Cooperation among unrelated individuals: the ant foundress case

摘要: Ant foundress associations are an example of cooperation among non-kin. Across a dozen genera, queens able to found colony alone often join unrelated queens, thereby enhancing worker production and survivorship. The benefits joining other vary with group size ecological conditions. However, after the first workers mature, fight until only one survives. presence cofoundresses, their relative fighting ability, also affects extent cooperative investment before emergence. This reveals previously overlooked early conflicts which reduce mutualistic cooperation.