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Contents : Nonadaptive Photoperiodic Responses in Ants of the Genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in Boreal and Subarctic Regions V. E. Kipyatkov and E. B. Lopatina St. Petersburg State University St. Petersburg 199034 Russia Received July 7 2000 Abstract Experimental cultures of Myrmica rubra M. ruginodis and M. scabrinodis from Boreal and Subarctic regions were subjected to three photoperiodic regimens corresponding to June August and October day-lengths. The effect on these regimens on the length of oviposition period and the time of diapause in queens of all three species was studied. A new hypothesis of vestigial photoperiodic responses in Myrmica populations inhabiting extreme Boreal and Subarctic regions is formulated. It is supposed that these northern populations originated from southern ancestors which possessed the photoperiodic control of seasonal cycle. In northern areas where days are very long during most of summer being therefore unsuitable for the life cycle control the photoperiodic responses have lost their former role and were replaced by temperature cues combined with endogenous timers. However the photoperiodic sensitivity is preserved in Subarctic Myrmica populations in the form of vestigial responses which can be observed in experiment but play only a minor role in nature.

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