The evolution of social parasitism inFormicaants revealed by a global phylogeny
| Autor: | Stefan Cover, Christian Rabeling, Marek L. Borowiec |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Old World
Evolution Allopatric speciation Emery’s rule Zoology Parasitism Biology inquilinism DNA Mitochondrial Host-Parasite Interactions Species Specificity Animals Parasites Cooperative Behavior Social Behavior Symbiosis Social organization Clade Formicidae Phylogeny brood parasitism Multidisciplinary Behavior Animal Obligate Ants Inquiline Biological Sciences Biological Evolution Eusociality dulosis Emery's rule Aggression Evolutionary biology Commentary |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 0027-8424 |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2026029118 |
| Popis: | Significance Identifying the conditions associated with a life history transition from cooperative colony life to exploitative social parasitism is important for understanding how changes in behavior contribute to speciation. To explore the evolutionary origins of social parasitism, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of Formica ants because half of all species are social parasites and all socially parasitic life history syndromes known from eusocial insects are represented in this genus. We demonstrate that social parasites evolved from an ancestor that lost the ability to establish new colonies independently and that highly specialized parasites can evolve from less complex social parasite syndromes. Our findings emphasize that social parasite syndromes readily originate in socially polymorphic organisms and evolved convergently across the ant phylogeny. Studying the behavioral and life history transitions from a cooperative, eusocial life history to exploitative social parasitism allows for deciphering the conditions under which changes in behavior and social organization lead to diversification. The Holarctic ant genus Formica is ideally suited for studying the evolution of social parasitism because half of its 172 species are confirmed or suspected social parasites, which includes all three major classes of social parasitism known in ants. However, the life history transitions associated with the evolution of social parasitism in this genus are largely unexplored. To test competing hypotheses regarding the origins and evolution of social parasitism, we reconstructed a global phylogeny of Formica ants. The genus originated in the Old World ∼30 Ma ago and dispersed multiple times to the New World and back. Within Formica, obligate dependent colony-founding behavior arose once from a facultatively polygynous common ancestor practicing independent and facultative dependent colony foundation. Temporary social parasitism likely preceded or arose concurrently with obligate dependent colony founding, and dulotic social parasitism evolved once within the obligate dependent colony-founding clade. Permanent social parasitism evolved twice from temporary social parasitic ancestors that rarely practiced colony budding, demonstrating that obligate social parasitism can originate from a facultative parasitic background in socially polymorphic organisms. In contrast to permanently socially parasitic ants in other genera, the high parasite diversity in Formica likely originated via allopatric speciation, highlighting the diversity of convergent evolutionary trajectories resulting in nearly identical parasitic life history syndromes. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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