Nestmate discrimination in the queenless ponerine ant Diacamma sp. from Japan

We examined the nestmate discrimination ability of Diacamma sp., an ant that reproduces by colony budding. We also tested for a relationship between internest distance and hostility. Hostility toward non-nestmates was significantly stronger than that toward nestmates, suggesting that Diacamma sp. discriminates between nestmates and non-nestmates. There was no significant correlation between internest hostility and internest distance, which indicates the absence of a “dear enemy” phenomenon in this species.