Social insect colonies are among the most complex social organisations in nature, with reproductive and non-reproductive individuals co-ordinating to maintain the survival of the colony. Multiple reproductive schemes occur in social insects, from simple schemes with one founding reproductive pair, to more complex ones involving within-colony inbreeding and more than two unrelated reproductives. Colony breeding schemes and genetic structure remain understudied in termites, compared to the Hymenoptera. In this study, we performed the first genetic characterisation of the colony breeding structure of Nasutitermes exitiosus (Blattodea: Termitidae), an endemic Australian termite with a broad distribution across southern mainland Australia. We analysed the genetic structure of 60 N. exitiosus colonies from the Eastern part of its distribution, using microsatellites and mitochondrial sequence data. We found that most colonies were headed by one founding pair of reproductives, although some colonies exhibited a more complex breeding structure, including within-colony inbreeding and the presence of multiple unrelated reproductives. We found evidence for the presence of seven unrelated queens in one colony, to our knowledge, the highest number of unrelated queens yet found in a termite from the family Termitidae. We found some evidence for genetic isolation by distance, indicating that the species is a relatively poor disperser over long ranges.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚“高等”白蚁 Nasutitermes exitiosus (Blattodea: Termitidae) 中大量无关繁殖

群居昆虫群体是自然界中最复杂的社会组织之一，有生殖和非生殖个体相互协调以维持群体的生存。多种繁殖方案发生在群居昆虫中，从具有一对原始繁殖对的简单方案，到涉及群体内近亲繁殖和两个以上不相关繁殖的更复杂方案。与膜翅目相比，白蚁的群体繁殖计划和遗传结构仍未得到充分研究。在这项研究中，我们对 Nasutitermes exitiosus (Blattodea: Termitidae) 的群体繁殖结构进行了首次遗传表征，这是一种在澳大利亚南部大陆广泛分布的澳大利亚地方性白蚁。我们分析了分布东部的 60 个 N. exitiosus 菌落的遗传结构，使用微卫星和线粒体序列数据。我们发现大多数殖民地由一对创始繁殖后代领导，尽管一些殖民地表现出更复杂的繁殖结构，包括群体内近亲繁殖和多个不相关的繁殖后代的存在。我们发现了在一个群体中存在七只不相关的蚁后的证据，据我们所知，这是迄今为止在 Termitidae 家族的一只白蚁中发现的最多的无关蚁后。我们发现了一些按距离进行遗传隔离的证据，表明该物种在远距离传播的能力相对较差。包括群内近亲繁殖和多个无关繁殖的存在。我们发现了在一个群体中存在七只不相关的蚁后的证据，据我们所知，这是迄今为止在 Termitidae 家族的一只白蚁中发现的最多的无关蚁后。我们发现了一些按距离进行遗传隔离的证据，表明该物种在远距离传播的能力相对较差。包括群内近亲繁殖和多个无关繁殖的存在。我们发现了在一个群体中存在七只不相关的蚁后的证据，据我们所知，这是迄今为止在 Termitidae 家族的一只白蚁中发现的最多的无关蚁后。我们发现了一些按距离进行遗传隔离的证据，表明该物种在远距离传播的能力相对较差。