Gamergate (ant)

Subsequently, however, aggression is no longer needed as gamergates secrete chemical signals that inform the other workers of their reproductive status in the colony.

It was coined in 1983 by geneticist William Louis Brown[1] and was first used in scientific literature by entomologists Christian Peeters and Robin Crewe in a 1984 paper published in Naturwissenschaften.

[2] The definition typically found in entomological dictionaries is 'mated, egg-laying worker',[3][4] and is drawn from the glossary of Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson's 1990 book, The Ants.

For example, in the case of Diacamma australe, the first female to become reproductively active will clip off the thoracic gemmae of her sisters, thus greatly reducing their sexual attractiveness.

In other genera, persistent domination of worker females by gamergates via physical aggression all but ensure that they will not produce male offspring.

For example, when the original founding queen dies in a Harpegnathos saltator colony, younger workers begin to fight for dominance and some become the next reproductives.

Some species such as Harpegnathos saltator,[13] Pseudoneoponera tridentata, Gnamptogenys menadensis, and Rhytidoponera confusa have a winged alate queen caste as well as gamergates.

Examples of monogynous queenless species include Pachycondyla krugeri, P. sublaevis, Diacamma australe, D. rugosum, Dinoponera quadriceps, Platythyrea lamellosa, and Streblognathus aethiopicus.

Myrmecologists Christian Peeters and Fuminori Ito have also suggested that "the evolution of gamergate reproduction appears strongly associated with the adaptive benefits of secondary polygyny (e.g. increased colony lifespan and resource inheritance), and it is the preferred option in species having workers able to store sperm.

Hölldobler and Wilson suggest that the two positions can be semantically resolved and that the most fruitful approach would be to keep classification "somewhat loose, incorporating either anatomy or roles in a manner that maximizes convenience, precision, and clarity of expression.