What does facultively polygynous mean?

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AntsDakota
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What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 48557Post AntsDakota
Sun Aug 26, 2018 2:23 pm

Antwiki uses the term, but how is it different from polygynous?
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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antnest8
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Re: What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 48714Post antnest8
Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:26 pm

ant wiki has a page about it and i just think that it means like SUPER polygynous. because taponoma sessile is facultively polygynous and they are know for super colonies that random combine sometimes.
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AntsDakota
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Re: What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 49723Post AntsDakota
Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:57 pm

antnest8 wrote:
Tue Aug 28, 2018 4:26 pm
ant wiki has a page about it and i just think that it means like SUPER polygynous. because taponoma sessile is facultively polygynous and they are know for super colonies that random combine sometimes.
Oh. I though it might have meant that they are very picky about what queens they accept.
"God made every kind of wild beasts and every kind of livestock and every kind of creeping things;" (including ants) "and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25

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antnest8
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Re: What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 50679Post antnest8
Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:56 pm

"Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" (antonym obligate), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: Facultative anaerobe, an organism that can use oxygen but also has anaerobic methods of energy production. It can survive in either environment."
-Wikipedia description
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KimNorway
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Re: What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 50930Post KimNorway
Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:03 pm

antnest8 is right in it meaning "optional". It also means the colonies in the wild might be found with 2 or more queens, but it might not always be. The problem is some of those species actually is "facultative polygynous" for a while founding a colony, and then might start kill each other.

I also seem to remember some species got supressed dwarf queens which acts as workers, or semi-parasitic lineages of queens specialized in joining other colonies (myrmica).

TheRealAntMan
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Re: What does facultively polygynous mean?

Post: # 50932Post TheRealAntMan
Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:06 pm

AntsDakota wrote:
Sun Aug 26, 2018 2:23 pm
Antwiki uses the term, but how is it different from polygynous?
Antwiki isn't too reliable. Antwiki used to think Lasius Umbratus and Lasius Nearcticus were the same. :roll:
An ants' strength can be rivaled by few animals compared to relative body size.

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