1
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Revely L, Eggleton P, Clement R, Zhou C, Bishop TR. The diversity of social complexity in termites. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232791. [PMID: 38835273 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2791] [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] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Sociality underpins major evolutionary transitions and significantly influences the structure and function of complex ecosystems. Social insects, seen as the pinnacle of sociality, have traits like obligate sterility that are considered 'master traits', used as single phenotypic measures of this complexity. However, evidence is mounting that completely aligning both phenotypic and evolutionary social complexity, and having obligate sterility central to both, is erroneous. We hypothesize that obligate and functional sterility are insufficient in explaining the diversity of phenotypic social complexity in social insects. To test this, we explore the relative importance of these sterility traits in an understudied but diverse taxon: the termites. We compile the largest termite social complexity dataset to date, using specimen and literature data. We find that although functional and obligate sterility explain a significant proportion of variance, neither trait is an adequate singular proxy for the phenotypic social complexity of termites. Further, we show both traits have only a weak association with the other social complexity traits within termites. These findings have ramifications for our general comprehension of the frameworks of phenotypic and evolutionary social complexity, and their relationship with sterility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis Revely
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Rebecca Clement
- Computational Biology Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Chuanyu Zhou
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Tom R Bishop
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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2
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Braga Goncalves I, Morris-Drake A, Kennedy P, Radford AN. Fitness consequences of outgroup conflict. eLife 2022; 11:e74550. [PMID: 35833830 PMCID: PMC9282852 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In social species across the animal kingdom, conspecific outsiders threaten the valuable resources of groups and their members. This outgroup conflict is recognised as a powerful selection pressure, but we argue that studies explicitly quantifying the fitness consequences need to be broader in scope: more attention should be paid to delayed, cumulative, and third-party fitness consequences, not just those arising immediately to group members involved in physical contests. In the first part of this review, we begin by documenting how single contests can have survival and reproductive consequences either immediately or with a delay. Then, we step beyond contests to describe fitness consequences that can also result from interactions with cues of rival presence and the general landscape of outgroup threat, and beyond single interactions to describe cumulative effects of territorial pressure and elevated outgroup-induced stress. Using examples from a range of taxa, we discuss which individuals are affected negatively and positively, considering both interaction participants and third-party group members of the same or the next generation. In the second part of the review, we provide suggestions about how to move forward. We highlight the importance of considering how different types of outgroup conflict can generate different selection pressures and of investigating variation in fitness consequences within and between species. We finish by discussing the value of theoretical modelling and long-term studies of natural populations, experimental manipulations, and meta-analyses to develop further our understanding of this crucial aspect of sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amy Morris-Drake
- School of Biological Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
| | - Patrick Kennedy
- School of Biological Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
| | - Andrew N Radford
- School of Biological Sciences, University of BristolBristolUnited Kingdom
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3
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Rodrigues AMM, Barker JL, Robinson EJH. From inter-group conflict to inter-group cooperation: insights from social insects. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210466. [PMID: 35369743 PMCID: PMC8977659 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The conflict between social groups is widespread, often imposing significant costs across multiple groups. The social insects make an ideal system for investigating inter-group relationships, because their interaction types span the full harming-helping continuum, from aggressive conflict, to mutual tolerance, to cooperation between spatially separate groups. Here we review inter-group conflict in the social insects and the various means by which they reduce the costs of conflict, including individual or colony-level avoidance, ritualistic behaviours and even group fusion. At the opposite extreme of the harming-helping continuum, social insect groups may peacefully exchange resources and thus cooperate between groups in a manner rare outside human societies. We discuss the role of population viscosity in favouring inter-group cooperation. We present a model encompassing intra- and inter-group interactions, and local and long-distance dispersal. We show that in this multi-level population structure, the increased likelihood of cooperative partners being kin is balanced by increased kin competition, such that neither cooperation (helping) nor conflict (harming) is favoured. This model provides a baseline context in which other intra- and inter-group processes act, tipping the balance toward or away from conflict. We discuss future directions for research into the ecological factors shaping the evolution of inter-group interactions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica L. Barker
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK 99503, USA
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4
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Ostwald MM, Haney BR, Fewell JH. Ecological Drivers of Non-kin Cooperation in the Hymenoptera. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.768392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the prominence of kin selection as a framework for understanding the evolution of sociality, many animal groups are comprised of unrelated individuals. These non-kin systems provide valuable models that can illuminate drivers of social evolution beyond indirect fitness benefits. Within the Hymenoptera, whose highly related eusocial groups have long been cornerstones of kin selection theory, groups may form even when indirect fitness benefits for helpers are low or absent. These non-kin groups are widespread and abundant, yet have received relatively little attention. We review the diversity and organization of non-kin sociality across the Hymenoptera, particularly among the communal bees and polygynous ants and wasps. Further, we discuss common drivers of sociality across these groups, with a particular focus on ecological factors. Ecological contexts that favor non-kin sociality include those dominated by resource scarcity or competition, climatic stressors, predation and parasitism, and/or physiological constraints associated with reproduction and resource exploitation. Finally, we situate Hymenopteran non-kin sociality within a broader biological context by extending insights from these systems across diverse taxa, especially the social vertebrates. Non-kin social groups thus provide unique demonstrations of the importance of ecological factors in mediating the evolutionary transition from solitary to group living.
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5
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Gordon JM, Šobotník J, Chouvenc T. Colony-age-dependent variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in subterranean termite colonies. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:10095-10104. [PMID: 33005366 PMCID: PMC7520186 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 07/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) have, in insects, important physiological and ecological functions, such as protection against desiccation and as semiochemicals in social taxa, including termites. CHCs are, in termites, known to vary qualitatively and/or quantitatively among species, populations, castes, or seasons. Changes to hydrocarbon profile composition have been linked to varying degrees of aggression between termite colonies, although the variability of results among studies suggests that additional factors might have been involved. One source of such variability may be colony age, as termite colony demographics significantly change over time, with different caste and instar compositions throughout the life of the colony. We here hypothesize that the intracolonial chemical profile heterogeneity would be high in incipient termite colonies but would homogenize over time as a colony ages and accumulates older workers in improved homeostatic conditions. We studied caste-specific patterns of CHC profiles in Coptotermes gestroi colonies of four different age classes (6, 18, 30, and 42 months). The CHC profiles were variable among castes in the youngest colonies, but progressively converged toward a colony-wide homogenized chemical profile. Young colonies had a less-defined CHC identity, which implies a potentially high acceptance threshold for non-nestmates conspecifics in young colonies. Our results also suggest that there was no selective pressure for an early-defined colony CHC profile to evolve in termites, potentially allowing an incipient colony to merge nonagonistically with another conspecific incipient colony, with both colonies indirectly and passively avoiding mutual destruction as a result.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johnalyn M. Gordon
- Entomology and Nematology DepartmentFt. Lauderdale Research and Education CenterInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesUniversity of FloridaDavieFLUSA
| | - Jan Šobotník
- Faculty of Tropical AgriSciencesCULSPragueCzech Republic
| | - Thomas Chouvenc
- Entomology and Nematology DepartmentFt. Lauderdale Research and Education CenterInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesUniversity of FloridaDavieFLUSA
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6
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Thompson FJ, Hunt KL, Wright K, Rosengaus RB, Cole EL, Birch G, Maune AL, Cant MA. Who goes there? Social surveillance as a response to intergroup conflict in a primitive termite. Biol Lett 2020. [PMCID: PMC7423038 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Intergroup conflict has been suggested as a major force shaping the evolution of social behaviour in animal groups. A long-standing hypothesis is that groups at risk of attack by rivals should become more socially cohesive, to increase resilience or protect against future attack. However, it is usually unclear how cohesive behaviours (such as grooming or social contacts) function in intergroup conflict. We performed an experiment in which we exposed young colonies of the dampwood termite,
Zootermopsis angusticollis
, to a rival colony while preventing physical combat with a permeable barrier. We measured social contacts, allogrooming and trophallaxis before, during and after exposure. Termites showed elevated rates of social contacts during exposure to a rival compared to the pre-exposure phase, but rates returned to pre-exposure levels after colonies were separated for 9 days. There was evidence of a delayed effect of conflict on worker trophallaxis. We suggest that social contacts during intergroup conflict function as a form of social surveillance, to check individual identity and assess colony resource holding potential. Intergroup conflict may increase social cohesion in both the short and the long term, improving the effectiveness of groups in competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faye J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Kingsley L. Hunt
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Kallum Wright
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Rebeca B. Rosengaus
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Erin L. Cole
- Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Graham Birch
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Avery L. Maune
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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7
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Pull CD, McMahon DP. Superorganism Immunity: A Major Transition in Immune System Evolution. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
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8
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Lee SB, Mullins A, Aguilera-Olivares D, Chouvenc T, Su NY. Fused Colonies of the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) for Laboratory Experiments. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 2019; 112:2311-2315. [PMID: 31165146 DOI: 10.1093/jee/toz154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Laboratory studies of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae) often employ the use of field-collected foraging populations of individuals as defined colonies. The biological relevance of this practice is often called into question, because these colonies lack a full composition of reproductive castes and brood, which may have physiological and behavioral consequences. Rearing intact laboratory colonies can be done; however, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The artificial fusion of field-collected foraging populations with a young, laboratory-reared incipient colony may provide whole, intact colonies for laboratory research. The current study measures survivorship of fused colonies using laboratory-reared complete incipient colonies ranging in age from 0 to 5 mo, fused with 100 workers and 10 soldiers from field-collected populations of different colonial origin. Results indicate that 60% of colony fusion was successful when the incipient colony introduced is 5 mo of age. This method of colony fusion will provide researchers with intact colonies using minimal resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Bin Lee
- Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
| | - Aaron Mullins
- Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
| | - Daniel Aguilera-Olivares
- Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
| | - Thomas Chouvenc
- Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
| | - Nan-Yao Su
- Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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9
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Ferreira DV, Cristaldo PF, Rocha MLC, Santana DL, Santos L, Lima PSS, Araújo APA. Attraction and vibration: Effects of previous exposure and type of food resource in the perception of allocolonial odors in termites. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dinamarta V. Ferreira
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Paulo F. Cristaldo
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agricultura e Biodiversidade; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Marcos L. C. Rocha
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Daniela L. Santana
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Lucineide Santos
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Paulo S. S. Lima
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
| | - Ana P. A. Araújo
- Laboratório de Interações Ecológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; São Cristóvão-SE Brazil
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10
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Scicchitano V, Dedeine F, Mantovani B, Luchetti A. Molecular systematics, biogeography, and colony fusion in the European dry-wood termites Kalotermes spp. (Blattodea, Termitoidae, Kalotermitidae). BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 108:523-531. [PMID: 29070094 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485317001080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
European dry-wood termites belong to the genus Kalotermes (Kalotermitidae), one of the two termite genera in Europe. Until the recent description of two new species, Kalotermes italicus in Italy and Kalotermes phoenicae in the eastern Mediterranean area, Kalotermes flavicollis was the only taxon known in this region. The presence of additional entities, suggested by morphological and physiological variation observed in K. flavicollis, was supported by molecular studies revealing four distinct genetic lineages: lineage A, K. flavicollis sensu strictu, from the Aegean area to Italy; lineage B, in Tuscany; lineage SC, in Sardinia and Corsica; lineage SF, in southern France. Lineages A and B may form mixed colonies, suggesting hybridization. To draw a more detailed picture of Kalotermes evolution and biogeography in Europe, we analyzed samples from previously unsampled areas, such as Spain and southern Italy, by means of the highly informative cox1/trnL/cox2 mitochondrial DNA marker. Overall, phylogenetic analyses confirmed previously identified lineages and taxa, but widened the distribution of the lineage SC to the mainland and of the lineage SF to Spain and Portugal. Results further provided evidence for the synonymy between lineage B and K. italicus. Species delimitation analysis suggested that the three K. flavicollis lineages, as well as K. italicus, can be separate taxa. Data also suggest a possible interspecific hybridization between K. italicus and both K. flavicollis lineages A and SC.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Scicchitano
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche,Geologiche e Ambientali - Università di Bologna,via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna,Italy
| | - F Dedeine
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS - Université François-Rabelais de Tours,Parc Grandmont, 37200 Tours,France
| | - B Mantovani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche,Geologiche e Ambientali - Università di Bologna,via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna,Italy
| | - A Luchetti
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche,Geologiche e Ambientali - Università di Bologna,via Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna,Italy
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11
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Korb J. Chemical Fertility Signaling in Termites: Idiosyncrasies and Commonalities in Comparison with Ants. J Chem Ecol 2018; 44:818-826. [PMID: 29616376 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-0952-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Revised: 02/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Termites evolved eusociality independently from social Hymenoptera. As a common trait, reproductive monopoly is maintained through chemical communication. The queen (and in termites also a king) prevents workers from reproduction by conveying their reproductive status. In termites all soldiers are sterile, but workers' potential to reproduce differs between species. It ranges from totipotency in wood-dwelling lower termites where workers are a transient stage from which all other castes develop, to sterile workers in some higher termites. Intermediate are species in which workers can develop into replacement sexuals within the nest but not into winged sexuals. I summarize the patchy picture about fertility signaling that we currently have for termites, pointing also to potential conflicts over reproduction that differ from those in social Hymenoptera. Recent findings imply that, similar to many social Hymenoptera, wood-dwelling termites that live in confined nests use long-chain cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as fertility signals. Yet other compounds are important as well, comprising proteinaceous secretions and especially volatiles. For a subterranean termite, two volatiles have been identified as primer pheromones that prevent reproductive differentiation of workers. It requires more data to test whether wood-dwelling termites use CHCs, while species with larger colonies and less confined nests use volatiles, or whether all species rely on multicomponent signals. Ultimately, we need more effort to model and test potential conflicts over reproduction between queens, kings and workers. Here results from social Hymenoptera cannot be transferred to termites as the latter are diploid and commonly inbred. This review illustrates promising future research avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Korb
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, University of Freiburg, Hauptstrasse 1, D-79104, Freiburg, Germany.
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12
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Monteiro I, Viana-Junior AB, de Castro Solar RR, de Siqueira Neves F, DeSouza O. Disturbance-modulated symbioses in termitophily. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:10829-10838. [PMID: 29299261 PMCID: PMC5743531 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Revised: 09/13/2017] [Accepted: 10/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Symbiosis, the living-together of unlike organisms, underlies every major transition in evolution and pervades most ecological dynamics. Among examples of symbioses, the simultaneous occupation of a termite nest by its builder termites and intruding invertebrate species (so-called termitophily) provides suitable macroscopic scenarios for the study of species coexistence in confined environments. Current evidence on termitophily abounds for dynamics occurring at the interindividual level within the termitarium, but is insufficient for broader scales such as the community and the landscape. Here, we inspect the effects of abiotic disturbance on termitophile presence and function in termitaria at these broader scales. To do so, we censused the termitophile communities inhabiting 30 termitaria of distinct volumes which had been exposed to increasing degrees of fire-induced disturbance in a savanna-like ecosystem in southeastern Brazil. We provide evidence that such an abiotic disturbance can ease the living-together of termitophiles and termites. Putative processes facilitating these symbioses, however, varied according to the invader. For nonsocial invaders, disturbance seemed to boost coexistence with termites via the habitat amelioration that termitaria provided under wildfire, as suggested by the positive correlation between disturbance degree and termitophile abundance and richness. As for social invaders (ants), disturbance seemed to enhance associational defenses with termites, as suggested by the negative correlation between the presence of ant colonies and the richness and abundance of other termitarium-cohabiting termitophiles. It is then apparent that disturbance-modulated distinct symbioses in these termite nests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Monteiro
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte MG Brazil.,Pós-graduação em Ecologia Departamento de Biologia Geral Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa MG Brazil
| | - Arleu Barbosa Viana-Junior
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte MG Brazil.,Pós-graduação em Ecologia Departamento de Biologia Geral Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa MG Brazil
| | - Ricardo Ribeiro de Castro Solar
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte MG Brazil.,Pós-graduação em Ecologia Departamento de Biologia Geral Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa MG Brazil
| | - Frederico de Siqueira Neves
- Departamento de EcologiaInstituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte MG Brazil.,Pós-graduação em Ecologia Departamento de Biologia Geral Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa MG Brazil
| | - Og DeSouza
- Departamento de Entomologia Universidade Federal de Viçosa Viçosa MG Brazil
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13
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Boomsma JJ, Gawne R. Superorganismality and caste differentiation as points of no return: how the major evolutionary transitions were lost in translation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2017; 93:28-54. [PMID: 28508537 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 03/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
More than a century ago, William Morton Wheeler proposed that social insect colonies can be regarded as superorganisms when they have morphologically differentiated reproductive and nursing castes that are analogous to the metazoan germ-line and soma. Following the rise of sociobiology in the 1970s, Wheeler's insights were largely neglected, and we were left with multiple new superorganism concepts that are mutually inconsistent and uninformative on how superorganismality originated. These difficulties can be traced to the broadened sociobiological concept of eusociality, which denies that physical queen-worker caste differentiation is a universal hallmark of superorganismal colonies. Unlike early evolutionary naturalists and geneticists such as Weismann, Huxley, Fisher and Haldane, who set out to explain the acquisition of an unmated worker caste, the goal of sociobiology was to understand the evolution of eusociality, a broad-brush convenience category that covers most forms of cooperative breeding. By lumping a diverse spectrum of social systems into a single category, and drawing attention away from the evolution of distinct quantifiable traits, the sociobiological tradition has impeded straightforward connections between inclusive fitness theory and the major evolutionary transitions paradigm for understanding irreversible shifts to higher organizational complexity. We evaluate the history by which these inconsistencies accumulated, develop a common-cause approach for understanding the origins of all major transitions in eukaryote hierarchical complexity, and use Hamilton's rule to argue that they are directly comparable. We show that only Wheeler's original definition of superorganismality can be unambiguously linked to irreversible evolutionary transitions from context-dependent reproductive altruism to unconditional differentiation of permanently unmated castes in the ants, corbiculate bees, vespine wasps and higher termites. We argue that strictly monogamous parents were a necessary, albeit not sufficient condition for all transitions to superorganismality, analogous to single-zygote bottlenecking being a necessary but not sufficient condition for the convergent origins of complex soma across multicellular eukaryotes. We infer that conflict reduction was not a necessary condition for the origin of any of these major transitions, and conclude that controversies over the status of inclusive fitness theory primarily emanate from the arbitrarily defined sociobiological concepts of superorganismality and eusociality, not from the theory itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacobus J Boomsma
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Richard Gawne
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Biology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
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14
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Cooney F, Vitikainen EIK, Marshall HH, van Rooyen W, Smith RL, Cant MA, Goodey N. Lack of aggression and apparent altruism towards intruders in a primitive termite. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160682. [PMID: 28018658 PMCID: PMC5180156 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
In eusocial insects, the ability to discriminate nest-mates from non-nest-mates is widespread and ensures that altruistic actions are directed towards kin and agonistic actions are directed towards non-relatives. Most tests of nest-mate recognition have focused on hymenopterans, and suggest that cooperation typically evolves in tandem with strong antagonism towards non-nest-mates. Here, we present evidence from a phylogenetically and behaviourally basal termite species that workers discriminate members of foreign colonies. However, contrary to our expectations, foreign intruders were the recipients of more rather than less cooperative behaviour and were not subjected to elevated aggression. We suggest that relationships between groups may be much more peaceable in basal termites compared with eusocial hymenoptera, owing to energetic and temporal constraints on colony growth, and the reduced incentive that totipotent workers (who may inherit breeding status) have to contribute to self-sacrificial intergroup conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feargus Cooney
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Emma I. K. Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Harry H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Wilmie van Rooyen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Robert L. Smith
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Forbes 410, Tucson, AZ 85721-0036, USA
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Nicole Goodey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
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15
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Resource availability influences aggression and response to chemical cues in the Neotropical termite Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2134-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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16
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Abstract
Why do most animals live solitarily, while complex social life is restricted to a few cooperatively breeding vertebrates and social insects? Here, we synthesize concepts and theories in social evolution and discuss its underlying ecological causes. Social evolution can be partitioned into (a) formation of stable social groups, (b) evolution of helping, and (c) transition to a new evolutionary level. Stable social groups rarely evolve due to competition over food and/or reproduction. Food competition is overcome in social insects with central-place foraging or bonanza-type food resources, whereas competition over reproduction commonly occurs because staying individuals are rarely sterile. Hence, the evolution of helping is shaped by direct and indirect fitness options and helping is only altruism if it reduces the helper's direct fitness. The helper's capability to gain direct fitness also creates within-colony conflict. This prevents transition to a new evolutionary level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Korb
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany;
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Institute of Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany;
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17
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Howard KJ, Johns PM, Breisch NL, Thorne BL. Frequent colony fusions provide opportunities for helpers to become reproductives in the termite Zootermopsis nevadensis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1569-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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18
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Luchetti A, Dedeine F, Velonà A, Mantovani B. Extreme genetic mixing within colonies of the wood-dwelling termiteKalotermes flavicollis(Isoptera, Kalotermitidae). Mol Ecol 2013; 22:3391-402. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.12302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2012] [Revised: 02/20/2013] [Accepted: 02/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Luchetti
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche; Geologiche e Ambientali - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna; via Selmi 3 Bologna 40126 Italy
| | - F. Dedeine
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte; UMR CNRS 7261; Faculté des Sciences; Université de Tours; Parc de Grandmont Tours 37 200 France
| | - A. Velonà
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche; Geologiche e Ambientali - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna; via Selmi 3 Bologna 40126 Italy
| | - B. Mantovani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche; Geologiche e Ambientali - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna; via Selmi 3 Bologna 40126 Italy
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