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Pierce NE, Dankowicz E. Behavioral, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying caterpillar-ant symbioses. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 52:100898. [PMID: 35257969 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
At least 30 different groups in seventeen butterfly and moth families (Lepidoptera) include ant-associated caterpillars. The life histories of more than 900 ant-associated species have been documented from the butterfly families Lycaenidae and Riodinidae, with relationships ranging from parasitism to mutualism. Caterpillars that appear to secrete food rewards for ants are not necessarily mutualists, and a number of species are known to manipulate ants with deceptive chemical and vibratory signals. The functional variability of different exocrine glands deployed as 'ant organs' makes them prone to convergence, and it remains unclear whether ant association originated more than once in lycaenids and riodinids. The relative costs and benefits of caterpillar integration with ants is context dependent: both top-down and bottom-up effects influence the evolution of ant associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Even Dankowicz
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Pérez-Lachaud G, Rocha FH, Pozo C, Kaminski LA, Seraphim N, Lachaud JP. A new ant-butterfly symbiosis in the forest canopy fills an evolutionary gap. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20770. [PMID: 34675260 PMCID: PMC8531015 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00274-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Myrmecophilous butterflies can establish complex symbiotic relationships with ants. A caterpillar wandering among the brood of the aggressive ponerine ant Neoponera villosa was found inside the core of a nest built in the myrmecophytic bromeliad Aechmea bracteata. This is the first caterpillar found living inside a ponerine ant nest. Its DNA barcode was sequenced, and an integrative approach was used to identify it as Pseudonymphidia agave, a poorly known member of the subtribe Pachythonina in the riodinid tribe Nymphidiini. The cuticle of the tank-like caterpillar lacks projections or tubercles and is covered dorsally by specialized flat setae that form an armor of small plates. Ant-organs potentially related to caterpillar-ant signaling, such as perforated cupola organs and tentacle nectary organs, are present. These morphological traits, together with evidence of social integration (direct contact with host brood, protective morphology, slow movement, no host aggressiveness), suggest that P. agave is a symbiotic, social parasite of N. villosa, preying on its host brood. However, several knowledge gaps remain, including oviposition site, dependence on bromeliad association, steps to colony integration, and larval diet through development. Carnivory has been reported in all known members of the subtribe Pachythonina (caterpillars prey on honeydew-producing hemipterans) suggesting a shift to myrmecophagy inside the ant nests as a possible evolutionary transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela Pérez-Lachaud
- Departamento de Conservación de La Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario Km 5.5, 77014, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
| | - Franklin H Rocha
- Departamento de Conservación de La Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario Km 5.5, 77014, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
- Departamento de Apicultura, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Carmen Pozo
- Departamento de Conservación de La Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario Km 5.5, 77014, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
| | - Lucas A Kaminski
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Noemy Seraphim
- Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jean-Paul Lachaud
- Departamento de Conservación de La Biodiversidad, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Avenida Centenario Km 5.5, 77014, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale (CRCA), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France.
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Servigne P, Orivel J, Azémar F, Carpenter J, Dejean A, Corbara B. An uneasy alliance: a nesting association between aggressive ants and equally fierce social wasps. INSECT SCIENCE 2020; 27:122-132. [PMID: 29659142 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Revised: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Although the Neotropical territorially dominant arboreal ant Azteca chartifex Forel is very aggressive towards any intruder, its populous colonies tolerate the close presence of the fierce polistine wasp Polybia rejecta (F.). In French Guiana, 83.33% of the 48 P. rejecta nests recorded were found side by side with those of A. chartifex. This nesting association results in mutual protection from predators (i.e., the wasps protected from army ants; the ants protected from birds). We conducted field studies, laboratory-based behavioral experiments and chemical analyses to elucidate the mechanisms allowing the persistence of this association. Due to differences in the cuticular profiles of the two species, we eliminated the possibility of chemical mimicry. Also, analyses of the carton nests did not reveal traces of marking on the envelopes. Because ant forager flows were not perturbed by extracts from the wasps' Dufour's and venom glands, we rejected any hypothetical action of repulsive chemicals. Nevertheless, we noted that the wasps "scraped" the surface of the upper part of their nest envelope using their mandibles, likely removing the ants' scent trails, and an experiment showed that ant foragers were perturbed by the removal of their scent trails. This leads us to use the term "erasure hypothesis." Thus, this nesting association persists thanks to a relative tolerance by the ants towards wasp presence and the behavior of the wasps that allows them to "contain" their associated ants through the elimination of their scent trails, direct attacks, "wing-buzzing" behavior and ejecting the ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Servigne
- Ecologie Sociale, CP 231 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus Plaine, Boulevard du Triomphe, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Jérôme Orivel
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, Kourou, France
| | - Frédéric Azémar
- EcoLab, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - James Carpenter
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
| | - Alain Dejean
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, Kourou, France
- EcoLab, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Bruno Corbara
- CNRS, LMGE, Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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Corbara B, Servigne P, Dejean A, Carpenter JM, Orivel J. A mimetic nesting association between a timid social wasp and an aggressive arboreal ant. C R Biol 2018; 341:182-188. [PMID: 29478843 DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2018.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2017] [Revised: 01/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
In French Guiana, the arboreal nests of the swarm-founding social wasp Protopolybia emortualis (Polistinae) are generally found near those of the arboreal dolichoderine ant Dolichoderus bidens. These wasp nests are typically protected by an envelope, which in turn is covered by an additional carton 'shelter' with structure resembling the D. bidens nests. A few wasps constantly guard their nest to keep D. bidens workers from approaching. When alarmed by a strong disturbance, the ants invade the host tree foliage whereas the wasps retreat into their nest. Notably, there is no chemical convergence in the cuticular profiles of the wasps and ants sharing a tree. The aggressiveness of D. bidens likely protects the wasps from army ant raids, but the ants do not benefit from the presence of the wasps; therefore, this relationship corresponds to a kind of commensalism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Corbara
- Université Clermont-Auvergne, CNRS, LMGE, 34, avenue Carnot, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France.
| | | | - Alain Dejean
- Ecolab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, 31062 Toulouse, France; CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, 97310 Kourou, France.
| | - James M Carpenter
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA.
| | - Jérôme Orivel
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, AgroParisTech, Cirad, INRA, Université des Antilles, Université de Guyane, 97310 Kourou, France.
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