
individuals. When social immunity was prevented and queens could contract spores
from their mating partner, very low dosages led to negative consequences: their
lifespan was reduced and they produced fewer offspring with poor immunocompetence
compared to healthy queens. Interestingly, cohabitation with a late-stage infected
male where no spore transfer was possible had a positive effect on offspring immunity
– male offspring of mothers that apparently perceived an infected partner in their
vicinity reacted more sensitively to fungal challenge than male offspring without
paternal pathogen history."
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: LifeSc
alternative_title:
- ISTA Thesis
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
citation:
ama: Metzler S. Pathogen-mediated sexual selection and immunization in ant colonies.
2022. doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:10727
apa: Metzler, S. (2022). Pathogen-mediated sexual selection and immunization
in ant colonies. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:10727
chicago: Metzler, Sina. “Pathogen-Mediated Sexual Selection and Immunization in
Ant Colonies.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2022. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT:ISTA:10727.
ieee: S. Metzler, “Pathogen-mediated sexual selection and immunization in ant colonies,”
Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2022.
ista: Metzler S. 2022. Pathogen-mediated sexual selection and immunization in ant
colonies. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.
mla: Metzler, Sina. Pathogen-Mediated Sexual Selection and Immunization in Ant
Colonies. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2022, doi:10.15479/AT:ISTA:10727.
short: S. Metzler, Pathogen-Mediated Sexual Selection and Immunization in Ant Colonies,
Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2022.
date_created: 2022-02-04T15:45:12Z
date_published: 2022-02-07T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-07T13:43:23Z
day: '07'
ddc:
- '570'
degree_awarded: PhD
department:
- _id: GradSch
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.15479/AT:ISTA:10727
ec_funded: 1
file:
- access_level: closed
checksum: 47ba18bb270dd6cc266e0a3f7c69d0e4
content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
creator: smetzler
date_created: 2022-02-04T15:36:12Z
date_updated: 2023-02-03T23:30:03Z
embargo_to: open_access
file_id: '10728'
file_name: Thesis_Sina_Metzler.docx
file_size: 6757886
relation: source_file
- access_level: open_access
checksum: f3ec07d5d6b20ae6e46bfeedebce9027
content_type: application/pdf
creator: smetzler
date_created: 2022-02-04T15:36:43Z
date_updated: 2023-02-03T23:30:03Z
embargo: 2023-02-02
file_id: '10730'
file_name: Thesis_Sina_Metzler_A2.pdf
file_size: 6314921
relation: main_file
- access_level: open_access
checksum: dedd14b7be7a75d63018dbfc68dd8113
content_type: application/pdf
creator: smetzler
date_created: 2022-02-07T10:35:02Z
date_updated: 2023-02-04T23:30:03Z
embargo: 2023-02-02
file_id: '10742'
file_name: Thesis_Sina_Metzler_print.pdf
file_size: 6882557
relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2023-02-04T23:30:03Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '02'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '771402'
name: Epidemics in ant societies on a chip
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 2663-337X
publication_status: published
publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria
status: public
supervisor:
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
title: Pathogen-mediated sexual selection and immunization in ant colonies
type: dissertation
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
year: '2022'
...
---
_id: '55'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Many animals use antimicrobials to prevent or cure disease [1,2]. For example,
some animals will ingest plants with medicinal properties, both prophylactically
to prevent infection and therapeutically to self-medicate when sick. Antimicrobial
substances are also used as topical disinfectants, to prevent infection, protect
offspring and to sanitise their surroundings [1,2]. Social insects (ants, bees,
wasps and termites) build nests in environments with a high abundance and diversity
of pathogenic microorganisms — such as soil and rotting wood — and colonies are
often densely crowded, creating conditions that favour disease outbreaks. Consequently,
social insects have evolved collective disease defences to protect their colonies
from epidemics. These traits can be seen as functionally analogous to the immune
system of individual organisms [3,4]. This ‘social immunity’ utilises antimicrobials
to prevent and eradicate infections, and to keep the brood and nest clean. However,
these antimicrobial compounds can be harmful to the insects themselves, and it
is unknown how colonies prevent collateral damage when using them. Here, we demonstrate
that antimicrobial acids, produced by workers to disinfect the colony, are harmful
to the delicate pupal brood stage, but that the pupae are protected from the acids
by the presence of a silk cocoon. Garden ants spray their nests with an antimicrobial
poison to sanitize contaminated nestmates and brood. Here, Pull et al show that
they also prophylactically sanitise their colonies, and that the silk cocoon serves
as a barrier to protect developing pupae, thus preventing collateral damage during
nest sanitation.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Christopher
full_name: Pull, Christopher
id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Pull
orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Elisabeth
full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. Protection against the lethal side
effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. 2018;28(19):R1139-R1140.
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
apa: Pull, C., Metzler, S., Naderlinger, E., & Cremer, S. (2018). Protection
against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology.
Cell Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
chicago: Pull, Christopher, Sina Metzler, Elisabeth Naderlinger, and Sylvia Cremer.
“Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social Immunity in Ants.” Current
Biology. Cell Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063.
ieee: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, and S. Cremer, “Protection against the
lethal side effects of social immunity in ants,” Current Biology, vol.
28, no. 19. Cell Press, pp. R1139–R1140, 2018.
ista: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. 2018. Protection against the lethal
side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. 28(19), R1139–R1140.
mla: Pull, Christopher, et al. “Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social
Immunity in Ants.” Current Biology, vol. 28, no. 19, Cell Press, 2018,
pp. R1139–40, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063.
short: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, S. Cremer, Current Biology 28 (2018)
R1139–R1140.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:44:23Z
date_published: 2018-10-08T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-15T12:06:46Z
day: '08'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
external_id:
isi:
- '000446693400008'
intvolume: ' 28'
isi: 1
issue: '19'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
month: '10'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: R1139 - R1140
publication: Current Biology
publication_status: published
publisher: Cell Press
publist_id: '7999'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 28
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '413'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Being cared for when sick is a benefit of sociality that can reduce disease
and improve survival of group members. However, individuals providing care risk
contracting infectious diseases themselves. If they contract a low pathogen dose,
they may develop low-level infections that do not cause disease but still affect
host immunity by either decreasing or increasing the host’s vulnerability to subsequent
infections. Caring for contagious individuals can thus significantly alter the
future disease susceptibility of caregivers. Using ants and their fungal pathogens
as a model system, we tested if the altered disease susceptibility of experienced
caregivers, in turn, affects their expression of sanitary care behavior. We found
that low-level infections contracted during sanitary care had protective or neutral
effects on secondary exposure to the same (homologous) pathogen but consistently
caused high mortality on superinfection with a different (heterologous) pathogen.
In response to this risk, the ants selectively adjusted the expression of their
sanitary care. Specifically, the ants performed less grooming and more antimicrobial
disinfection when caring for nestmates contaminated with heterologous pathogens
compared with homologous ones. By modulating the components of sanitary care in
this way the ants acquired less infectious particles of the heterologous pathogens,
resulting in reduced superinfection. The performance of risk-adjusted sanitary
care reveals the remarkable capacity of ants to react to changes in their disease
susceptibility, according to their own infection history and to flexibly adjust
collective care to individual risk.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Matthias
full_name: Konrad, Matthias
id: 46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Konrad
- first_name: Christopher
full_name: Pull, Christopher
id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Pull
orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Katharina
full_name: Seif, Katharina
id: 90F7894A-02CF-11E9-976E-E38CFE5CBC1D
last_name: Seif
- first_name: Elisabeth
full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Anna V
full_name: Grasse, Anna V
id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Konrad M, Pull C, Metzler S, et al. Ants avoid superinfections by performing
risk-adjusted sanitary care. PNAS. 2018;115(11):2782-2787. doi:10.1073/pnas.1713501115
apa: Konrad, M., Pull, C., Metzler, S., Seif, K., Naderlinger, E., Grasse, A. V.,
& Cremer, S. (2018). Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted
sanitary care. PNAS. National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115
chicago: Konrad, Matthias, Christopher Pull, Sina Metzler, Katharina Seif, Elisabeth
Naderlinger, Anna V Grasse, and Sylvia Cremer. “Ants Avoid Superinfections by
Performing Risk-Adjusted Sanitary Care.” PNAS. National Academy of Sciences,
2018. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115.
ieee: M. Konrad et al., “Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted
sanitary care,” PNAS, vol. 115, no. 11. National Academy of Sciences, pp.
2782–2787, 2018.
ista: Konrad M, Pull C, Metzler S, Seif K, Naderlinger E, Grasse AV, Cremer S. 2018.
Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care. PNAS. 115(11),
2782–2787.
mla: Konrad, Matthias, et al. “Ants Avoid Superinfections by Performing Risk-Adjusted
Sanitary Care.” PNAS, vol. 115, no. 11, National Academy of Sciences, 2018,
pp. 2782–87, doi:10.1073/pnas.1713501115.
short: M. Konrad, C. Pull, S. Metzler, K. Seif, E. Naderlinger, A.V. Grasse, S.
Cremer, PNAS 115 (2018) 2782–2787.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:46:20Z
date_published: 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-08T13:22:21Z
day: '13'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1713501115
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '000427245400069'
pmid:
- '29463746'
intvolume: ' 115'
isi: 1
issue: '11'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29463746
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 2782 - 2787
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 25DC711C-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: FP7
grant_number: '243071'
name: 'Social Vaccination in Ant Colonies: from Individual Mechanisms to Society
Effects'
publication: PNAS
publication_status: published
publisher: National Academy of Sciences
publist_id: '7416'
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
link:
- description: News on IST Homepage
relation: press_release
url: https://ist.ac.at/en/news/helping-in-spite-of-risk-ants-perform-risk-averse-sanitary-care-of-infectious-nest-mates/
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 115
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '426'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Sperm cells are the most morphologically diverse cells across animal taxa.
Within species, sperm and ejaculate traits have been suggested to vary with the
male's competitive environment, e.g., level of sperm competition, female mating
status and quality, and also with male age, body mass, physiological condition,
and resource availability. Most previous studies have based their conclusions
on the analysis of only one or a few ejaculates per male without investigating
differences among the ejaculates of the same individual. This masks potential
ejaculate-specific traits. Here, we provide data on the length, quantity, and
viability of sperm ejaculated by wingless males of the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.
Males of this ant species are relatively long-lived and can mate with large numbers
of female sexuals throughout their lives. We analyzed all ejaculates across the
individuals' lifespan and manipulated the availability of mating partners. Our
study shows that both the number and size of sperm cells transferred during copulations
differ among individuals and also among ejaculates of the same male. Sperm quality
does not decrease with male age, but the variation in sperm number between ejaculates
indicates that males need considerable time to replenish their sperm supplies.
Producing many ejaculates in a short time appears to be traded-off against male
longevity rather than sperm quality.
acknowledgement: "Research with C. obscurior from Brazil was permitted by Instituto
Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis, IBAMA (permit no.
20324-1). We thank the German Science Foundation ( DFG ) for funding ( Schr1135/2-1
), T. Suckert for help with sperm length measurements and A.K. Huylmans for advice
concerning graphs. One referee made helpful comments on the manuscript.\r\n"
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Alexandra
full_name: Schrempf, Alexandra
last_name: Schrempf
- first_name: Jürgen
full_name: Heinze, Jürgen
last_name: Heinze
citation:
ama: Metzler S, Schrempf A, Heinze J. Individual- and ejaculate-specific sperm traits
in ant males. Journal of Insect Physiology. 2018;107:284-290. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.12.003
apa: Metzler, S., Schrempf, A., & Heinze, J. (2018). Individual- and ejaculate-specific
sperm traits in ant males. Journal of Insect Physiology. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.12.003
chicago: Metzler, Sina, Alexandra Schrempf, and Jürgen Heinze. “Individual- and
Ejaculate-Specific Sperm Traits in Ant Males.” Journal of Insect Physiology.
Elsevier, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.12.003.
ieee: S. Metzler, A. Schrempf, and J. Heinze, “Individual- and ejaculate-specific
sperm traits in ant males,” Journal of Insect Physiology, vol. 107. Elsevier,
pp. 284–290, 2018.
ista: Metzler S, Schrempf A, Heinze J. 2018. Individual- and ejaculate-specific
sperm traits in ant males. Journal of Insect Physiology. 107, 284–290.
mla: Metzler, Sina, et al. “Individual- and Ejaculate-Specific Sperm Traits in Ant
Males.” Journal of Insect Physiology, vol. 107, Elsevier, 2018, pp. 284–90,
doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.12.003.
short: S. Metzler, A. Schrempf, J. Heinze, Journal of Insect Physiology 107 (2018)
284–290.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:46:25Z
date_published: 2018-05-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-12T07:43:26Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.12.003
external_id:
isi:
- '000434751100034'
intvolume: ' 107'
isi: 1
language:
- iso: eng
month: '05'
oa_version: None
page: 284-290
publication: Journal of Insect Physiology
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
publist_id: '7397'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Individual- and ejaculate-specific sperm traits in ant males
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 107
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '1184'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Across multicellular organisms, the costs of reproduction and self-maintenance
result in a life history trade-off between fecundity and longevity. Queens of
perennial social Hymenoptera are both highly fertile and long-lived, and thus,
this fundamental trade-off is lacking. Whether social insect males similarly evade
the fecundity/longevity trade-off remains largely unstudied. Wingless males of
the ant genus Cardiocondyla stay in their natal colonies throughout their relatively
long lives and mate with multiple female sexuals. Here, we show that Cardiocondyla
obscurior males that were allowed to mate with large numbers of female sexuals
had a shortened life span compared to males that mated at a low frequency or virgin
males. Although frequent mating negatively affects longevity, males clearly benefit
from a “live fast, die young strategy” by inseminating as many female sexuals
as possible at a cost to their own survival.
acknowledgement: 'German Science Foundation. Grant Number: SCHR 1135/2-1. We thank
M. Adam for handling part of the setups and J. Zoellner for behavioral observations.'
author:
- first_name: Sina
full_name: Metzler, Sina
id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Metzler
- first_name: Jürgen
full_name: Heinze, Jürgen
last_name: Heinze
- first_name: Alexandra
full_name: Schrempf, Alexandra
last_name: Schrempf
citation:
ama: Metzler S, Heinze J, Schrempf A. Mating and longevity in ant males. Ecology
and Evolution. 2016;6(24):8903-8906. doi:10.1002/ece3.2474
apa: Metzler, S., Heinze, J., & Schrempf, A. (2016). Mating and longevity in
ant males. Ecology and Evolution. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2474
chicago: Metzler, Sina, Jürgen Heinze, and Alexandra Schrempf. “Mating and Longevity
in Ant Males.” Ecology and Evolution. Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2474.
ieee: S. Metzler, J. Heinze, and A. Schrempf, “Mating and longevity in ant males,”
Ecology and Evolution, vol. 6, no. 24. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 8903–8906,
2016.
ista: Metzler S, Heinze J, Schrempf A. 2016. Mating and longevity in ant males.
Ecology and Evolution. 6(24), 8903–8906.
mla: Metzler, Sina, et al. “Mating and Longevity in Ant Males.” Ecology and Evolution,
vol. 6, no. 24, Wiley-Blackwell, 2016, pp. 8903–06, doi:10.1002/ece3.2474.
short: S. Metzler, J. Heinze, A. Schrempf, Ecology and Evolution 6 (2016) 8903–8906.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:50:36Z
date_published: 2016-12-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2021-01-12T06:48:55Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '576'
- '592'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1002/ece3.2474
file:
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checksum: 789026eb9e1be2a0da08376f29f569cf
content_type: application/pdf
creator: system
date_created: 2018-12-12T10:14:12Z
date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:44:37Z
file_id: '5062'
file_name: IST-2017-736-v1+1_Metzler_et_al-2016-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf
file_size: 328414
relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:44:37Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 6'
issue: '24'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 8903 - 8906
publication: Ecology and Evolution
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
publist_id: '6169'
pubrep_id: '736'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: 1
status: public
title: Mating and longevity in ant males
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 3E5EF7F0-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 6
year: '2016'
...