GENETIC RELATEDNESS AMONG CO-FOUNDRESSES 
OF TWO DESERT ANTS, VEROMESSOR PERGANDEI 
AND ACROMYRMEX VERSICOLOR 
(HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) 
By Robert H. Hagen 1 , Deborah R. Smith 2 , 
and Steven W. Rissing 3 
Cooperative colony foundation occurs in some social hymenop- 
tera, Polistine wasp foundress associations are usually composed of 
close relatives (reviewed in Gamboa et al. 1986, Michener and Smith 
1987) suggesting kin selection may play an important role in estab- 
lishment of such groups. Cooperative colony foundation, however, 
may be advantageous even if cofoundresses are not related (Lin and 
Michener 1972, Pollock and Rissing 1988a). Indeed, several behav- 
ioral (reviewed in Rissing and Pollock 1988) and one electrophoretic 
(Ross and Fletcher 1985) study suggest ant foundress associations 
form without respect to relatedness. Here we report on an electro- 
phoretic analysis of intra-group relatedness among co-foundresses 
of Veromessor pergandei and Acromyrmex versicolor , two common 
desert ants with cooperative colony foundation (Pollock and Riss- 
ing 1985, Rissing and Pollock 1986, Rissing et al. 1986). 
Ideally, relatedness should be measured directly through pedi- 
gree analysis of interacting individuals (Hamilton 1972). Since this 
is impractical for most natural populations of social insects, the 
alternative is indirect estimation using neutral genetic markers 
(Pamilo and Crozier 1982, Pamilo 1984). We used polymorphic 
allozyme loci, detected by protein electrophoresis, for this purpose 
(Richardson et al. 1986). Allozyme loci offer the advantage that 
homozygous and heterozygous individuals are readily distinguisha- 
ble; in addition, these loci are not likely involved directly in deter- 
mining behavior patterns and thus can be treated as selectively 
neutral within the context of social evolution (Pamilo 1984). 
1. Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 
48824. 
2. Insect Division, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michi- 
gan 48109. 
3. Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1501. 
To whom correspondence should be addressed. 
Manuscript received by the editor September 20, 1988. 
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