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Sless TJL, Danforth BN, Searle JB. Evolutionary Origins and Patterns of Diversification in Animal Brood Parasitism. Am Nat 2023; 202:107-121. [PMID: 37531277 DOI: 10.1086/724839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
AbstractBrood parasitism involves the exploitation of host parental care rather than the extraction of resources directly from hosts. We identify defining characteristics of this strategy and consider its position along continua with adjacent behaviors but focus on canonical brood parasites, where parasitism is obligate and hosts are noneusocial (thereby distinguishing from social parasitism). A systematic literature survey revealed 59 independently derived brood parasitic lineages with most origins (49) in insects, particularly among bees and wasps, and other origins in birds (seven) and fish (three). Insects account for more than 98% of brood parasitic species, with much of that diversity reflecting ancient (≥100-million-year-old) brood parasitic lineages. Brood parasites usually, but not always, evolve from forms that show parental care. In insects, brood parasitism often first evolves through exploitation of a closely related species, following Emery's rule, but this is less typical in birds, which we discuss. We conducted lineage-level comparisons between brood parasitic clades and their sister groups, finding mixed results but an overall neutral to negative effect of brood parasitism on species richness and diversification. Our review of brood parasites reveals many unanswered questions requiring new research, including further modeling of the coevolutionary dynamics of brood parasites and their hosts.
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2
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Smith ML, Loope KJ, Chuttong B, Dobelmann J, Makinson JC, Saga T, Petersen KH, Napp N. Honey bees and social wasps reach convergent architectural solutions to nest-building problems. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002211. [PMID: 37498968 PMCID: PMC10374112 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The hexagonal cells built by honey bees and social wasps are an example of adaptive architecture; hexagons minimize material use, while maximizing storage space and structural stability. Hexagon building evolved independently in the bees and wasps, but in some species of both groups, the hexagonal cells are size dimorphic-small worker cells and large reproductive cells-which forces the builders to join differently sized hexagons together. This inherent tiling problem creates a unique opportunity to investigate how similar architectural challenges are solved across independent evolutionary origins. We investigated how 5 honey bee and 5 wasp species solved this problem by extracting per-cell metrics from 22,745 cells. Here, we show that all species used the same building techniques: intermediate-sized cells and pairs of non-hexagonal cells, which increase in frequency with increasing size dimorphism. We then derive a simple geometric model that explains and predicts the observed pairing of non-hexagonal cells and their rate of occurrence. Our results show that despite different building materials, comb configurations, and 179 million years of independent evolution, honey bees and social wasps have converged on the same solutions for the same architectural problems, thereby revealing fundamental building properties and evolutionary convergence in construction behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L Smith
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Kevin J Loope
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America
| | - Bajaree Chuttong
- Meliponini and Apini Research Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - Jana Dobelmann
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - James C Makinson
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia
| | - Tatsuya Saga
- Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Kirstin H Petersen
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Nils Napp
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
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3
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Dahan RA, Rabeling C. Multi-queen breeding is associated with the origin of inquiline social parasitism in ants. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14680. [PMID: 36038583 PMCID: PMC9424252 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17595-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Social parasites exploit the brood care behavior of their hosts to raise their own offspring. Social parasites are common among eusocial Hymenoptera and exhibit a wide range of distinct life history traits in ants, bees, and wasps. In ants, obligate inquiline social parasites are workerless (or nearly-so) species that engage in lifelong interactions with their hosts, taking advantage of the existing host worker forces to reproduce and exploit host colonies’ resources. Inquiline social parasites are phylogenetically diverse with approximately 100 known species that evolved at least 40 times independently in ants. Importantly, ant inquilines tend to be closely related to their hosts, an observation referred to as ‘Emery’s Rule’. Polygyny, the presence of multiple egg-laying queens, was repeatedly suggested to be associated with the origin of inquiline social parasitism, either by providing the opportunity for reproductive cheating, thereby facilitating the origin of social parasite species, and/or by making polygynous species more vulnerable to social parasitism via the acceptance of additional egg-laying queens in their colonies. Although the association between host polygyny and the evolution of social parasitism has been repeatedly discussed in the literature, it has not been statistically tested in a phylogenetic framework across the ants. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of ant social structure and social parasitism, testing for an association between polygyny and inquiline social parasitism with a phylogenetic correction for independent evolutionary events. We find an imperfect but significant over-representation of polygynous species among hosts of inquiline social parasites, suggesting that while polygyny is not required for the maintenance of inquiline social parasitism, it (or factors associated with it) may favor the origin of socially parasitic behavior. Our results are consistent with an intra-specific origin model for the evolution of inquiline social parasites by sympatric speciation but cannot exclude the alternative, inter-specific allopatric speciation model. The diversity of social parasite behaviors and host colony structures further supports the notion that inquiline social parasites evolved in parallel across unrelated ant genera in the formicoid clade via independent evolutionary pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romain A Dahan
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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4
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Abstract
Although indirect selection through relatives (kin selection) can explain the evolution of effectively sterile offspring that act as helpers at the nest (eusociality) in the ants, bees, and stinging wasps (aculeate Hymenoptera), the genetic, ecological, and life history conditions that favor transitions to eusociality are poorly understood. In this study, ancestral state reconstruction on recently published phylogenies was used to identify the independent transitions to eusociality in each of the taxonomic families that exhibit eusociality. Semisociality, in which a single nest co-foundress monopolizes reproduction, often precedes eusociality outside the vespid wasps. Such a route to eusociality, which is consistent with groups consisting of a mother and her daughters (subsocial) at some stage and ancestral monogamy, is favored by the haplodiploid genetic sex determination of the Hymenoptera (diploid females and haploid males) and thus may explain why eusociality is common in the Hymenoptera. Ancestral states were also reconstructed for life history characters that have been implicated in the origins of eusociality. A loss of larval diapause during unfavorable seasons or conditions precedes, or coincides with, all but one transition to eusociality. This pattern is confirmed using phylogenetic tests of associations between state transition rates for sweat bees and apid bees. A loss of larval diapause may simply reflect the subsocial route to eusociality since subsociality is defined as females interacting with their adult daughters. A loss of larval diapause and a gain of subsociality may be associated with an extended breeding season that permits the production of at least two broods, which is necessary for helpers to evolve. Adult diapause may also lower the selective barrier to a first-brood daughter becoming a helper. Obligate eusociality meets the definition of a major evolutionary transition, and such transitions have occurred five times in the Hymenoptera.
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Sless TJL, Branstetter MG, Gillung JP, Krichilsky EA, Tobin KB, Straka J, Rozen JG, Freitas FV, Martins AC, Bossert S, Searle JB, Danforth BN. Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of host preferences in the largest clade of brood parasitic bees (Apidae: Nomadinae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 166:107326. [PMID: 34666170 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Brood parasites (also known as cleptoparasites) represent a substantial fraction of global bee diversity. Rather than constructing their own nests, these species instead invade those of host bees to lay their eggs. Larvae then hatch and consume the food provisions intended for the host's offspring. While this life history strategy has evolved numerous times across the phylogeny of bees, the oldest and most speciose parasitic clade is the subfamily Nomadinae (Apidae). However, the phylogenetic relationships among brood parasitic apids both within and outside the Nomadinae have not been fully resolved. Here, we present new findings on the phylogeny of this diverse group of brood parasites based on ultraconserved element (UCE) sequence data and extensive taxon sampling with 114 nomadine species representing all tribes. We suggest a broader definition of the subfamily Nomadinae to describe a clade that includes almost all parasitic members of the family Apidae. The tribe Melectini forms the sister group to all other Nomadinae, while the remainder of the subfamily is composed of two sister clades: a "nomadine line" representing the former Nomadinae sensu stricto, and an "ericrocidine line" that unites several mostly Neotropical lineages. We find the tribe Osirini Handlirsch to be polyphyletic, and divide it into three lineages, including the newly described Parepeolini trib. nov. In addition to our taxonomic findings, we use our phylogeny to explore the evolution of different modes of parasitism, detecting two independent transitions from closed-cell to open-cell parasitism. Finally, we examine how nomadine host-parasite associations have evolved over time. In support of Emery's rule, which suggests close relationships between hosts and parasites, we confirm that the earliest nomadines were parasites of their close free-living relatives within the family Apidae, but that over time their host range broadened to include more distantly related hosts spanning the diversity of bees. This expanded breadth of host taxa may also be associated with the transition to open-cell parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor J L Sless
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
| | - Michael G Branstetter
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Pollinating Insects Research Unit, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
| | - Jessica P Gillung
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC H9X 3V9, Canada
| | - Erin A Krichilsky
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Pollinating Insects Research Unit, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA; Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Kerrigan B Tobin
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Pollinating Insects Research Unit, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
| | - Jakub Straka
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, CZ-12844 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jerome G Rozen
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Felipe V Freitas
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP 14040-900, Brazil
| | - Aline C Martins
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, DF 70910-000, Brazil
| | - Silas Bossert
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-6382, USA
| | - Jeremy B Searle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Bryan N Danforth
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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6
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Pollock HS, Hoover JP, Uy FMK, Hauber ME. Brood Parasites Are a Heterogeneous and Functionally Distinct Class of Natural Enemies. Trends Parasitol 2021; 37:588-596. [PMID: 33685784 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Brood parasitism is the introduction of unrelated progeny into the nest or colony of a host that then raises the foreign young. This reproductive strategy has evolved independently and repeatedly among diverse animal taxa, and brood parasite-host interactions have become models for understanding coevolutionary arms races. Yet brood parasites have remained largely overlooked in previous syntheses of natural enemy ecology. Here, we argue that brood parasites are a heterogeneous and versatile class of natural enemies, blending traits characteristic of predators and trophic parasites. The functional distinctness of brood parasites reinforces the idea that natural enemies exist along a continuum rather than as a dichotomy. Brood parasite-host interactions can serve as valuable case studies to unify parasite-host and predator-prey theories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henry S Pollock
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
| | - Jeffrey P Hoover
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 E. Peabody Dr., MC-650, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| | - Floria M K Uy
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, 402 Hutchison Hall, P.O. Box 270211, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 E. Peabody Dr., MC-650, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
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7
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Suhonen J, Ilvonen JJ, Nyman T, Sorvari J. Brood parasitism in eusocial insects (Hymenoptera): role of host geographical range size and phylogeny. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 374:20180203. [PMID: 30967081 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Interspecific brood parasitism is common in many animal systems. Brood parasites enter the nests of other species and divert host resources for producing their own offspring, which can lead to strong antagonistic parasite-host coevolution. Here, we look at commonalities among social insect species that are victims of brood parasites, and use phylogenetic data and information on geographical range size to predict which species are most probably to fall victims to brood parasites in the future. In our analyses, we focus on three eusocial hymenopteran groups and their brood parasites: (i) bumblebees, (ii) Myrmica ants, and (iii) vespine and polistine wasps. In these groups, some, but not all, species are parasitized by obligate workerless inquilines that only produce reproductive-caste descendants. We find phylogenetic signals for geographical range size and the presence of parasites in bumblebees, but not in ants and wasps. Phylogenetic logistic regressions indicate that the probability of being attacked by one or more brood parasite species increases with the size of the geographical range in bumblebees, but the effect is statistically only marginally significant in ants. However, non-phylogenetic logistic regressions suggest that bumblebee species with the largest geographical range sizes may have a lower likelihood of harbouring social parasites than do hosts with medium-sized ranges. Our results provide new insights into the ecology and evolution of host-social parasite systems, and indicate that host phylogeny and geographical range size can be used to predict threats posed by social parasites, as well to design efficient conservation measures for both hosts and their parasites. This article is part of the theme issue 'The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jukka Suhonen
- 1 Department of Biology, University of Turku , 20014 Turku , Finland
| | - Jaakko J Ilvonen
- 1 Department of Biology, University of Turku , 20014 Turku , Finland
| | - Tommi Nyman
- 2 Department of Ecosystems in the Barents Region, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research , Svanhovd Research Station, 9925 Svanvik , Norway.,3 Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland , PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu , Finland
| | - Jouni Sorvari
- 4 Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland , PO Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio , Finland
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8
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Pulliainen U, Helanterä H, Sundström L, Schultner E. The possible role of ant larvae in the defence against social parasites. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20182867. [PMID: 30836870 PMCID: PMC6458323 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/07/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporary social parasite ant queens initiate new colonies by entering colonies of host species, where they begin laying eggs. As the resident queen can be killed during this process, host colonies may lose their entire future reproductive output. Selection thus favours the evolution of defence mechanisms, before and after parasite intrusion. Most studies on social parasites focus on host worker discrimination of parasite queens and their offspring. However, ant larvae can also influence brood composition by consuming eggs. This raises the question whether host larvae can aid in preventing colony takeover by consuming eggs laid by parasite queens. To test whether larvae could play a role in anti-parasite defence, we compared the rates at which larvae of a common host species, Formica fusca, consumed eggs laid by social parasite, non-parasite, nest-mate, or conspecific non-nest-mate queens. Larvae consumed social parasite eggs more than eggs laid by a heterospecific non-parasite queen, irrespective of the chemical distance between the egg cuticular profiles. Also, larvae consumed eggs laid by conspecific non-nest-mate queens more than those laid by nest-mate queens. Our study suggests that larvae may act as players in colony defence against social parasitism, and that social parasitism is a key factor shaping discrimination behaviour in ants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unni Pulliainen
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Heikki Helanterä
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Liselotte Sundström
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Eva Schultner
- Institut für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Biologie I, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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9
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Lhomme P, Hines HM. Reproductive Dominance Strategies in Insect Social Parasites. J Chem Ecol 2018; 44:838-850. [PMID: 29785629 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-0971-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Revised: 05/08/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
In eusocial insects, the high cost of altruistic cooperation between colony members has favoured the evolution of cheaters that exploit social services of other species. In the most extreme forms of insect social parasitism, which has evolved multiple times across most social lineages, obligately parasitic species invade the nests of social species and manipulate the workforce of their hosts to rear their own reproductive offspring. As alien species that have lost their own sociality, these social parasites still face social challenges to infiltrate and control their hosts, thus providing independent replicates for understanding the mechanisms essential to social dominance. This review compares socially parasitic insect lineages to find general trends and build a hypothetical framework for the means by which social parasites achieve reproductive dominance. It highlights how host social organization and social parasite life history traits may impact the way they achieve reproductive supremacy, including the potential role of chemical cues. The review discusses the coevolutionary dynamics between host and parasite during this process. Altogether, this review emphasizes the value of social parasites for understanding social evolution and the need for future research in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Lhomme
- Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
| | - Heather M Hines
- Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
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10
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Sanllorente O, Lorite P, Ruano F, Palomeque T, Tinaut A. Phylogenetic relationships between the slave-making ants Rossomyrmex
and their Proformica
hosts in relation to other genera of the ant tribe Formicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). J ZOOL SYST EVOL RES 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Sanllorente
- Department of Biología Experimental; Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales; Universidad de Jaén; Jaén Spain
| | - Pedro Lorite
- Department of Biología Experimental; Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales; Universidad de Jaén; Jaén Spain
| | - Francisca Ruano
- Department of Zoología; Facultad de Ciencias; Universidad de Granada; Granada Spain
| | - Teresa Palomeque
- Department of Biología Experimental; Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales; Universidad de Jaén; Jaén Spain
| | - Alberto Tinaut
- Department of Zoología; Facultad de Ciencias; Universidad de Granada; Granada Spain
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11
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Tan JL, Zhou T, Tan QQ, van Achterberg C, Carpenter JM. Nest structure and all stages of the long-cheeked yellow jacket Dolichovespula stigma Lee (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), with a new synonym. J NAT HIST 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1293748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiang-Li Tan
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation /Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Tong Zhou
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation /Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Qing-Qing Tan
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation /Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Cornelis van Achterberg
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation /Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - James M. Carpenter
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
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12
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Loope KJ, Lopez-Osorio F, Dvořák L. Convergent Reversion to Single Mating in a Wasp Social Parasite. Am Nat 2017; 189:E138-E151. [PMID: 28514634 DOI: 10.1086/691405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
While eusociality arose in species with single-mating females, multiple mating by queens has evolved repeatedly across the social ants, bees, and wasps. Understanding the benefits and costs of multiple mating of queens is important because polyandry results in reduced relatedness between siblings, reducing kin-selected benefits of helping while also selecting for secondary social traits that reduce intracolony conflict. The leading hypothesis for the benefits of polyandry in social insects emphasizes advantages of a genetically diverse workforce. Workerless social parasite species (inquilines) provide a unique opportunity to test this hypothesis, since they are derived from social ancestors but do not produce workers of their own. Such parasites are thus predicted to evolve single mating because they would experience the costs of multiple mating but not the benefits if such benefits accrue through the production of a genetically diverse group of workers. Here we show that the workerless social parasite Dolichovespula arctica, a derived parasite of wasps, has reverted to obligate single mating from a facultatively polyandrous ancestor, mirroring a similar reversion from obligate polyandry to approximate monandry in a social parasite of fungus-farming ants. This finding and a comparison with two other cases where inquilinism did not induce reversal to monandry support the hypothesis that facultative polyandry can be costly and may be maintained by benefits of a genetically diverse workforce.
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13
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Lopez-Osorio F, Pickett KM, Carpenter JM, Ballif BA, Agnarsson I. Phylogenomic analysis of yellowjackets and hornets (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Vespinae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 107:10-15. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2016] [Revised: 09/24/2016] [Accepted: 10/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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14
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Manna TJ, Hauber ME. Recognition, speciation, and conservation: recent progress in brood parasitism research among social insects. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2016.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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