Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí sinh học Journal of Biology đề tài: Do unicolonial wood ants favor kin? | BioMed Central Journal of Biology Minireview Do unicolonial wood ants favor kin Heikki Helanterat Addresses tDepartment of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Helsinki FI-00014 Helsinki Finland. Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects Department of Biological and Environmental Science University of Sussex Falmer Brighton BN1 9QG UK. Correspondence Heikki Helantera. Email Published 18 June 2009 Journal of Biology 2009 8 56 doi jbiol154 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http content 8 6 56 2009 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract Vast supercolonies of interconnected nests formed by unicolonial ant species are the largest cooperative groups of animals known. Research published recently in BMC Evolutionary Biology reveals that a supercolony can be more genetically structured than previously thought comprising several extended families. Surprisingly the families coexist peacefully even though they seem to recognize each other as non-kin. The supercolonies formed by so-called unicolonial ant species are huge cooperative groups - networks of interconnected nests that exchange individuals and share territory peacefully over extensive areas 1 . In extreme cases a whole population can comprise a single supercolony for example the largest supercolony discovered the Mediterranean Argentine ant supercolony covers 6 000 kilometers of Southern European coastline and individuals accept each other as colony-mates all the way from Italy to the Spanish Atlantic coast 2 . A feature of supercolonies compared with the more usual family-based colonies of social insects is the free movement of individuals between nests and the fact that each nest contains several queens. Consequently the relatedness between nestmates approaches zero in the Argentine ant and many other species both invasive and non-invasive 1 . In other words individuals that share a nest are no more similar .
