Fuminori Ito

TL;DR: It is concluded that for ant queens the second and third steps are crucial for the enlargement of the spermatheca size, and that the second to the fourth steps are vital for the specialization of the reservoir wall structure.

TL;DR: It is proposed that adaptive advantages derived from worker reproduction for A.gracilipes may include trophic eggs provisioned by physogastric workers likely assist colonies of A. graciliped in overcoming unfavorable conditions such as paucity of food during critical founding stage; 2) worker-produced males are fertile and thus might offer an inclusive fitness advantage for the doomed orphaned colony.

TL;DR: This research identified genes that were up‐regulated in the male accessory glands relative to the bodies of Crematogaster osakensis to characterize the reproductive molecules associated with male reproductive success in ants and found novel genes that had no hits in a homology search and that were predominantly expressed in the accessory glands.

TL;DR: Four solitary queens of the invasive ant Anoplolepis gracilipes under stones in East Java, Indonesia produced nanitic workers by claustral colony foundation, the first report of independent colony foundation by queens in this species.