Soldiers and Altruistic Dispersal in Aphids

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Abstract
As R. Dawkins pointed out, it is clear that altruistic behaviour can readily evolve in a clonal colony of the aphid species adopting cyclic parthenogenesis. The occurrence of soldiers in an aphid colony may not be so surprising provided that the colony is a clone. Three types of soldiers have hitherto been found: pseudoscorpion-like 1st instar soldiers of Colophina spp; pseudoscorpion-like 1st instar soldiers of Pseudoregma spp. and Ceratovacuna japonica; and second instar soldiers of Astegoptervx styracicola. Aphid soldiers have the following characteristics: they attack predatory intruders, often in a self-sacrificing manner; they are 1st or 2nd instar and do not moult any more, so that they, of course, do not reproduce at all; and they differ morphologically from the conspecific "normal" larvae of the same instar. R. W. Setzer ascribes amonggall dispersal behaviour to the unpredictable environment, but his explanation is unlikely to be true if the intergall migration is risky.

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