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Hoffmann M, Gardein H, Greil H, Erler S. Anatomical, phenological and genetic aspects of the host-parasite relationship between Andrena vaga (Hymenoptera) and Stylops ater (Strepsiptera). Parasitology 2023; 150:744-753. [PMID: 37157059 PMCID: PMC10410535 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182023000483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Stylops ater is an endoparasite of the mining bee Andrena vaga with extreme sexual dimorphism and hypermetamorphosis. Its population structure, parasitization mode, genetic diversity and impact on host morphology were examined in nesting sites in Germany to better understand this highly specialized host–parasite interaction. The shift in host emergence due to stylopization was proven to be especially strong in A. vaga. Around 10% of bees hosted more than 1 Stylops, with at maximum 4. A trend in Stylops' preference for hosts of their own sex and a sex-specific position of extrusion from the host abdomen was found. Invasion of Andrena eggs by Stylops primary larvae was depicted for the first time. Cephalothoraces of female Stylops were smaller in male and pluristylopized hosts, likely due to lower nutrient supply. The genes H3, 18S and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 were highly conserved, revealing near-absence of local variation within Stylops. Ovaries of hosts with male Stylops contained poorly developed eggs while those of hosts with female Stylops were devoid of visible eggs, which might be due to a higher protein demand of female Stylops. Male Stylops, which might have a more energy-consuming development, led to a reduction in head width of their hosts. Host masculinization was present in the leaner shape of the metabasitarsus of stylopized females and is interpreted as a by-product of manipulation of the host's endocrine system to shift its emergence. Stylopization intensified tergal hairiness, most strongly in hosts with female Stylops, near the point of parasite extrusion, hinting towards substance-induced host manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Hoffmann
- Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- Institute for Bee Protection, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Hanna Gardein
- Institute for Bee Protection, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Henri Greil
- Institute for Bee Protection, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Silvio Erler
- Institute for Bee Protection, Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Braunschweig, Germany
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
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Nakase Y, Fukumasu Y, Toji T, Ishimoto N, Itino T. Parasitism by multiple strepsipterans accelerates timing of adult parasite emergence. Ecology 2022; 103:e3811. [PMID: 35801408 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Nakase
- Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, 3-1-1 Asahi, Nagano, Japan
| | - Yuichiro Fukumasu
- Graduate School of Education, Joetsu University of Education, Matsumoto, 1 Yamayashiki, Joetsu, Niigata, Japan
| | - Tsubasa Toji
- Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Natsumi Ishimoto
- Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, 3-1-1 Asahi, Nagano, Japan
| | - Takao Itino
- Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, 3-1-1 Asahi, Nagano, Japan.,Department of Biology and Institute of Mountain Science, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, 3-1-1 Asahi, Nagano, Japan
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Kudô K, Hasegawa M, Mateus S, Zucchi R, Nascimento F. Levels of parasitism of Xenos myrapetrus (Stresiptera, Stylopidae) and its seasonal changes in the swarm-founding wasp, Polybia paulista (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). NEOTROPICAL BIODIVERSITY 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/23766808.2018.1494480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kazuyuki Kudô
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Education, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
| | - Makoto Hasegawa
- Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Faculty of Education, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
| | - Sidnei Mateus
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Ronaldo Zucchi
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Fabio Nascimento
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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Beani L, Cappa F, Manfredini F, Zaccaroni M. Preference of Polistes dominula wasps for trumpet creepers when infected by Xenos vesparum: A novel example of co-evolved traits between host and parasite. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205201. [PMID: 30356249 PMCID: PMC6200222 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2018] [Accepted: 09/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The parasitic insect Xenos vesparum induces noticeable behavioral and physiological changes—e.g. castration—in its female host, the paper wasp Polistes dominula: parasitized putative workers avoid any colony task and desert the colony to survive in the nearby vegetation, like future queens and males do. In this long-term observational study, we describe the spectacular attraction of parasitized workers towards trumpet creeper bushes (Campsis radicans) in early-summer. Two thirds of all wasps that we sampled on these bushes were parasitized, whereas the parasite prevalence was much lower in our study area and most wasps sampled on other nearby flowering bushes were non-parasitized. First, we describe the occurrence and consistency of this phenomenon across different sites and years. Second, we evaluate the spatial behavior of parasitized wasps on C. radicans bushes, which includes site-fidelity, exploitation and defense of rich extra-floral nectaries on buds and calices. Third, we record two critical steps of the lifecycle of X. vesparum on C. radicans: the parasite’s mating and a summer release of parasitic larvae, that can infect larval stages of the host if transported to the host’s nest. In a nutshell, C. radicans bushes provide many benefits both to the parasite X. vesparum and to its host: they facilitate the parasite’s mating and bivoltine lifecycle, a phenomenon never described before for this parasite, while, at the same time, they provide the wasp host with shelter inside trumpet flowers and extrafloral gland secretions, thus likely enhancing host survival and making it a suitable vector for the infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Beani
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italia
| | - Federico Cappa
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italia
| | - Fabio Manfredini
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Zaccaroni
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italia
- * E-mail:
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Beani L, Dallai R, Mercati D, Cappa F, Giusti F, Manfredini F. When a parasite breaks all the rules of a colony: morphology and fate of wasps infected by a strepsipteran endoparasite. Anim Behav 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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Nakase Y, Kato M. Life history and host utilization pattern of a strepsipteran parasite (Insecta: Strepsiptera) on the Blissine bugs (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) living under dwarf bamboo leaf sheaths. J NAT HIST 2011. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2011.552799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Manfredini F, Beani L, Taormina M, Vannini L. Parasitic infection protects wasp larvae against a bacterial challenge. Microbes Infect 2010; 12:727-35. [PMID: 20546915 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2010.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2010] [Revised: 05/02/2010] [Accepted: 05/05/2010] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Host antibacterial defense after Strepsiptera parasitization is a complex and rather unexplored topic. The way how these parasites interact with bacteria invading into the host insect during an infection is completely unknown. In the present study we demonstrate that larvae of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus are more efficient at eliminating bacteria when they are parasitized by the strepsipteran insect Xenos vesparum. We looked at the expression levels of the antimicrobial peptide defensin and we screened for the activity of other hemolymph components by using a zone of inhibition assay. Transcription of defensin is triggered by parasitization, but also by mechanical injury (aseptic injection). Inhibitory activity in vitro against the Gram positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is not influenced by the presence of the parasite in the wasp or by a previous immune challenge, suggesting a constitutive power of killing this bacterium by wasp hemolymph. Our results suggest either direct involvement of the parasite or that defensin and further immune components not investigated in this paper, for example other antimicrobial peptides, could play a role in fighting off bacterial infections in Polistes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Manfredini
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy.
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Abstract
Strepsiptera are obligate endoparasitoids that exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism and parasitize seven orders and 33 families of Insecta. The adult males and the first instar larvae in the Mengenillidia and Stylopidia are free-living, whereas the adult females in Mengenillidia are free-living but in the suborder Stylopidia they remain endoparasitic in the host. Parasitism occurs at the host larval/nymphal stage and continues in a mobile host until that host's adult stage. The life of the host is lengthened to allow the male strepsipteran to complete maturation and the viviparous female to release the first instar larvae when the next generation of the host's larvae/nymphs has been produced. The ability of strepsipterans to parasitize a wide range of hosts, in spite of being endoparasitoids, is perhaps due to their unique immune avoidance system. Aspects of virulence, heterotrophic heteronomy in the family Myrmecolacidae, cryptic species, genomics, immune response, and behavior of stylopized hosts are discussed in this chapter.
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