Reproductive skew - the extent to which reproduction is unevenly shared between individuals in a social group - varies greatly between and within animal species. In this study, we investigated how queens share parentage in polygynous (multiple queen) colonies of the Mediterranean ant Pheidole pallidula. We used highly polymorphic microsatellites markers to determine parentage of gynes (new quee...

BACKGROUND The genus Boletina is a species rich group of fungus gnats. Members of the genus are mainly known from temperate, boreal and arctic biomes. Phylogeny of the genus is still poorly resolved, dozens of species are insufficiently described and undescribed species are often discovered, especially from samples taken from the boreal zone. NEW INFORMATION Four new species are described. Bo...

In social insects, the evolutionary stability of cooperation depends on the privileged relationships between individuals of the social group, which is facilitated by the recognition of relatives. Nestmate recognition is based on genetically determined cues and/or environmentally derived chemical components present on the cuticle of individuals. Here, we studied nestmate recognition in the ant P...

This study analyzes the structure and composition of ant communities in citrus orchards in Catalonia (northeast Spain) and compares them with the ant fauna found in natural communities of the region. In the citrus orchards considered in this study, the most abundant species were Lasius niger and Pheidole pallidula, which are behaviorally dominant species. Two other dominant species, Linepithema...

The cockroach genera Anaplecta Burmeister, Anaplectella Shelford, Anaplectoidea Shelford and Malaccina Hebard are reviewed. Based on male genitalia, Anaplecta is retained in Blattellidae: Anaplectinae, and the other three genera are placed in Blattellidae: Blattellinae. New combinations: Anaplecta thwaitesi Shelford, Anaplecta martini Fernando, Anaplecta pilatus Fernando, and Anaplectoidea nota...

A hallmark of behavior is that animals respond to environmental change by switching from one behavioral state to another. However, information on the molecular underpinnings of these behavioral shifts and how they are mediated by the environment is lacking. The ant Pheidole pallidula with its morphologically and behaviorally distinct major and minor workers is an ideal system to investigate beh...