Sympatric speciation and radiative evolution of socially parasitic ants - Heretic hypotheses and their factual background

According to current hypotheses the main types of social parasitism among ants, namely slavery, temporary parasitism, and inquilinism, arose from such features as predation on other ants, or territorial behavior, both presumed precursors of slavemaking, and polygyny, a presumed precursor of temporary parasitism and inquilinism. The latter is believed also to represent a final instar in several evolutionary pathways leading from slavery, temporary parasitism, and xenobiosis to this permanently parasitic, workerless condition. Speciation, the origin of parasitic species from their usually closely related host species, is suggested to occur due to temporary geographic isolation and subsequent transition of one of the newly formed daughter species to parasitism in the nests of the other. Evidence is presented suggesting that the main types of social parasitism originated independently of each other. 15 ant genera are parasitized exclusively by inquilines, Eve other genera exclusively by temporary parasites. Only four groups of non-parasitic ant species (Formica, Tet-ramorium, Leptothorax subgenera Leptothorax and Myrafant) have parasites of several types each. Within these roups, however, there is little evidence of evolutionary transitions from one type to another. The few exceptions, mainly workerless species of the genera Epimyrma and Chalepoxenus, represent parasites which clearly derive from slave-making congeners, but differ from ordinary inquilines in that they eliminate the host colony queens like their actively dulotic ancestors. The new hypothesis suggests that all forms of interspecific true social parasitism (excluding xenobiosis) orginated from a common “preparasitic” stage, a subpopulation of reproductives in polygynous colonies and species, with diverging sexual behavior (near-nest mating vs. swarming) and caste ratios (production of more sexuals vs. workers). Arguments for sympatric speciation are compiled. Various features of the ancestral, and then host species (colony sizes, population density and structure, transition from polygyny to monoyny, etc.), and of the “preparasite” (production of few, or no workers, etc.) may shape the developing parasite to become a slave-maker, inquiline, or temporary parasite. These features usually leave open only one, or in a few genera, several options. The different types of parasitism within one host species group thus may have developed in a radiative manner from the common, preparasitic stage, which explains that independent colony foundation is a common feature of all true social parasites among ants.     

Cardboard nesting cavities may promote the development of Osmia cornuta and reduce infestation of kleptoparasitic mites

Mason bees (Osmia spp.) are receiving increasing attention as they are very effective pollinators of multiple crops. However, different bee-associated kleptoparasites are known which can be detrimental to the development of the bees’ offspring. To date, clear evidence-based guidelines to control these kleptoparasites are lacking for growers. This study investigates whether different types of artificial nesting materials—cardboard tubes and wooden grooved boards—influence the development of the European orchard bee (Osmia cornuta) as well as the infestation rate of kleptoparasitic mites in the bees’ nest. This preliminary study provides insight that cardboard tubes reduce the infestation rate of mites by 81.8% and as such promote successful development of the European orchard bee by 15.5%. Using cardboard tubes over wooden grooved boards should be advised to growers as an effective management strategy to avoid infestation of kleptoparasitic mites and to enhance successful bee development.     

Ascomycetes on Frullania dilatata (Hepaticae) from Tuscany

During the last years, many randomly collected specimens of the corticolous hepatic Frullania dilatata (Jungermanniales) from Tuscany (Italy) were carefully screened for the presence of fungi. A heterogeneous assemblage of ten species of ascomycetes belonging to nine genera and five orders were found. Especially well represented are the Hypocreales with four species. Altogether, more than 100 fungal records are given. A key to the species is provided and the distinguishing characters are indicated including illustrations of ascospores. Most frequently found are Calonectria frullaniae (perianthicolous), which prevents normal capsule development and Bryocentria brongniartii (leaf-perforating). Hypobryon florentinum Döbbeler is described as new. Up to five different species may be found on the same host specimen. Features shared by most species are the formation of tiny perithecial ascomata, biotrophic parasitism, restriction to F. dilatata, and occupation of distinct and species-specific microniches. This is the first bryomycological investigation based on comprehensive material of one host species occurring in a small part of its geographical distribution area.Taxonomic novelties: Hypobryon florentinum Döbbeler, sp. nov.     

How brood influences caste aggregation patterns in the dimorphic ant species Pheidole pallidula

Spatial distribution of ant workers and, notably their aggregation/segregation behaviour, is a key-element of the colony social organization contributing to the efficiency of task performance and division of labour. In polymorphic species, specialized worker castes notably differ in their intrinsic aggregation behaviour. In this context, knowing the preponderant role of minors in brood care, we investigate how a stimulus such as brood can influence the spatial patterns of Pheidole pallidula worker castes. In a homogeneous area without brood, it was shown that minors display only a low level of aggregation while majors form large clusters in the central area. Here we find out that these aggregation patterns of both minors and majors can be deeply influenced by the presence of brood. For minors, it nucleates or enhances the formation of a large stable cluster. Such high sensitivity of minors to brood stimuli fits well with their role as main brood tenders in the colony. For majors, interattraction between individuals still remains the prevailing aggregation factor while brood strongly influences the localisation of their cluster. We discuss how the balance between interattraction and sensitivity to environmental stimuli determines the mobility of each worker castes and, consequently, the availability of minors and majors to participate in everyday colony tasks. Moreover, we will evoke the functional value of majors’ cluster location close to the brood, namely with respect to social regulation of the colony caste ratio. Received 30 May 2005; revised 11 January 2006; accepted 13 January 2006.     

Costs and benefits of joint colony founding in Australian Acacia thrips

Facultative joint colony founding by social insects (pleometrosis) provides an outstanding opportunity to analyze the costs and benefits of sociality. Pleometrosis has been documented for a range of social insects, but most studies on the adaptive benefits of this behavior are restricted to the Hymenoptera. In this study, we provide the first analysis of costs and benefits associated with pleometrosis for Australian Dunatothrips, which form domiciles by glueing together phyllodes (leaves) of their Acacia host plant. In Dunatothrips aneurae, the distribution of foundress numbers per nest indicated that females formed associations non-randomly. Furthermore, average group size was independent of both the number of foundresses on the host plant and the number of mature colonies, suggesting that this behavior was not simply a response to limited availability of nesting sites. Although per capita reproduction declined with increasing group size, we also identified two benefits of pleometrosis: (1) individual foundresses in groups had higher survival than solitary foundresses during the brood development period, and (2) larger colony sizes resulting from pleometrosis provided a benefit later in colony development, because a higher proportion of D. aneurae adults survived invasions by the kleptoparasite Xaniothrips mulga when colony size was larger. These results demonstrate that the reproductive costs of pleometrosis are at least partially counterbalanced by survival benefits. Received 4 April 2006; revised 9 September 2006; accepted 20 September 2006.     

The effect of strepsipteran parasitism on a tettigoniid pest of oil palm in Papua New Guinea

Abstract. A study was undertaken to assess the impact of the strepsipteran endoparasite Stichotrema dallatorreanum Hofeneder on the performance of its host Segestidea novaeguineae (Brancsik), a tettigoniid pest of oil palm in Papua New Guinea. This involved analyses of morphology, gut contents, body composition and reproductive variables of field-collected adults of stylopized and unstylopized hosts. The morphological consequences of stylopization by S. dallatorreanum included reduced wing, ovipositor and digestive tract lengths, whereas antennal length was largely unaffected. Feeding activity by the host, as estimated indirectly through weighing gut contents, was significantly reduced in parasitised female hosts, whereas smaller males showed no effect. Parasitized hosts had a reduced carcass dry weight associated with reduced nitrogen content and a substantial decline in carcass lipid content. Host reproductive variables were profoundly affected by stylopization. In females this included impaired ovarian development, reduced egg number and gonadal weight, the last of which was also reduced in males. There was an association between the number of S. dallatorreanum present (maximally six in males and nine in females) within a host and the extent of the impact of stylopization on most of the host characters investigated. The ability of S. dallatorreanum to reduce feeding and reproduction in the host suggests it may have potential use as a bio-control agent in the management of tettigoniid pests in Papua New Guinea.     

The toad fly Lucilia bufonivora: its evolutionary status and molecular identification

The blow fly genus Lucilia is composed largely of saprophages and facultative myasis agents, including the economically important species Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Lucilia sericata (Meigen). Only one species is generally recognized as an obligate agent of myiasis, Lucilia bufonivora Moniez, and this is an obligate parasite of toads. Lucilia silvarum (Meigen), a sister species, behaves mainly as a carrion breeder; however, it has also been reported as a facultative parasite of amphibians. Morphologically, these species are almost identical, and historically this has led to misidentification, taxonomic ambiguity and a paucity of studies of L. bufonivora. In this study, dipterous larvae were analysed from toad myiasis cases from the U.K., The Netherlands and Switzerland, together with adult specimens of fly species implicated in amphibian parasitism: L. bufonivora, L. silvarum and Lucilia elongata Shannon (from North America). Partial sequences of two genes, cox1 and ef1α, were amplified. Seven additional blow fly species were analysed as outgroups. Bayesian inference trees of cox1, ef1α and a combined‐gene dataset were constructed. All larvae isolated from toads were identified as L. bufonivora and no specimens of L. silvarum were implicated in amphibian myiasis. This study confirms L. silvarum and L. bufonivora as distinct sister species and provides unambiguous molecular identification of L. bufonivora.