The spatial distribution does not affect host–parasite coevolution in Rossomyrmex ants

Abstract

Host and parasite distributions are crucial to understand the coevolutionary outcomes of their relationships. This comes from the fact that the distribution of a species (fragmented vs. continuous habitats) influences its dispersal opportunities. In this work, we studied the effect of the spatial distribution on dispersal and coevolution between three species of social parasite ants of the genus Rossomyrmex (one distributed in high mountains in Spain and two distributed in extended plains in Turkey and Kazakhstan) and their ant hosts Proformica. We analysed the variation at the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase (COI) to infer female dispersal for parasites as well as the cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) of parasites and hosts to study their coevolutionary process, given that CHCs are involved in nestmate recognition. Our genetic results revealed a surprising scarce variation at COI for the three parasite species, suggesting selective forces that prevent from mutation fixation. Therefore, COI appeared to be a poor tool to study dispersal. Furthermore, chemical results showed population differentiation for all host-parasite systems, pointing that coevolution would take place at a local scale regardless of the spatial distribution or dispersal opportunities of the counterparts.

Rossomyrmex, the Slave-Maker Ants from the Arid Steppe Environments

“…As for the chemical congruence between host and parasite, R. quandratinodum and P. sp. present the highest cuticular distances that would indicate the highest level of hostparasite aggressiveness [34]. This is also supported by the significantly lower proportion of slaves in R. quandratinodum nests compared to the other species (see [49]) and the aggressive behavior observed by the authors in the laboratory.…”

“…Likewise R. anatolicus presents a lack of mitochondrial haplotype variation (for cytochrome oxidase c gene), confirming a continuous distribution of the species in the Turkish extended steppe. In contrast, the Spanish R. minuchae populations presented a highly significant population differentiation for this trait, clearly separated in different high mountains, but with very low and nonsignificant within population differences [34]. These results from microsatellites and mitochondrial COI likely reflect a history of long-term fragmentation for R. minuchae, compared to a more continuous distribution for R. anatolicus.…”

“…This is also supported by the significantly lower proportion of slaves in R. quandratinodum nests compared to the other species (see [49]) and the aggressive behavior observed by the authors in the laboratory. In contrast, R. anatolicus and P. korbi seem to be the most similar chemically [34] and locally adapted, showing host and parasite with a similar evolutionary potential; therefore this host species should be the least aggressive.…”

Phylogenetic relationships between the slave-making antsRossomyrmexand theirProformicahosts in relation to other genera of the ant tribe Formicini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“… Abbreviations for references correspond to: a (Sanllorente et al., ), b (Sanllorente et al., ), c (Sanllorente et al., ), d (Moreau, Bell, Vila, Archibald, & Pierce, ), e (Jowers et al., ), f (Hasegawa et al., ), g (Brady, Schultz, Fisher, & Ward, ), h (Knaden et al., ), and ps (present study) …”

Redescritpion of Proformica nasuta (Nylander, 1856) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) using an integrative approach

“…In contrast, rapid spatial changes in hydrocarbons are present in some taxa like Odontomachus Latreille, 1804 (Smith et al 2013) and Cataglyphis (Dahbi et al 1996). Interestingly, Rossomyrmex minuchae Tinaut, 1981, a slave-maker parasite of Proformica longiseta, also has different chemotypes in three populations in Sierra Nevada, Spain (Sanllorente et al 2012). It is noteworthy that the genus Cataglyphis is phylogenetically, biologically and ecologically very close to Proformica.…”