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Castillo R, Wurdack M, Pauli T, Keller A, Feldhaar H, Polidori C, Niehuis O, Schmitt T. Evidence for a chemical arms race between cuckoo wasps of the genus Hedychrum and their distantly related host apoid wasps. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:138. [PMID: 36443667 PMCID: PMC9703671 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02093-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brood parasites can exert strong selection pressure on their hosts. Many brood parasites escape their detection by mimicking sensory cues of their hosts. However, there is little evidence whether or not the hosts are able to escape the parasites' mimicry by changing these cues. We addressed this question by analyzing cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles of Cerceris and Philanthus wasps and their brood parasites, cuckoo wasps mimicking the CHC profiles of their hosts. Some of these hosts use hydrocarbons to preserve their prey against fungal infestation and thus, they cannot significantly change their CHC composition in response to chemical mimicry by Hedychrum brood parasites. RESULTS We found that the CHC overlap between brood parasites and their hosts was lower in case of host wasps not preserving their prey than in case of prey-preserving host wasps, whose CHC evolution is constrained. Furthermore, the CHC profiles in non-preserving host wasps is more strongly diversified in females than in males, thus in the sex that is chemically mimicked by brood parasites. CONCLUSION Our results provide evidence for a chemical arms race between those hosts that are liberated from stabilizing selection on their chemical template and their parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Castillo
- grid.8379.50000 0001 1958 8658Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Mareike Wurdack
- grid.8379.50000 0001 1958 8658Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany ,grid.5963.9Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Freiburg, Hauptstraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Pauli
- grid.5963.9Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Freiburg, Hauptstraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany ,grid.7708.80000 0000 9428 7911Institute of Medical Bioinformatics and Systems Medicine, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Straße 153, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Alexander Keller
- grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XCellular and Organismic Networks, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Heike Feldhaar
- grid.7384.80000 0004 0467 6972Animal Population Ecology, Department of Animal Ecology I, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Carlo Polidori
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Oliver Niehuis
- grid.5963.9Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Freiburg, Hauptstraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- grid.8379.50000 0001 1958 8658Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocentre, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
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Do digger wasps time their provisioning activity to avoid cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae and Chrysididae)? Acta Ethol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s10211-010-0067-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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