Spoils of war and peace: enemy adoption and queen-right colony fusion follow costly intraspecific conflict in acacia ants

Kathleen P. Rudolph and Jay P. McEntee

Behavioral Ecology, 2016, vol. 27, issue 3, 793-802

Abstract: Lay Summary Territorial fights between acacia ant colonies can alter their genetic composition via 2 processes: victorious colonies adopt former enemies or colonies fuse. Acacia ant colonies engage in lethal contests for resources, in which even eventual victors suffer heavy casualties. After fights, victorious colonies with diminished workforces are less able to defend vital resources. Costs of fighting appear to be offset, and recovery from conflict hastened, by the inclusion of nonrelatives into colonies.

Keywords: Acacia drepanolobium; colony fusion; conflict costs; Crematogaster; intraspecific slavery; Pyrrhic victory; recovery from conflict; territorial aggression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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