Worker reproduction in Formica antsHeikki Helantera
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Am Nat 170:E14-25. 2007
..We conclude that careful quantification of the costs of worker reproduction and policing is essential for inferences about the tragedy of the commons...
Chemical basis of nest-mate discrimination in the ant Formica exsectaStephen J Martin
Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Proc Biol Sci 275:1271-8. 2008
..Our data suggest that nest-mate discrimination in the social insects has evolved to rely upon highly sensitive responses to relatively few compounds...
Colony-specific hydrocarbons identify nest mates in two species of Formica antStephen J Martin
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
J Chem Ecol 34:1072-80. 2008
..exsecta workers into their respective 20 colonies and 111 F. fusca workers into their respective 30 colonies. These two systems or variations of them may be expected to occur in many insect societies that have a strong colony identity...
Unicolonial ants: where do they come from, what are they and where are they going?Heikki Helantera
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, PO Box 65 Viikinkaari 1, University of Helsinki, FI 00014 Helsinki, Finland
Trends Ecol Evol 24:341-9. 2009
..However, at extreme sizes, kin selection theory predicts that these behaviors are maladapted and evolutionarily unstable, a prediction that is supported by their twiggy phylogenetic distribution...
Cuticular chemistry of males and females in the ant Formica fuscaAnton Chernenko
Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, FIN 00014, Helsinki, Finland
J Chem Ecol 38:1474-82. 2012
..This suggests that colonies with multiple matri- or patrilines also have a significantly greater chemical diversity...
Geometry explains the benefits of division of labour in a leafcutter antHeikki Helantera
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Finland
Proc Biol Sci 275:1255-60. 2008
..Third, the size of fruit pieces cut increases approximately in proportion to the cube of mandible length. Our results are a novel mechanistic example of how size variation among worker ants enhances division of labour...
Do unicolonial wood ants favor kin?Heikki Helantera
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
J Biol 8:56. 2009
..Surprisingly, the families coexist peacefully, even though they seem to recognize each other as non-kin...