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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Breaking trait scaling via the evolution and regulation of dimorphic decoupling in ants

  • Erica Vong1
  • Shannon Parisien1
  • Helene Orfali1
  • Rajendhran Rajakumar1,2
  1. 1Department of Biology, University of Ottawa
  2. 2Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa
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Abstract

Allometric evolution, changing how morphological traits scale disproportionately to body size, has fuelled adaptive radiations. In ants, allometry has facilitated the repeated evolution of a worker-soldier caste system. Here we reveal an unexpected scaling pattern, and its superorganismal regulation, within the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole . We discovered that antennal sizing between the small worker and the big soldier is identical, lacking inter-caste scaling (antennae-body scaling is decoupled) yet retaining intra-caste scaling. Furthermore, we have pinpointed the evolutionary origin of this decoupling. Finally, manipulations of social environment, developmental hormones, and interorgan signalling influences the modularity-integration of trait-body covariation, uncovering head-to-body decoupling and the production of novel nanosoldiers. Collectively, this challenges our previous understandings of trait covariation, modularity, and their regulation, from individual to society and across species.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{vong2026breaking,
  title = {{Breaking trait scaling via the evolution and regulation of dimorphic decoupling in ants}},
  author = {Erica Vong and Shannon Parisien and Helene Orfali and Rajendhran Rajakumar},
  journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1073/pnas.2612172123},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2612172123},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Breaking trait scaling via the evolution and regulation of dimorphic decoupling in ants
AU  - Erica Vong
AU  - Shannon Parisien
AU  - Helene Orfali
AU  - Rajendhran Rajakumar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
JO  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DO  - 10.1073/pnas.2612172123
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2612172123
AB  - Allometric evolution, changing how morphological traits scale disproportionately to body size, has fuelled adaptive radiations. In ants, allometry has facilitated the repeated evolution of a worker-soldier caste system. Here we reveal an unexpected scaling pattern, and its superorganismal regulation, within the hyperdiverse genus Pheidole . We discovered that antennal sizing between the small worker and the big soldier is identical, lacking inter-caste scaling (antennae-body scaling is decoupled) yet retaining intra-caste scaling. Furthermore, we have pinpointed the evolutionary origin of this decoupling. Finally, manipulations of social environment, developmental hormones, and interorgan signalling influences the modularity-integration of trait-body covariation, uncovering head-to-body decoupling and the production of novel nanosoldiers. Collectively, this challenges our previous understandings of trait covariation, modularity, and their regulation, from individual to society and across species.
SN  - 0027-8424
SN  - 1091-6490
ER  -