Bees as hosts of mutillid wasps in the Neotropical region (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Mutillidae)

Luz, David R.; Waldren, George C.; Melo, Gabriel A. R.

doi:10.1016/j.rbe.2016.06.001

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…What we known on the biology of velvet ants is essentially that they are ectoparasitoids (natural enemies attacking one victim during a life-stage, eliminating its fitness [27]) of developmental stages of other insects. Despite several hosts were reported from Diptera [28,29], Coleoptera [30], Lepidoptera [31], and Blattodea [32], the vast majority of hosts belong to other aculeate Hymenoptera [3,21,22,33]. Female mutillids normally attack the post-defecated larvae or pupae of their hosts, and especially parasitize species which enclose the offspring in concealed places such as brood cells within nests or buried or exposed oothecae and cocoons [21,34].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost 170 years after the first clear record of parasitoidism from an aculeate host [43,44], it is estimated that hosts are known for only 2%-3% of all described species of Mutillidae [21,45]. Host records are sparse and widely scattered across a huge amount of papers and books, and to date the only attempts to review such information consist in the works of Brothers et al [22] and Luz et al [33]. These reviews help exploring host diversity across mutillid lineages but with important biases, since the former study only concerns mutillids that attack social Hymenoptera and the latter study only concerns mutillids attacking bees in the Neotropics.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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A sting affair: A global quantitative exploration of bee, wasp and ant hosts of velvet ants

Ronchetti

Polidori

2020

PLoS ONE

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The vast majority of species of velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Mutillidae) are ectoparasitoids of immature stages of other aculeate Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants). Due to their cryptic, furtive behaviour at the host nesting sites, however, even basic information on their biology, like host use diversity, is still unknown for entire subfamilies, and the known information, scattered in over two centuries of published studies, is potentially hiding tendencies to host specialization across velvet ant lineages. In this review, based on 305 host associations spanning 132 species in 49 genera and 10 main lineages (tribes/subfamilies), we explored patterns of host use in velvet ants. Overall, 15 families and 29 subfamilies of Aculeata are listed as hosts of mutillids, with a strong predominance of Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps: 19 subfamilies and 82.3% of host records). A series of bipartite networks, multivariate analyses and calculations of different indices suggested possible patterns of specialization. Host taxonomic spectrum (number of subfamilies) of velvet ants was very variable and explained by variation in the number of host records. Instead, we found a great variation of network-based host specialization degree and host taxonomic distinctness that did not depend on the number of host records. Differences in host use patterns seemed apparent across mutillid tribes/subfamilies, among genera within several tribes/subfamilies, and to lesser extent within genera. Taxonomic host use variation seemed not dependent on phylogeny. Instead, it was likely driven by the exploitation of hosts with different ecological traits (nest type, larval diet and sociality). Thus, taxonomically more generalist lineages may use hosts that essentially share the same ecological profile. Interestingly, closely related mutillid lineages often show contrasting combinations of host ecological traits, particularly sociality and larval diet, with a more common preference for ground-nesting hosts across most lineages. This review may serve as a basis to test hypotheses for host use evolution in this fascinating family of parasitoids.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

A sting affair: A global quantitative exploration of bee, wasp and ant hosts of velvet ants

Ronchetti

Polidori

2020

PLoS ONE

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“…The greater environmental heterogeneity and the milder microclimate of forest areas provide greater diversity of bees and wasps [ 116 – 119 ]; nevertheless, velvet ants seem to be more abundant and diverse overall in open areas [ 52 – 54 ]. In the Neotropics, this seems to be associated with preference for open areas of two potential host groups, Crabronidae and Sphecidae [ 90 , 102 , 120 ]. Further, parasitoid abundance and rates of parasitism are often higher in open environments or in edges resultant from habitat fragmentation [ 121 , 122 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial-temporal dynamics of neotropical velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) communities along a forest-savanna gradient

et al. 2017

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Understanding how and why biological communities are organized over space and time is a major challenge and can aid biodiversity conservation in times of global changes. Herein, spatial-temporal variation in the structure of velvet ant communities was examined along a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado to assess the roles of environmental filters and interspecific interactions upon community assembly. Velvet ants were sampled using 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for one year along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed on each trap recorded microclimate parameters throughout the study period. The effects of spatial distances, microclimate parameters and shared ancestry on species abundances and turnover were assessed with canonical correspondence analysis, generalized dissimilarity modelling and variance components analysis. Velvet ant diversity and abundance were higher in the cerrado sensu stricto and early in the wet season. There was pronounced compositional turnover along the environmental gradient, and temporal variation in richness and abundance was stronger than spatial variation. The dry season blooming of woody plant species fosters host abundance and, subsequently, velvet ant captures. Species were taxonomically clustered along the gradient with Sphaeropthalmina (especially Traumatomutilla spp.) and Pseudomethocina more associated, respectively, with cerrado sensu stricto and cerradão. This suggests a predominant role of environmental filters on community assemble, with physiological tolerances and host preferences being shared among members of the same lineages. Induced environmental changes in Cerrado can impact communities of wasps and their hosts with unpredictable consequences upon ecosystem functioning and services.

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“…Mutillid wasps, commonly known as velvet ants, comprise a diverse family of solitary wasps, with around 4300 described species, occurring on all continents except Antarctica (Luz et al 2016;Brothers & Lelej 2017). These wasps are broadly characterised by their extreme sexual dimorphism, wherein females are apterous and males are fully winged.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Description and novel host records for a new species of Australian mutillid wasp (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) from hylaeine bee nests (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

et al. 2019

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A new mutillid wasp, Ephutomorpha tyla Hearn, Williams & Parslow sp. nov., is described from adult female and male specimens from the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Australia. Adult mutillids were repeatedly found in nests of the hylaeine bee Amphylaeus morosus (Smith, 1879) (Hylaeinae) and reared from host nest cells. This represents the first recorded host-parasite association between Mutillidae and hylaeine bee species.

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Bees as hosts of mutillid wasps in the Neotropical region (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Mutillidae)

Cited by 15 publications

References 27 publications

A sting affair: A global quantitative exploration of bee, wasp and ant hosts of velvet ants

A sting affair: A global quantitative exploration of bee, wasp and ant hosts of velvet ants

Spatial-temporal dynamics of neotropical velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) communities along a forest-savanna gradient

Description and novel host records for a new species of Australian mutillid wasp (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) from hylaeine bee nests (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

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