Prudent
            <i>Protomognathus</i>
            and despotic
            <i>Leptothorax duloticus</i>
            : Differential costs of ant slavery

Hare, James F.; Alloway, Thomas M.

doi:10.1073/pnas.201397998

Cited by 29 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Additionally, the low host nest density might pose a problem for the slave-maker species, because it has to search for host colonies over a much larger area. These lower host densities could select for P. americanus to be a`prudent parasite' (Hare & Alloway 2001). This is analogous to the evolution of less virulent strains of diseases: less deadly forms of a disease should be more likely to evolve when the disease has a very low transmission rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coevolution in host–parasite systems: behavioural strategies of slave–making ants and their hosts

Foitzik

DeHeer

Hunjan

2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

102

153

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Recently, avian brood parasites and their hosts have emerged as model systems for the study of hostp arasite coevolution. However, empirical studies of the highly analogous social parasites, which use the workers of another eusocial species to raise their own young, have never explicitly examined the dynamics of these systems from a coevolutionary perspective. Here, we demonstrate interpopulational variation in behavioural interactions between a socially parasitic slave-maker ant and its host that is consistent with the expectations of host^parasite coevolution. Parasite pressure, as inferred by the size, abundance and raiding frequency of Protomognathus americanus colonies, was highest in a New York population of the host Leptothorax longispinosus and lowest in a West Virginia population. As host^parasite coevolutionary theory would predict, we found that the slave-makers and the hosts from New York were more e¡ective at raiding and defending against raiders, respectively, than were conspeci¢cs from the West Virginia population. Some of these variations in e¤cacy were brought about by apparently simple shifts in behaviour. These results demonstrate that defence mechanisms against social parasites can evolve, and they give the ¢rst indications of the existence of a coevolutionary arms race between a social parasite and its host.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coevolution in host–parasite systems: behavioural strategies of slave–making ants and their hosts

Foitzik

DeHeer

Hunjan

2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

102

153

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“…The former is a very young parasite (S. Foitzik, J. Beibl, R. J. Stuart & J. Heinze et al, in prep) and exhibits a high virulence (high number of slavemaker workers, very destructive behaviour during slave raids), although it uses the same host populations as P. americanus (Alloway, 1979 ;Hare & Alloway, 2001).…”

Section: (1 ) Mode and Rate Of Transmissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The coevolutionary dynamics of obligate ant social parasite systems – between prudence and antagonism

et al. 2005

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In this synthesis we apply coevolutionary models to the interactions between socially parasitic ants and their hosts. Obligate social parasite systems are ideal models for coevolution, because the close phylogenetic relationship between these parasites and their hosts results in similar evolutionary potentials, thus making mutual adaptations in a stepwise fashion especially likely to occur. The evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite interactions are influenced by a number of parameters, for example the parasite's transmission mode and rate, the genetic structure of host and parasite populations, the antagonists' migration rates, and the degree of mutual specialisation. For the three types of obligate ant social parasites, queen-tolerant and queen-intolerant inquilines and slavemakers, several of these parameters, and thus the evolutionary trajectory, are likely to differ. Because of the fundamental differences in lifestyle between these social parasite systems, coevolution should further select for different traits in the parasites and their hosts. Queen-tolerant inquilines are true parasites that exert a low selection pressure on their host, because of their rarity and the fact that they do not conduct slave raids to replenish their labour force. Due to their high degree of specialisation and the potential for vertical transmission, coevolutionary theory would predict interactions between these workerless parasites and their hosts to become even more benign over time. Queen-intolerant inquilines that kill the host queen during colony take-over are best described as parasitoids, and their reproductive success is limited by the existing worker force of the invaded host nest. These parasites should therefore evolve strategies to best exploit this fixed resource. Slavemaking ants, by contrast, act as parasites only during colony foundation, while their frequent slave raids follow a predator prey dynamic. They often exploit a number of host species at a given site, and theory predicts that their associations are best described in terms of a highly antagonistic coevolutionary arms race.

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“…Early behavioural plasticity could thus facilitate the evolution of parasitism. Coevolution occurs between parasites and their hosts (Foitzik et al 2001;Hare and Alloway 2001) and hosts and parasites species usually show similar cuticular hydrocarbon profiles (Kaib et al 1993;Brandt et al 2005), which might facilitate learning of the parasite profile by the host species. Slavemaking P. rufescens workers are able to adopt a different cuticular signature, both qualitatively and quantitatively, when reared by different Formica hosts species as a result of certain plasticity; however, when reared in isolation they show higher chemical similarities with their primary host F. cunicularia (d'Ettorre et al 2002).…”

Section: Overcoming the Recognition System: Social Parasitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogeny of Nestmate Recognition in Social Hymenoptera

Signorotti

Cervo

d’Ettorre

2015

Social Recognition in Invertebrates

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The ability to discriminate between friends and foes is a central feature of social life. In social insects, nestmate recognition is mediated by colony specific cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) (label) that are perceived by an individual and compared with its neural representation of the colony odour (template). Although numerous advances have been made in understanding the identity, origin and production of recognition cues in social hymenoptera, relatively little is known about the ontogeny of nestmate recognition, and the learning processes that might be involved. It appears that wasps and bees learn the recognition cues required for template formation from their nest/comb odour, while ants learn principally from their nestmates. In general, the referent template is learned during the early stages of adult life, although pre-imaginal learning might play a role. The CHC blend can change over time; cue-exchange among nestmates is therefore needed to reduce chemical variability among individuals and to integrate environmental compounds into the colony odour. As a result of this process, the referent template is updated during life. This relative plasticity of the recognition system can be exploited by insect social parasites to integrate themselves within the host colonies and to fool host workers about their real identity. By studying the chemical integration strategies of social parasites new insights on the ontogeny of nestmate recognition could be acquired. However, further studies are needed to reveal the neural substrates implicated in learning and memory at different stages of social insect life to better understand how and when template formation occurs.

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Prudent Protomognathus and despotic Leptothorax duloticus : Differential costs of ant slavery

Cited by 29 publications

References 29 publications

Coevolution in host–parasite systems: behavioural strategies of slave–making ants and their hosts

Coevolution in host–parasite systems: behavioural strategies of slave–making ants and their hosts

The coevolutionary dynamics of obligate ant social parasite systems – between prudence and antagonism

Ontogeny of Nestmate Recognition in Social Hymenoptera

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