@article{fdi:010067898,
  title = {{Q}ualitative bias in offspring investment in a superorganism is linked to dispersal and nest inheritance},
  author = {{C}ronin, {A}.{L}. and {M}onnin, {T}. and {S}illam-{D}uss{\`e}s, {D}avid and {A}ubrun, {F}. and {F}{\'e}d{\'e}rici, {P}. and {D}oums, {C}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{H}ow parents invest resources in offspring is a central aspect of life history. {W}hile investment strategies have been well studied in solitary organisms, comparatively little has been done on social species, including the many that reproduce by fission. {U}nder colony fission, a parent colony divides resources (individuals) to form two or more offspring colonies. {B}ecause individuals differ in characteristics (e.g. size), there is opportunity for both quantitative and qualitative bias in their allocation. {I}n this study we investigated the qualitative aspect of offspring investment during colony fission. {C}olonies of the ant {C}ataglyphis cursor fission into multiple offspring colonies as part of their lifecycle, and the distribution of workers is quantitatively biased. {W}e found that investment is also qualitatively biased in terms of worker size and worker genetic characteristics (patrilines). {T}his bias was mainly between the offspring colony that inherited the original nest and offspring colonies that dispersed to new nesting sites. {I}n 74% of cases, dispersing colonies contained larger workers, and the distribution of genetic patrilines was biased in two of six cases in a manner that cannot be explained by the observed variation in worker size between patrilines. {F}ission also led to a reduction in diversity in offspring colonies compared to the parent colony, in terms of both worker size (70% of cases) and genetic diversity (40% of cases). {T}hese patterns are probably the result of differing dispersal probability between workers of different patrilines and of different size. {T}his differential allocation may be adaptive because larger workers may be of disproportionate value to dispersing colonies, and their loss an acceptable cost to the colony inheriting the nest.},
  keywords = {{FRANCE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{A}nimal {B}ehaviour},
  volume = {119},
  numero = {},
  pages = {1--9},
  ISSN = {0003-3472},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.06.018},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010067898},
}