Effects of the ectoparasitic fungus Rickia wasmannii on its ant host Myrmica scabrinodis: changes in host mortality and behavior

Csata, Enikő; Erős, Katalin; Markó, Bálint

doi:10.1007/s00040-014-0349-3

Cited by 34 publications

(45 citation statements)

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“…Myrmica scabrinodis is a mesothermo-and mesohygrophilic species of different kinds of humid habitats, which is tolerant of soil moisture but avoids expressly xerothermal habitats. The abundance of both R. wasmannii and M. scabrinodis make them appropriate species for the study of host-Laboulbeniales interactions, as corroborated by a number of recent studies (Báthori et al 2015a, Csata et al 2014, Haelewaters et al 2015a, Markó et al 2016, Witek et al 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Previous work has shown that different ant-fungal interactions can influence the behaviour of hosts in several ways (e.g., increased grooming and nest cleaning, secretion of antibiotics, pathogen avoidance, dispersal of infected individuals, and the relocation of an entire colony) (e.g., Csata et al 2014, Roy et al 2006, Oi and Pereira 1993. Laboulbeniales fungi are often present on the ant body with high thallus densities and the results of recent studies suggest that they could have both positive and negative effects on their hosts and are able to influence their behaviour (Báthori et al 2015a, Csata et al 2014, Konrad et al 2015, Pech and Heneberg 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laboulbeniales fungi are often present on the ant body with high thallus densities and the results of recent studies suggest that they could have both positive and negative effects on their hosts and are able to influence their behaviour (Báthori et al 2015a, Csata et al 2014, Konrad et al 2015, Pech and Heneberg 2015. For example, Csata et al (2014) showed that individuals of M. scabrinodis infected by R. wasmanni had significantly reduced lifespans under laboratory conditions; heavily infected individuals died significantly faster from starvation and spent more time consuming water than their more lightly parasitized counterparts. Starvation survival of L. neglectus workers infected by L. formicarum was also significantly decreased (Konrad et al 2015), while host survival due to Metarhizium exposure increased.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) on the aggression and boldness of Myrmica scabrinodis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Báthori¹,

Rádai²,

Tartally³

2017

JHR

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The interactions of ectosymbiotic Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota) fungi and their hosts are rather understudied. Rickia wasmannii Cavara is a common ant-associated Laboulbeniales species that has been reported in 17 countries of Europe, and frequently infects Myrmica scabrinodis Nylander, 1846 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a common ant species host, in high density. These make M. scabrinodis and R. wasmannii appropriate model organisms for studies on fungal host-ectosymbiont interactions. Aggressiveness and boldness of infected and uninfected M. scabrinodis workers from northern and eastern Hungary were studied in two laboratory-established behavioural experiments. Infected workers were significantly less aggressive and less bold (i.e. less likely to leave nest shelters) than the uninfected ones. These results suggest that R. wasmannii has considerable effects on the behaviour of M. scabrinodis. Our study brings an evidence that infection of ants with Laboulbeniales might negatively affect the workers' behaviour. In special, the competitive abilities might be affected most by these fungi, since remaining inside and behaving submissively is not effective behaviour in the case of significant competition for resources among colonies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) on the aggression and boldness of Myrmica scabrinodis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Báthori¹,

Rádai²,

Tartally³

2017

JHR

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“…ther research on this question would also be useful in the case of The findings of earlier studies (e.g. Csata et al, 2014;Gemeno 375 et al, 2004;Riddick, 2010;Strandberg and Tucker, 1974), accord-376 ing to which Laboulbeniales fungi can have a negative effect on 377 the survival rates of their hosts, are confirmed (Figs. 2-4 …”

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confidence: 75%

Rickia wasmannii increases the need for water in Myrmica scabrinodis (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales; Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Báthori

Csata

Tartally

2015

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

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a b s t r a c t 29The order Laboulbeniales (Fungi, Ascomycota) is a little-studied group of microscopic ectoparasites of 30 invertebrates, mostly insects. The effects of Laboulbeniales species on their hosts are mostly unknown. 31Rickia wasmannii Cavara, 1899 is a common Laboulbeniales fungus occurring in Europe and is currently 32 known to be a parasite of at least eight Myrmica ant species. R. wasmannii serves as a good model organ- ants. Therefore, it is possible that infected ants must replace the loss of water. Based on these results, R. 42wasmannii substantially decreases the chances and time of survival of infected individuals, at least in 43 resource-limited environments, which suggest that R. wasmannii has a negative effect on its host.

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“…Nevertheless, I think that the biological interaction between Laboulbeniales and hosts has scientific relevance for fitting in the scope of Csata et al, 2014;Báthori et al, 2015). Such negative effects are also documented in other Laboulbeniales fungi: according to Riddick (2010) laboulbenian infection reduces the winter survival of Harmonia axyridis, while other Laboulbeniales species could reduce the mobility of their hosts (Gemeno et al, 2004), and decrease their lifespan (Strandberg and Tucker, 1974;Gemeno et al, 2004).…”

Section: Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution of the myrmecoparasitic fungus Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) across colonies, individuals, and body parts of Myrmica scabrinodis

Markó

Csata

Erős

et al. 2016

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

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The ant species Myrmica scabrinodis plays a markedly important ecological role through much of the humid grasslands of Eurasia. It hosts a species-rich community of pathogens and parasites, including Rickia wasmannii, an enigmatic member of entomoparasitic laboulbenialean fungi. This study provides a descriptive ecology of R. wasmannii by characterizing its prevalence and distribution across several hierarchical levels: colonies, individuals, and anatomic body parts. Infections were restricted to a single ant species, Myrmica scabrinodis, and infected colonies occurred predominantly in wet habitats. Infections tended to be highly prevalent within infected colonies, often reaching 100% sample prevalence among workers. Individual infections exhibited an aggregated distribution typical to host-parasite systems. Workers from the aboveground part of nests (presumably older ones acting as foragers) were more infected than those from the belowground part. Fungal thalli could be found all over the body of the hosts, the head and the abdomen being the most infected parts of the body. The fungi's distribution among host body parts statistically differed between low versus high-intensity infections: the initial dominance of the head decreased with advancing infection. These findings may provide baseline data for future comparative or monitoring studies. Title:Distribution of the myrmecoparasitic fungus Rickiawasmannii (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) across colonies, individuals, and body parts of Myrmicascabrinodis Running title:Prevalence and distribution of Rickiawasmannii on ants We are grateful for the reviewers" comments, they helped us improving the manuscript considerably. We addressed every question and carried out all the requested corrections. More specifically, we clarified all those aspects that were not addressed by us in the required manner in the previous version of the manuscript (e.g. methodological details in the Materials and Methods), and eliminated one GLMM analysis since the dataset behind it was very unbalanced, and the results of the analysis where anyhow non-significant. We added a more detailed paragraph on host specificity to the discussion and generally corrected all mistakes and errors that were mentioned by the reviewers. In the end the general message of the manuscript has not changed. A detailed list of responses was also prepared further on. Detailed answers REVIEWER #1:General comments R:The 'entomopathogenicity' role of Laboulbeniales in the genus Rickia is not clear, so this word should be carefully used in sentences as "an enigmatic member of entomopathogeniclaboulbenialean fungi". Nevertheless, I think that the biological interaction between Laboulbeniales and hosts has scientific relevance for fitting in the scope of Csata et al., 2014;Báthori et al., 2015). Such negative effects are also documented in other Laboulbeniales fungi: according to Riddick (2010) laboulbenian infection reduces the winter survival of Harmonia axyridis, while other Laboulbeniales species could reduce ...

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Effects of the ectoparasitic fungus Rickia wasmannii on its ant host Myrmica scabrinodis: changes in host mortality and behavior

Cited by 34 publications

References 28 publications

The effect of Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) on the aggression and boldness of Myrmica scabrinodis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The effect of Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) on the aggression and boldness of Myrmica scabrinodis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Rickia wasmannii increases the need for water in Myrmica scabrinodis (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales; Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Distribution of the myrmecoparasitic fungus Rickia wasmannii (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) across colonies, individuals, and body parts of Myrmica scabrinodis

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