page_title: Gamergate
hierarchical_section_title: Gamergate
caption_attribution_description: English: Profile view of ant Pachycondyla berthoudi specimen sam-hym-c007394a.
context_page_description: A gamergate is a mated worker ant that is able to reproduce sexually, i.e., lay fertilized eggs that will develop as females. Gamergates are restricted to taxa where the workers have a functional sperm reservoir. In various species, gamergates reproduce in addition to winged queens, while in other species the queen caste has been completely replaced by gamergates. In gamergate species, all workers in a colony have similar reproductive potentials, but as a result of physical interactions, a dominance hierarchy is formed and only one or a few top-ranking workers can mate and produce eggs. Subsequently however, aggression is no longer needed as gamergates secrete chemical signals that inform the other workers of their reproductive status in the colony.
  Depending on the species, there can be one gamergate per colony or several gamergates. Most gamergate species have colonies with a few hundred or fewer workers.
context_section_description: A gamergate (/ˈɡæmərˌɡeɪt/ GAMM-ər-gayt) is a mated worker ant that is able to reproduce sexually, i.e., lay fertilized eggs that will develop as females. Gamergates are restricted to taxa where the workers have a functional sperm reservoir ('spermatheca'). In various species, gamergates reproduce in addition to winged queens (usually upon the death of the original foundress), while in other species the queen caste has been completely replaced by gamergates. In gamergate species, all workers in a colony have similar reproductive potentials, but as a result of physical interactions, a dominance hierarchy is formed and only one or a few top-ranking workers can mate (usually with foreign males) and produce eggs. Subsequently however, aggression is no longer needed as gamergates secrete chemical signals that inform the other workers of their reproductive status in the colony.
  Depending on the species, there can be one gamergate per colony (monogyny) or several gamergates (polygyny). Most gamergate species have colonies with a few hundred or fewer workers.
caption: Lateral view of an Ophthalmopone berthoudi worker, the ant for which the term "gamergate" was originally coined[note 1]
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