Intrapopulation nestclusters of maternal mtDNA lineages in the polygynous ant Leptothorax acervorum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a population of Leptothorax acervorum demonstrates substantial population substructuring. Digestion with four restriction endonucleases, HaeIII, MboI, MspI and RsaI, gave six, four, three and two different patterns, respectively. Seven composite haplotypes were obtained from the observed cleavage patterns. Uniform aggregations of nests from the same maternal lineage (i.e. with the same haplotype) were found which suggests that nest-founding by a process of budding-off is common. Groups of nests seem to actively exclude other haplotypes from establishing nests within their territory. F-statistics suggests that individuals mate at random within the population.